Academic Speech in Times of Political Disruption: Implications for Information Scholarship and Practice

ABSTRACT This session aims to provide a space for collaborative, interdisciplinary inquiry into political and information environments and how information policies affect how people enact and experience vital issues such as public trust and freedom of speech. Issues related to information policy and research during times of political and social instability have had an ongoing presence at ASIS&T annual meetings and have provided a space for public discourse and debate. This session examines our roles as information professionals and scholars and our (increasingly complex) relations with public trust, political authority, electoral legitimacy, information access, privacy, and safety, as these are critically important values that underpin our raison d'être as scholars and educators. Yet, for many of us, they feel like “old news” in a political moment characterized by polarization, misinformation, data scraping, and surveillance, as well as a vilification of experts and science in popular discourse. As information scholars and professionals, we find ourselves struggling once again to address ethical and policy issues related to our labor and practice. The goal of this panel is to address the pressing issue of what constitutes intellectual freedom and the academic enterprise and political discourse in turbulent times. We seek to create a space to discuss the challenge of determining how and when to communicate with policymakers and the public directly in an inclusive way. The panelists will share their perspectives, and the remainder of the session will consist of discussions with the audience and the sharing of good practices.