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— Serena WIlliams on her iconic catsuit at the 2018 French Open. Purr.

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Students are seen on campus at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, on April 16, 2024.

USC

The Story

The University of Southern California has canceled its valedictorian’s graduation speech.

How come?

Earlier this week, USC pulled Asna Tabassum from the lineup of graduation speakers due to security concerns. The university announced Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, as valedictorian earlier this month. But pro-Israel groups on campus criticized the decision, saying Tabassum “promotes antisemitic views” and pointing to her social media support for Palestinians. In a campus-wide letter, the USC provost cited unnamed threats as a reason for the cancellation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the decision as “cowardly,” and Tabassum said USC “abandoned” her. Now, the university’s rare move has put a new spotlight on college campuses as they grapple with preserving free speech.

Tell me more.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, protests at college campuses have put the debate over free speech front and center. Administrators from Ivy League schools have faced scrutiny over their handling of antisemitic and anti-Muslim threats on campus, leading some officials to step down. Last week, the Anti-Defamation League gave Harvard University and a dozen other schools an “F” for failing to protect students against antisemitism. That’s as reports of Islamophobia on campuses have also been on the rise. The debate over what’s happening on campuses is far from over. Today, Columbia University's president is set to testify before Congress on its handling of campus protests related to the war in Gaza.

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USC is the latest university to face backlash over how it has addressed on-campus tensions amid the Israel-Hamas war. As graduation season approaches, commencement ceremonies could take center stage in the free speech debate across college campuses.

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What the Supremes are weighing in on…

The Jan 6 fallout. Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on a key federal charge that’s been used in hundreds of cases tied to the Capitol riots. The Justice Department charged more than 300 people with obstruction, saying they tried to stop the 2020 election certification. But one former police officer says the DOJ overstepped and misused the felony charge. Now, his case has reached the Supreme Court. If the justices rule against the DOJ, hundreds of people could see their obstruction charges cleared — including former President Trump, who faces two obstruction charges in one of his criminal cases. SCOTUS is expected to issue its decision in June.

…Oh and speaking of the high court, Justice Clarence Thomas was back on the bench after being MIA. He’s facing criticism for reportedly minimizing the events that took place on Jan 6.

What’s raising new alarms…

Artificial intelligence. Yesterday, a new report warned that child sexual exploitation is on the rise, in part because of AI. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) said incidents of online child abuse rose by more than 12% last year compared to 2022, tallying up to more than 36 million reports. More than 4,500 of those reports involved images or videos made by generative AI. NCMEC said AI generated images make it harder to identify real child victims. The center also said it saw an uptick in cases of financial sextortion.

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