“Sticks and stones may break my bones” isn’t just a childhood idiom. It’s part of a cultural foundation that once defended free speech and emotional resilience. Now, a new FIRE survey shows phrases like that are vanishing from the American vocabulary.

“What does not have an arguable constitutional basis is someone voicing an opinion that would be completely protected if you or I said it, and the secretary of state saying, ‘We don’t like the ideas you’re spreading — get out.” 🎙️: @CTFitzpatrick 📰: @NYTimes

BREAKING: FIRE is suing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, challenging the laws he is using to target lawfully present noncitizens for speech protected by the Constitution. No administration should be able to deport lawfully present noncitizens for their opinions.

Shutting down speech doesn’t stop “bad” ideas—it buries them where they grow unchecked. Talking about them is where real strength and change begin.

Free speech isn’t just a right. It is essential for safety and justice. FIRE’s @glukianoff took this year's @TEDTalks by storm with his four truths about free speech that everyone should know. These rules remind us why protecting expression is more important now than ever. 🧵

BREAKING: With FIRE’s help, Priscilla Villarreal, a Texas journalist jailed for basic journalism, returns to the Supreme Court in her pursuit of justice against the officials who violated her 1A rights to ask government officials questions and publish what they volunteer.

Two NH parents were banned from their kids’ school for wearing pink “XX” wristbands to protest allowing a biological male to play on the opposing girls’ soccer team. FIRE urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to protect the parents’ non-disruptive political speech.

BREAKING: Minnesota court allows @MayoClinic professor Dr. Michael Joyner’s retaliation claims to move forward. Joyner, a prominent physiology expert, was punished for refusing to parrot “prescribed messaging” on public health and sports science when speaking to the press.

FIRE statement on Trump lawsuit against veteran Iowa pollster: President Trump and his two co-plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal of their claims against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register after losing a bid to remand the case to state court. This maneuver was not in response to any settlement and is a transparent attempt to avoid federal court review of the president's transparently frivolous claims. The case was refiled in state court today, one day before an Iowa law intended to provide strong protections against baseless claims like these — an “anti-SLAPP” statute — goes into effect. The procedural gamesmanship is obvious and improper. Whatever court ultimately reviews this matter, FIRE will defend J. Ann Selzer's First Amendment rights, and we remain confident the courts will see through this sham lawsuit.

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