Fordham Law Professor Zephyr Teachout’s new monthly column with The Nation, “Anti-Monopolist,” focuses on “corruption and monopoly power, corporate behemoths and the mercenary politicians beholden to them.” In this month’s column, Professor Teachout outlines how the groundwork has been laid for a new Free Speech Movement under President Donald Trump’s second term.
In the 1960s, the Free Speech Movement was a rallying cry for students and activists who understood that the right to dissent, argue, and speak freely was essential to democracy. Today, we need a new Free Speech Movement—and not just a retread of the 1960s. A new free speech movement would recognize that both the direct authoritarian power-grabs of the Trump administration, and the power grabs of private monopolist entities represent a significant danger.Trump’s oligarchs—his big tech allies who control the flow of news and information—are themselves an independent threat to open society.
Read “America Needs a New Free Speech Movement” in The Nation.