Show threadpetersuber1d ago

Update. Also see the 2026 Update to the Academic Freedom Index (#AFI).
https://academic-freedom-index.net/research/Academic_Freedom_Index_Update_2026.pdf

Extracts from University World News:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260320155848399

"Academic freedom has declined more quickly in the United States than any other country in the past year…[Measuring academic freedom on a scale from 0 to 1, the worldwide average] between 2015 and 2025 fell 22%, from 0.49 to 0.38, a decline of 25%…One year into the second presidency of Donald J Trump, the United States registered a steep and unprecedented decline in its academic freedom score, dropping from 0.68 to 0.4. This decline…leaves the US’ level of academic freedom just below that of Mozambique (0.41) and just above Thailand (0.38), where the law of llèse-majesté, forbidding insult of the monarchy, is the strictest in the world."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

Byrnejmf5d ago
#USA #Trump #AcademicFreedom declining rapidly
Show threadNonilex5d ago

The lawsuit marks the second time in less than a month that the #Trump admin
has sued a #university over “civil rights” violations.

Last month, the #DOJ said #UCLA had tolerated “grossly antisemitic acts & systematically ignored cries for help from its own terrified Jewish & Israeli employees.”

The DOJ said that UCLA had “turned a blind eye” — the same phrase used in Friday’s lawsuit against Harvard [copy & paste.]

#law #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #education #RevengePolitics

Show threadNonilex5d ago

“The United States cannot & will not tolerate these failures & brings this action to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI, & to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution,” the #DOJ added.

#Harvard did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, Harvard leaders have acknowledged problems during #protests over the #war in #Gaza, but have also said they moved to address those issues.

#law #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #Trump

Nonilex5d ago

Here we go again

#Trump Administration Sues #Harvard Over Accusations of “Antisemitism” [Protests for #Palestinian #HumanRights]

The admin spent months investigating the #school. The two sides had been in talks to negotiate a settlement.

#law #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #RevengePolitics
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/trump-harvard-antisemitism-suit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Trump Administration Sues Harvard Over Accusations of Antisemitism

The administration had spent months investigating the Ivy League school. The two sides had been in talks to negotiate a settlement.

The New York Times
Claire BarnesMar 19

Amid the pageantry of his installation, the new Chancellor of the University of Cambridge made some pointed & interesting comments, & important commitments.
🧵 1/15

#AcademicFreedom #universities #CambridgeUniversity

ResearchEqualsMar 16

Researchers are targeted under a US policy that allows visa denials and revocations based on their work. This is a direct attack on #AcademicFreedom

Coalition for Independent Technology Research filed a lawsuit challenging this policy – and asking the court to stop the government from targeting the public-interest research community so that scientists, students, and non-profit workers can continue their work without fear of retaliation.

Read about the case 👇
https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-challenges-censorship-policy/

CITR Challenges US Government Censorship Policy Threatening Deportation for Work on Social Media Platforms and Online Harms - Coalition for Independent Technology Research

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research filed a lawsuit today in partnership with the Knight First Amendment Institute and Protect Democracy, challenging the US government’s Censorship Policy that unconstitutionally targets noncitizen researchers, fact-checkers, and trust and safety workers for visa denials, revocations, detention, and deportation based on their work researching and reporting on social media … Continue reading CITR Challenges US Government Censorship Policy Threatening Deportation for Work on Social Media Platforms and Online Harms

Coalition for Independent Technology Research
European Research Council (ERCMar 13

"Alongside active suppression, there’s a quieter process through which scientific freedom can narrow without formal prohibition or visible coercion"

ERC President Maria Leptin warned of current decline of #academicfreedom.

Watch her @CARA1933 lecture!
🎥https://consent.youtube.com/m?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Flive%2F-rIBfB_UjvY%3Fcbrd%3D1&gl=BE&m=1&pc=yt&cm=2&hl=en-GB&src=1

"Alongside active suppression, there’s a quieter process through whi...
---
https://nitter.net/ERC_Research/status/2030720551530967255#m

Academic Freedom in Times of Change

YouTube
Tom StonehamMar 13

Yesterday I was proudly told by a senior academic now a senior researcher at #Google #Deepmind that they are hiring more philosophers and ethicists.

This is a BAD THING. Settingaside teh fact that these are insecure jobs since corporations may change their mind about this direction on a whim, and only have the thinnest veneer of #AcademicFreedom, this is a further example of the privatisation of the #PublicRealm

#AI #AIEthics #Philosophy

(1/)

Dr Julia Molinari PhD SFHEAMar 11

Sharing because I am humbled, honoured, proud, and galvanised - via 100% derived status - to work alongside the incredible Professor Kristina Hultgren at the #OpenUniversity on upholding #AcademicFreedom in #HigherEducation, which is being increasingly threatened.

https://research.open.ac.uk/news/ou-received-ps560k-ukri-funding-bold-project-democratising-higher-education