“University of North Carolina Wilmington calls professor’s tweets ‘vile and inexcusable’ following growing backlash online”

Roy Gutterman, the Director of Tully Center for Free Speech and Associate Professor of Newspaper and Online Journalism in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, was quoted by CNN, “University of North Carolina Wilmington calls professor’s tweets ‘vile and inexcusable’ following growing backlash online.” The statement from the University of North Carolina Wilmington comes after controversial tweets were posted by Mike Adams, a professor at the university. The official statement addresses the impact of hateful language but states that the university must “review any perceived threats that are brought to our attention” as there are expressions of free speech protected by the First Amendment. Professor Gutterman, an expert on communications law and the First Amendment, says that “while Adams’ comments may be offensive, they should be protected by the First Amendment,” but the university should actively “counter the speech and confront the speech.”