Governments in the United States are ramping up their attacks on freedom of speech, with state and federal officials getting people—including professors—fired or investigated for expressing their opinions about public figures, and the president suggesting he will shut down media that is critical of him and his allies.

How should these conditions affect what you say, and how you say it?

What are the options? Here’s one way of breaking them down:

A. “fuck tha police” — be more provocative in your speech than you otherwise would be as a form of protest

B. “speak up” — talk more about the importance of freedom of expression and academic freedom

C. “carry on” — proceed as you normally would

D.  “play it safe” — take more precautions with how you say things and where you say them

E. “roll over” — refrain from saying anything the authorities may not like

Which of these is right for you may depend on your circumstances.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), has issued a set of “Strategies to Protect Yourself Online in the Current Climate.” Among them are suggestions for behavior on social media, which seem to fit with the “D” option, above:

1. Set your personal social media accounts to private mode. When prompted, approve the setting to make all previous posts private.

2. Be mindful that anything you post online can be screenshotted and shared.

3. Before posting or reposting online commentary, pause and ask yourself:

a. Am I comfortable with this view potentially being shared with my employer, my students, or the public?

b. Have I (or the person I am reposting) expressed this view in terms I would be comfortable sharing with my employer, my students, or the public?

4. In your social media bios, state that the views expressed through the account represent your own opinions and not your employer. You do not need to name your employer.

5. Consider posting positive statements about positions you support rather than negative statements about positions you disagree with. Some examples could be:

• • Academic freedom is nonnegotiable.
  • The faculty united will never be divided.
  • Higher ed research saves lives.
  • Higher ed transforms lives.
  • Politicians are interfering with your child’s education.

You can see the full list of the AAUP’s suggestions here. Discussion welcome.

UPDATE (9/22/25): Over the weekend, Alec Walen, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers University, posted about how an upcoming workshop on his forthcoming book at the Naval Academy was cancelled because of comments critical of President Trump that Walen made on Facebook. He writes:

I’ve been cancelled by the Naval Academy. This is and should be under the radar news, given Trump’s recent attacks on the First Amendment, going after comedians like Jimmy Kimmel. But I still want to share the news, not because it’s bad for me, but because it’s just another angle on the bad things going on in the country.

Here’s the story: A colleague at the Academy was working on arranging for me to come to campus for a workshop on my forthcoming book: Punishment, Penalty, and Incapacitation. Then he wrote a few days ago:

“I have bad news.” He explained that “All visiting speakers have to be forwarded to department chairs and potentially up to the Provost for approval. Their public speeches, publications, and social media have to be analyzed to make sure they have not said anything critical of the president, the administration, the executive orders, etc.” Based on that analysis, his request to have that workshop was denied. To comfort me, he added that “a significant number of speakers have been refused this semester as well as last spring on these grounds.”

This is pathetic. I’m not hurt. I would have liked to have had a book workshop at the Academy, but I will get enough workshops on my book. The real loss is the degradation of the intellectual tradition in the places that train our future officers, leaders of the strongest military in the world. What’s pathetic is the thought that they can face bombs and bullets, but they must not be exposed to the likes of people who have said something critical of the president, his administration, or his executive orders.

Might there be more to the story? Did I say some really treasonous things? No. I’ve posted many critical remarks about Trump and his administration, but I’ve never called for violence. Have I brought my personal politics into a professional setting? No. I’ve always been quite careful on that score. I never criticize or praise the government in class except on very narrow grounds having to do with the topic of the class or support for law.

So, no, there’s no explanation to be found except what I was told: I’ve been cancelled because I’ve said things on social media–RIGHT HERE, ON FACEBOOK–that are “critical of the president, the administration, the executive orders, etc.”

This raises the question: Why would the administration think I’m too dangerous to invite to speak at a military Academy? Does it think the midshipmen are snowflakes? Presumably that’s not it. Presumably, the answer is that the administration doesn’t want midshipmen entertaining critical views that might make them disloyal.

It was not always so. I recall a conference at West Point, in October 2023, on “the Ethics of War and Peace.” At least one pacifist was amongst the speakers and quite a few were in attendance. The cadets there that day listened to a wide range of critical views. My bet is that the workshop, like their classes on military ethics, got them to think. The goal is to have leaders in the military who can tell what an unlawful order is and why it would be right to resist one.

This, presumably, is what the administration cannot abide. In a time when it wants to rebrand the “Department of Defense” as the “Department of War,” critical thought is a problem. It does not want anyone putting up a roadblock. No more people like General Milley telling Trump that he must not invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to quell protests.

For those of us who care about our free speech rights, our rights to criticize, this sort of thoughtful engagement is exactly what we should want.

My cancellation is just a drop in the bucket. It doesn’t matter in itself. But it’s one more occasion to cry out: stop!