Should a civil rights group defend alt-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos?

The American Civil Liberties Union has defended its decision to represent right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos after a flurry of criticism on social media.

The organisation filed a lawsuit on behalf of the former Breitbart editor last week, accusing Washington DC transit officials of violating his right to free speech by removing ads for his new book.

Yiannopoulos, a poster child for the alt-right movement, describes himself as the "most fabulous supervillain on the internet" and has been permanently banned from Twitter for abusive posts.

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The ACLU maintains that defending Yiannopoulos' right to free speech is critical for civil rights movements.

"This case is a beautiful illustration of the indivisibility of the first amendment," said Lee Rowland, one of the lawyers behind the lawsuit. "When we give government the power to regulate speakers based on their identity or their perceived level of offense, it reduces speech for all of us."

But the decision sparked heated debate on Twitter, with many wondering why the organisation would defend someone who regularly launches vicious attacks against women and minorities.

Among them was one of the ACLU's own lawyers, Chase Strangio, who defended Chelsea Manning.

"The ACLU has a long history of representing despicable people in the service of protecting valuable first amendment principles and in some cases I support decisions that have been made and in other cases I do not," Strangio tweeted. "Here I do not."

But other Twitter users, including journalist Glenn Greenwald, applauded the organisation for its stance.