Protect Free Speech in Wisconsin — Tell Lawmakers to VOTE NO on IHRA Bills SB 445 & AB 446
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Wisconsin lawmakers are pushing two dangerous censorship bills (SB 445/AB 446), which are disguised as antisemitism prevention that would adopt the widely discredited International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in Wisconsin law.
The IHRA definition is rejected by scholars, civil rights groups, and many Jewish organizations for one simple reason: it criminalizes political speech and censors any criticism of Israel as it continues to commit a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
American laws should put the Constitution and our freedoms first, not the political interests of another country. This is not “America First.” Just as we mobilized opposition to California’s education censorship bill AB 715, we must take action and keep up the pressure now in Wisconsin. These bills direct state agencies, local governments, and their employees to use the IHRA definition, including all of its vague and politically motivated examples, when evaluating discrimination claims. That means constitutionally protected criticism of the Israeli government could be treated as discrimination.
Let’s be clear:
- Criticism of any government (including a foreign one) is political speech protected by the First Amendment.
- The ability to challenge government power is a core American freedom.
While the bills include disclaimers stating they do not infringe on First Amendment rights, those assurances collapse in practice. Civil rights experts and constitutional scholars, as well as Jewish organizations, have warned that the IHRA definition has been used repeatedly to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights and restrict public debate.
In Wisconsin, there are strong hate-crime and anti-discrimination protections already in place, which have been upheld for decades by groups like the ACLU legal defense, NAACP, and JPAC.
SB 445 and AB 446 do nothing to strengthen those protections. Instead, they aim to weaponize the definition of antisemitism to shield the Israeli government from criticism rather than protect people from the real threats of antisemitism.
Tell Wisconsin legislators: Protect the First Amendment. Protect free expression. Vote NO on SB 445 and AB 446.
