Under the Trump administration, freedom of speech is changing
The Morning Edition of NPR: Why Do Students Feel Sleazed, Free to Talk? Why Do Laws and Human Rights Fail in the Age of the Internet?
NPR’s Morning Edition has talked to legal experts, activists, immigration lawyers, scientists, students, teachers and others over several weeks to understand why.
So, we decided to ask the questions: Who feels silenced? Who is more free to speak? And are the protections of the First Amendment, enshrined in the Constitution, fading?
Our reporting found that scientists are scrubbing reports and federal grant applications of words the Trump administration has banned. Some student activists are afraid that participating in protests could lead to deportation. Some teachers are worried about the new portal for students and parents to file complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion lessons in class.
“When students make connections to events in history that don’t frame the current administration in a positive light and then ask questions, it gives me pause,” says E., a high school history teacher, who asked NPR to use only her first initial for fear she could be reported for speaking out. “I’ve had to hold back, sometimes changing the subject abruptly, telling them that I can’t comment.”
Yet plenty of others — including anti-abortion activists, the far-right activist group Moms for Liberty and members of university Republican clubs — say they feel more free today to express views without fear of a backlash now that President Trump is back in office.
“We now have more members who are willing to help us publicize the club, attach their faces to the club, and be outwardly and openly conservative than we did before the election,” says Miguel Muniz, president of the College Republicans at the University of California, Berkeley.
Free Speech and the First Amendment: Lee Bollinger & Jonathan Turley on the Issues of Correlation, Border Fear and Government Reprimandals
According to a poll taken a month before the election, free speech is the second most important issue for voters when deciding on who to vote for in the presidential election in 24 months. Republicans were more likely to rate it “very important” and nearly half of Republican respondents said they spoke less freely under President Joe Biden than they did under President Trump.
You will hear from the experts, the activists and the college Republicans. We wanted you to tell us how you are feeling at this moment, as well as our readers.
In one interview after the next, people asked us to obscure their full names or not record at all. Fear of retribution, border fear and fear of government reprisals were what came down to them.
In order to understand what happens today, we will first look at two of the foremost scholars on the First Amendment and free speech.
Lee Bollinger and Jonathan Turley have different perspectives, and you will hear that. Our conversations show that when it comes to this basic American right, those on the other side of the ideological spectrum find more common ground than differences.
Global Markets Plunge Due to Trade War. And, Second Child dies in Texas from Measles: Report from Hands Off!
Thousands of people participated in the Hands Off! demonstrations across the U.S. on Saturday to protest President Trump and Elon Musk’s actions. The marchers talked about cuts in federal departments and mass deportations. More than one thousand locations across 50 states were blockaded by more than 150 groups. Photographers from NPR member stations documented the scenes at the rallies.
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The markets have lost a lot since last week when the president launched a trade war. Asian and European markets plunged overnight, and in the U.S., economists say the odds of a recession have increased. Goldman Sachs thinks the U.S. will slide into recession if Donald Trump doesn’t go through with his plan for the biggest tariffs. If those tariffs hit, the bank predicts a recession.
Source: Global markets plunge due to trade war. And, 2nd child dies in Texas from measles
A Child Dies from a Measles-Induced Death in a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring back Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported last month to El Salvador. The administration has a deadline to make the return happen. The Justice Department is appealing the judge’s order, arguing the court no longer has jurisdiction over the case because Abrego Garcia is in El Salvador.
A child has died in Texas because of the illness, state health officials said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the Health and Human Services Secretary. She has been identified as Daisy Hildebrand. The outbreak in Texas reached 481 confirmed cases and her death came as a result. Until this year, the U.S. had not reported a measles death for nearly a decade.
