{"id":42048,"date":"2014-05-17T11:42:08","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T17:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/17\/look-you-have-freedom-of-speech-but-you-cant-go-this-far.html"},"modified":"2014-05-19T13:56:13","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T19:56:13","slug":"look-you-have-freedom-of-speech-but-you-cant-go-this-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/17\/look-you-have-freedom-of-speech-but-you-cant-go-this-far.html","title":{"rendered":""Look, you have freedom of speech, but you can’t go this far""},"content":{"rendered":"
"Look, you have freedom of speech, but you can't go this far"<\/b><\/p>\n

There's a very, very, very<\/i> fuzzy line about how one represents one's employer when one is functioning in the public square. We've seen a lot of folks get in trouble over saying things in social media that their superiors (and\/or the public) though reflected poorly on their workplace.<\/p>\n

The most recent result of that is the Kansas\u00a0Board of Regents revising their social media guidelines. Now employees (including University of Kansas\u00a0professors) not only can't say anything that might create violence or disclose private or confidential information, but can't say anything that is "contrary to the best interests of the university."<\/p>\n

Which will be judged, of course, by the Board of Regents.<\/p>\n

Now, an employer has to look after its interests — and, in this case, the Board of Regents is apparently pretty darned scared of the Kansas Legislature, which holds the purse strings (just as the governor appoints the regents), and which had prominent members up in arms about a particular tweet by a faculty member after a shooting:\u00a0"The blood is on the hands of the #NRA<\/a>. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters." \u00a0The lege, and some of the public, went bonkers, leading\u00a0Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady of the Kansas Legislature to utter that lovely quote in the headline, in support of the new social media policy, adding, "I think having a clear understanding between faculty and the board of regents on what's acceptable and what's not is better for everyone involved."<\/p>\n

I.e., don't say anything in public that might get the public upset.<\/p>\n

What's particularly galling about this is how the regents and pols are trying to paint it as increasing "academic freedom" — apparently by providing clear guidelines about what you can't freely talk about. \u00a0Except, of course, they don't. "Academic freedom" isn't defined by what the taxpayers or their elected representatives might get upset about. If you are looking after the "best interests" of the university, you are not acting freely. If posting an anti-NRA tweet is "contrary to the best interests of the university," then what about a tweet about climate change, or gay rights, or political candidates, or religion, or evolution?\u00a0<\/p>\n

(And, yes, that goes both ways as far as political orientation. I'd like to think I'd be just as outraged if someone who tweeted a very strong pro-NRA message in a very liberal state were being slapped down by a formal policy of this sort. \u00a0_Especially_ where the employer imposing the policy is, in fact, the government.)<\/p>\n

The only restrictions I can think of that might possibly be legitimate, aside from the other caveats in the policy would be making public statements that might cause serious concern among students or employees about whether contrary opinions (or simply being of the wrong race, faith, orientation, origin) might be dangerous to their grades or their employment — in some ways, exactly what this policy does. Of course, being on the outs with the prof, for whatever reason, is always risky — and sooner or later that means that opinions are going to bump up against each other, sometimes with unpleasant consequences.<\/p>\n

But that's part of what academic freedom is about. \u00a0Something that the Kansas legislature and Board of Regents seem to be forgetting in their desire to make "don't rock the boat" the foundation of speech and liberty (and the irony there<\/i> for ostensibly liberty-loving conservatives is even more galling).<\/p>\n

(h\/t +<\/span>David Newman<\/a><\/span>)\ufeff<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

In Kansas, Professors Must Now Watch What They Tweet<\/a>
\n Last fall, a University of Kansas professor criticized the National Rifle Association in a tweet. Wednesday, the Kansas Board of Regents approved a strict social media policy for university employees.\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

"Look, you have freedom of speech, but you can't go this far" There's a very, very, very fuzzy line about how one represents one's employer when one is functioning in the public square. We've seen a lot of folks get in trouble over saying things in social media that their superiors (and\/or the public) though … Continue reading “"Look, you have freedom of speech, but you can’t go this far"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,133,350,298,46],"tags":[418,586],"class_list":["post-42048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-guns","category-school-daze","tag-nra","tag-pluspost"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9345,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/24\/free_speech_is.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":0},"title":"Free speech is free speech","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Jul-06 12:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If you run across anyone who trots out the tired calumny that the ACLU is a bunch of liberal whiners out only to protect lunatic left-wing causes, direct them to...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131034,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/08\/well-maybe-i-get-to-sleep-in-an-extra-morning.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":1},"title":"Well, maybe I get to sleep in an extra morning","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Jul-16 11:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Ugh. Got a note today from my New Employer that my background check hasn't yet come in. Went to the online site where I submitted all the requested information and document scans, and see that it notes \"Background - In Process \/ Pending 5 of 6 searches completed\".Per regulations \/\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9245,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/08\/02\/will_kansas_evo.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":2},"title":"Will Kansas evolve?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 2-Aug-06 9:39am","format":false,"excerpt":"A coalition of forces is gathering steam to try to reclaim the Kansas State School Board from the conservatives who took it over in 2004, and who put Intelligent Design...","rel":"","context":"In "School Daze"","block_context":{"text":"School Daze","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/school-daze"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27947,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/21\/if-you-cant-stand-the-mandate-get-out-of-the-insurance-biz.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":3},"title":"If you can't stand the mandate, get out of the insurance biz","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 21-May-12 11:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"Posturing, posturing ...It seems to me Notre Dame could simply stop offering insurance, and let folks shift over to the public exchange (which will be in play by the time this is all said and done). Then they wouldn't have to worry that someone might be using their insurance spending\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133395,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/03\/the-ahca-affects-not-just-individual-buyers-but-employee-health-plans-too.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":4},"title":"The AHCA affects not just individual buyers, but employee health plans, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-May-17 2:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking at the currently proposed state \"opt out\" provisions in the Republican health insurance reform, the Brookings Institution finds that it not only impacts individual insurance purchasers, but could have a significant impact on employer-provided health insurance as well, as employers and\/or health insurance companies seize on the \"least common\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41814,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/27\/freedom-of-speech-on-the-street.html","url_meta":{"origin":42048,"position":5},"title":"Freedom of Speech on the Street","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-Apr-14 10:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"Took these photos in Pasadena this week, along Colorado Blvd (yes, right where the Rose Parade goes along). Four of the traffic signal boxes have been decorated with quotations about free speech from\u00a0George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Potter Stewart, and Eleanor Roosevelt. \u00a0It's an art piece called \"Utility\" by Susan Silton\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/IMG_20140424_190632423_HDR.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42081,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048\/revisions\/42081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}