Biden plan wrongly proposes censorship to reduce anti-Semitism in pop culture

The first part of this series provided analysis of the provisions in the Biden Administration’s “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism” that address anti-Semitism in the context of education. This second part analyzes the proposal’s plan to combat anti-Semitism in pop culture.  The final installment will analyze the free speech implications of the Biden Administration’s plan to address anti-Semitism online.

The Biden administration’s plan has several pages dedicated to calling upon private entities to combat anti-Semitism in the arts and entertainment, including two sections that caught FIRE’s eye in particular. First, it called on American sports leagues to:

combat antisemitism and other forms of hate, discrimination, and bias in sports by:

• Holding athletes and other personnel, sports franchises, and sports leagues themselves responsible for antisemitic acts and other acts of hate, discrimination, and bias committed during and outside of sporting events.
• Reminding athletes and coaches, team personnel, and staff to abstain from antisemitic behavior and other acts of hate, discrimination, and bias in all circumstances.  

The document is entirely unclear about what it means to hold “athletes and other personnel, sports franchises, and sports leagues themselves responsible for antisemitic acts and other acts of hate.” 

Does it mean firing or punishing these people for speech that would be protected under the Constitution? If so, do we really want the government pressuring private employers to police speech it deems hateful, even when the expression occurs outside of the context of employment? Even if it is permissible for private employers to punish speech they deem hateful, is it appropriate for the government to encourage them to punish speech the government may not itself punish under the First Amendment? FIRE does not think so.

Biden Administration’s plan to address anti-Semitism includes censorship

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The Biden Administration issued a strategy document for fighting anti-Semitism in education, sports, pop culture, and online.

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People in the sports industry are not the only entertainers the Biden plan leans on. It also called on:

creators such as writers, producers, and directors to avoid stereotypical depictions of Jewish people and content that promotes misinformation about Judaism as a religion and Jewish culture, and to consider consulting organizations that have helped train media corporations, content creators, journalists, and reporters to identify antisemitic terms and tropes. 

The government shouldn’t pressure writers, producers, and directors to avoid stereotypical depictions even when such depictions are critical to their artistic visions. If this advice had been followed in 1983, “Yentl,” Barbara Streisand’s classic musical about a girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to study the Talmud, would never have been produced. Nor would “Fiddler on the Roof” have been green-lit. “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” would have excluded Mel Brooks’ portrayal of Rabbi Tuckman. 

There are countless examples of stereotypical portrayals of Jews (and literally every other demographic of people) that nevertheless enrich our culture. Attempts to erase “terms and tropes” dulls creativity and is reminiscent of recent attempts by publishers to sanitize classic pieces of literature to avoid offending modern sensibilities. Criticism — not censorship — is the appropriate response to stereotypical depictions some people may find offensive.