Sarah McLaughlin
@sarahemclaugh
Senior Scholar, Global Expression @TheFIREorg. AUTHORITARIANS IN THE ACADEMY out 2025 at @JHUPress. @ sarahemclaugh on Bluesky. Opinions mine. Go birds.
I'm thrilled to share that my book AUTHORITARIANS IN THE ACADEMY is now available for pre-order and will be available August 19 with @JHUPress! The book investigates how higher education is a target—and sometimes even an accomplice—in authoritarians' efforts to silence critics.
🎓 What happens when universities trade free expression for global partnerships and financial gain? Join a conversation with @TheFIREorg's @sarahemclaugh on how foreign authoritarian regimes are reshaping American academia, leading to the erosion of core academic values:
REGISTER: What happens when universities trade free speech for global funding? Join FIRE’s @sarahemclaugh for a @HdxAcademy conversation on her book, “Authoritarians in the Academy” — and how foreign regimes are reshaping U.S. higher education. 🗓️: Wednesday, 8/27 ⏰: 4 PM EST/
Turkish police have arrested five people over a Prophet Muhammad cartoon “publicly demeaning religious values.” But the cartoon…doesn’t actually depict the prophet! That and much more in this month’s Free Speech Dispatch at @TheFIREorg: thefire.org/news/blogs/fre…
One more month til Authoritarians in the Academy is out with @JHUPress! Pub date is almost here but there’s still time to pre-order your copy now. More info here ⬇️
I'm thrilled to share that my book AUTHORITARIANS IN THE ACADEMY is now available for pre-order and will be available August 19 with @JHUPress! The book investigates how higher education is a target—and sometimes even an accomplice—in authoritarians' efforts to silence critics.
📌 Register for this event and bring your questions for the Q&A: heterodoxacademy.org/events/authori…
Carnegie Mellon just shut down a century-old free speech platform. After students shared anti-Trump messages on “The Fence,” @CarnegieMellon painted over it and banned all new messages for lacking “respect.” But it's CMU that’s lacking respect for the free speech promises it…
NEW: Trump administration relied heavily on shadowy Canary Mission website to identify pro-Palestinian activists for deportation, per new court testimony. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also deeply involved in project, records say. w/@kyledcheney…
Authoritarians in the Academy. Covers #TransnationalRepression & #Censorship in #HigherEducation . Implications for #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #StudentSafety : press.jhu.edu/books/title/53… Review by @paddywjack in @timeshighered . Attn @DavidAltonHL @SpeechUnion @AFAF_freespeech
“In her new book, Authoritarians in the Academy, McLaughlin examines how foreign authoritarian influence is undermining freedom and integrity within US universities, including focusing on the ‘borderless censorship’ of countries like China” @timeshighered timeshighereducation.com/news/foreign-s…
At a recent panel on education, HRIC Executive Director @ZhouFengSuo emphasized the need for proactive education about free speech and topics such as the June 4th Tiananmen Massacre in countering the CCP's transnational repression on U.S. campuses. Read: open.substack.com/pub/hrichina/p…
An abuse of power, plain and simple. The country is now governed by coercion and fear, not law and principle. We’re just six months in — not even to the Fourth — and the damage already done is stunning. I worry it will be irreparable. We will fight to prove otherwise.
BREAKING Paramount has settled the lawsuit President Trump filed against it for the 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris. Paramount will pay $16 million in total including fees and expenses. The money, minus fees and expenses, will go to President Trump’s future…
Concerned about growing authoritarianism in higher ed? So am I! My book covering how this problem has developed in recent years is out next month but you can pre-order your copy now: amazon.com/Authoritarians…
I'm thrilled to share that my book AUTHORITARIANS IN THE ACADEMY is now available for pre-order and will be available August 19 with @JHUPress! The book investigates how higher education is a target—and sometimes even an accomplice—in authoritarians' efforts to silence critics.
Turkish police arrested four employees of a satirical magazine for “publicly insulting religious values” with a cartoon depicting what some interpret as Muhammad and Moses in halos shaking hands over bombs and war. The magazine denies that it depicts the Prophet Muhammad.
FIRE statement on Trump lawsuit against veteran Iowa pollster: President Trump and his two co-plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal of their claims against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register after losing a bid to remand the case to state court. This…
Confirmed. The U.S. revoked the visas of musicians accused of “hate speech” by the UK (which the Trump admin has repeatedly criticized for its many free speech problems.) Landau specifically cites Bob Vylan’s “hateful” expression.
Musician Bobby Vylan, the subject of a UK police investigation for “hate speech” at his Glastonbury set this weekend, may face yet another consequence: revocation of his visa ahead of his U.S. tour.
Nations committed to free expression should not use their borders as a tool of censorship, as Russia and China have done with artists whose political expression they seek to silence.
Musician Bobby Vylan, the subject of a UK police investigation for “hate speech” at his Glastonbury set this weekend, may face yet another consequence: revocation of his visa ahead of his U.S. tour.