Arguments Against Campus Speech Codes

As an advocate, I will be arguing against the proposition stating that campus speech codes are required to ensure that all voices are welcomed. To start off, campus speech codes are defined as regulations that prevent discriminatory speech directed at a person’s race, gender, sexuality, or other element of identity. However, I think there can be an argument made that these codes can set a different standard on what it means to be discriminatory. Therefore, these regulations can unjustly restrict an individual’s first amendment. During lecture, it was mentioned how a commitment to inclusiveness could be detrimental to the rights of speakers, as they’re blatantly now allowed to express their opinions on certain matters. In recent years, there
Peterson’s biggest issue with the legislation was that he felt it restricted someone’s language, making it an attack on free speech. The bill also stated that an employee could sue a company for being referred with the wrong pronouns, which he believed was an extreme punishment for misusing language. Because he was being critical of an inclusive bill, he received major backlash from the community around him. Afterwards, academic administrators at the University of Toronto sent Peterson two letters of warning, stating how his viewpoints did not align with the human rights act and his actions were
In terms of campus speech codes, I think there are some valid point in John Stuart Mill’s Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion that can be used to refute them. In the text, Mill states that if somebody’s opinion were to be restricted, it would rob others with an opposing viewpoint. Going off this point that he makes, sometimes, one of the best way to counter somebody and actually silence their claims is to let them speak. Withstanding, if a campus speaker is genuinely saying something that’s blindly hateful and ridiculous, letting them speak would show the audience how ignorant they truly are. Their speech can open a public dialogue where someone can disprove their claims. However, if we continue to have campus speech codes, we can’t truly understand why exactly their points are wrong if we cannot listen to the