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• Free Speech

Freedom of speech is a crucial principle of a liberal democracy that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.

University Freedom Charters: How best to protect free speech on Australian campuses
Jeremy SammutOctober 7, 2018PP10

This POLICY Paper recommends how and why a ‘university freedom charters’ policy that is backed...

Conflict vs Mistake: Academic cultures and explanatory conflict
Claire LehmannSeptember 11, 2018OP167

The 2018 Helen Hughes Lecture explains why and how universities are fuelling the corrosive identity...

Have We All Gone Mad?
Claire Lehmann, Tiffany Jenkins, Steven Schwartz, Lindsay ShepherdAugust 16, 2018

University campuses throughout the West were the grip of a troubling social phenomenon, being in...

Let Money Speak
Simon CowanApril 25, 2018PP2

The government’s proposal to ban foreign donations and limit political contributions from charities is a...

What’s happened to the University?
Frank Furedi, Marguerite Johnson, Steven SchwartzFebruary 5, 2018OP163

Trigger warnings, cultural appropriation and safe spaces. Who decided to bestow guardian status to Australian...

Liberty and Surveillance: What should governments and private corporations know about you?
Tom SimpsonJanuary 30, 2018OP162

Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA hacked the internet as a key part of...

Business Means Business. Why Corporates Should Avoid Social Activism
Simon Cowan, Emilie DyeJuly 18, 2024AP72
Senior management should be concerned they are putting their companies at risk of reputational harm...
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Free to Speak and Free to Believe? What Australians think about freedom of speech
Peter Kurti, Scott PrasserApril 20, 2023AP47

To what extent do Australians think speech is free in this country? According to polling...

Lord Sumption speaks at the Centre for Independent Studies
Rule of Law in a Time of Crisis: a conversation with Lord Sumption
Lord SumptionNovember 8, 2022OP191
Lord Sumption became what is widely regarded as a brilliant QC before he served as...
Australians’ Attitudes to Social Media: Connection or Curse?
Monica WilkieMarch 29, 2021PP37

Social media appears in the news cycle, almost daily, and the majority of the coverage...

Cancelled! How ideological cleansing threatens Australia
Peter KurtiAugust 17, 2020AP13

‘Cancel culture’ campaigns in Australia are intended to erase elements of our history and to...

Criminalising Hate Speech: Australia’s crusade against vilification
Monica WilkieSeptember 18, 2019AP6

In Australia, there are a range of criminal and civil vilification laws that exist to...

State-sanctioned ‘truth’ is still a danger under the Greens and teals
Tom Switzer, Emilie DyeDecember 30, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

Australia dodged a bullet this year when the federal government withdrew its contentious legislation to...

Disagree with Antoinette Lattouf, but silencing her wasn’t the answer
Tom SwitzerDecember 18, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

Friday marks one year since the ABC sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf. By reflecting the intolerant...

Freedom of speech not protected through censorship
Tom Switzer, Emilie DyeNovember 26, 2024Centre for Independent Studies

The federal government’s decision this week to withdraw its legislation requiring social media companies to...

War on misinformation doomed to fail: tariffs a case in point
Simon CowanNovember 2, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

Experts in misinformation will no doubt be closely following the extraordinary claims being thrown around...

misinformation truth lies approve disapprove 640x360
Having an authority to rule on what is truth is deeply problematic
Simon CowanOctober 18, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

There is no better sign of the loss of faith in democracy than the belief...

Jerry Seinfeld
No offence, but the wokerati are killing free expression
Tom SwitzerMay 3, 2024THE AUSTRALIAN

In a wide-ranging interview with the New Yorker, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld explains how the...

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Submission to the Senate Inquiry on Information Integrity
Michael StutchburySeptember 12, 2025

On behalf of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), we are pleased to provide the...

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