Palestine: the Pro-Israel Right’s Great Hypocrisy in Free Speech Parlance and Policy

Pro-Palestinian students, protesters, and organizations have faced an enormous wave of censorship since October 7th. Pro-Palestinian groups have been barred from college campuses, pro-Palestinian students have been blacklisted and had job offers rescinded, and university presidents have lost their jobs for defending pro-Palestinian students’ First Amendment rights. In a radical shift away from their purported belief in freedom of speech — and their fight to expose all Americans, particularly college students, to views that may be deemed controversial, offensive, or outright harmful — many on the American political Right have embarked on an aggressive campaign to silence pro-Palestinian speech.

The First Amendment, Copyright, and Warhol

When expressing an idea or creating content, creators consciously and subconsciously reference artistic works and concepts that they’re familiar with due to our unavoidable encounters with creative content. Literary works run rampant with references to their predecessors, many classical artists were trained by mimicking their master’s work, political speeches often quote influential figures, and musicians often sample other popular songs. Free speech and expression in the modern era is innately referential. However, as of Oct. 2022, this referential nature is being put on trial in the case of Warhol v. Goldsmith;

Deepfakes and American Law

Anything can be accomplished with and by artificial intelligence nowadays. Economists can determine the future state of the economy using A.I. and computers can outsmart chess grandmasters in a matter of seconds. And now, anyone can make a video of someone doing or saying anything.