Columbia University, the epicenter of a number of issues, has conferenced their journalism students to tell them that if they are not US citizens, they should not publish anything likely to anger Trump, Russia, Israel, or the techbros, saying “Nobody can protect you.” They’ve been told to blank their social media of anything that might offend.

And yes, outrage is warranted, but Columbia has in its toolbox some of the brightest legal graduates and professors. If they don’t think they can lawyer up enough to stop this illegal curtailing of speech, the problem is a lot bigger than many people realize. Not the least of which is that other countries are dictating what people can say on American soil.

On one hand, the dean is trying to protect his students, on the other hand, never obey in advance.

(Archive link because NYT) https://archive.ph/zHMoo

#columbia #freespeech #authoritarianism #aipac #gaza #lebanon #palestine