Thought Control vs. Free Speech--AcademicInfluence.com Tackles Censorship in Social Media and on College Campuses

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- All education begins with free access to information. But what happens when the lifeguards at the pool of knowledge restrict students to the shallow end for their "own good"?

In a series of hard-hitting articles and interviews, AcademicInfluence.com examines the assault on freedom of speech in the public square, with a focus on two crucial arenas: the college campus and social media.

First, as part of its series on "The 25 Most Controversial Topics Today," AcademicInfluence.com explores free speech origins, advocates, and influencers, along with a look at the forces of opposition, including censorship, political correctness, and cancel culture:

Controversial Topic: Censorship and Freedom of Speech

In this information-packed resource, readers will learn exactly what's at stake, why it matters, and who is raising those stakes by silencing challenging voices.

Then, in an enlightening analysis of the state of censorship in social media and academia, former ACLU president and New York Law School professor Nadine Strossen, J.D., unpacks the topic with AcademicInfluence.com academic director and Wake Forest University physics professor Jed Macosko, Ph.D. Strossen, one of AcademicInfluence.com's Top Influential Legal Scholars Today, also speaks with student interviewer Karina Macosko, diving deeper into several consequential legal cases affecting free speech both for students and for users of social media platforms:

Nadine Strossen Profile Page with Free Speech Interviews

"The founders of the United States chose free speech as the bedrock of the Bill of Rights for good reason. These great critical thinkers understood that our ability to grow and advance as a nation depends on our right to free expression and all that this entails.," says Dr. Macosko. "If we surrender the right to inquiry, decline the opportunity to debate, and lose the civility required to both offer and hear contrary points of view, then we lose the ability to expand our understanding of nearly everything, from science, religion, and the arts to one another. As goes free speech, so goes our ability to become the best possible version of ourselves."

Contrary points of view become a point of contention when political ideologies and the college classroom meet. Is one kind of speech promoted at the expense of another? When their college student goes off to school in a button-down Oxford and comes home in a Che Guevara T-shirt, some parents may contend that their view is getting short shrift. For more on the thorny on-campus divide between conservative and liberal ideologies see:

Why Are Colleges So Liberal?

Finally, censorship affects everyone, even AcademicInfluence.com. The stifling of speech hit close to home recently when a leading social media site terminated promotion of an AcademicInfluence.com article, Top Critical Race Theory Influencers. A representative for the social media site stated the use of the word "race"—and therefore mention of Critical Race Theory—"violated the advertising policy."

"AcademicInfluence.com is about equipping learners with the resources they need to advance their educational goals," says Macosko. "When the advancement of provocative ideas is stymied, you and I are robbed of information that helps us make sense of the world and the times we live in. It's why AcademicInfluence.com and its staff will always support the freedom both to speak and to hear ideas that challenge the intellectual status quo."

AcademicInfluence.com is the preeminent technology-driven academic rankings site dedicated to students, researchers, and inquirers from high school through college and beyond, offering resources that connect learners to leaders. (Visit the AcademicInfluence.com About page for further details on the capabilities and advantages of this unique ranking technology and on the people who make it possible.) AcademicInfluence.com is a part of the EducationAccess group, a family of sites dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth.

Contact:

Jed Macosko, Ph.D.
Academic Director
AcademicInfluence.com
[email protected]
(682) 302-4945

SOURCE AcademicInfluence.com