Students Need Free Speech Guidance

Modern technology gives public exposure and potential liability to off-the-cuff comments

Because student speech is more visible than ever before, the threat of censorship has grown accordingly. An all-night conversation that might have remained behind dorm room doors a decade ago is now just as likely to be emblazoned upon a Facebook page, where it may be discovered the next morning by a far wider audience than intended. Given this new visibility, all manner of student speech—criticism of professors or university administrators, heated political debate, dissenting or unpopular opinions, embarrassing jokes—may provoke dangerous attempts to censor and punish student expression.