Public Knowledge and Expertise Under Authoritarian Siege: A Defense of Academic Freedom from Digital Journalism Studies

This article addresses the growing global assault on academic freedom—a cornerstone of democratic societies now under increasing threat from authoritarian regimes. It highlights a global decline in that freedom since its peak 20 years ago, focusing on the United States in 2025 to illustrate rapidly escalating academic silencing, even in a country with well-established democratic freedoms and institutions. Drawing on the collective expertise of international scholars in digital journalism studies (DJS)—a field situated at the crossroads of vulnerable institutions—and informed by anonymous reports from U.S.-based academics as well as the wider academic literature, this commentary examines the impact of political interference, censorship, and self-censorship in academia. It argues that DJS as a field must develop approaches that actively resist authoritarianism and uphold freedom of expression and inquiry. The commentary concludes with a normative framework for doing this, proposing a three-pronged approach to defending the larger field, the scholarship within it, and the wellbeing of individual scholars of digital journalism studies.