Did Congress just ban the Bible? No, despite the many hyperbolic claims floating around on social media after the House passed the so-called “Antisemitism Awareness Act” on Wednesday. But free speech watchdogs are nonetheless decrying the legislation for what it actually does — and rightly so. 

The well-intentioned legislation is responding to a disturbing uptick in anti-Jewish sentiment on college campuses. It enshrines into law a specific definition of antisemitism and then permits the Department of Education to defund universities that allow this kind of speech to occur.