Academic Freedom

Transnational cooperation among universities has created unprecedented opportunities for cross-border knowledge production. But increasingly interconnected global partnerships in research, education, and funding have also provided authoritarian governments with new means of exercising repression abroad.

International students from authoritarian states often censor their research and advocacy to avoid reprisals at home. Some face threats of exile. Others conducting fieldwork abroad face threats to their physical safety, while students and faculty anywhere in the world may be subject to internet surveillance and digital repression. With threats mounting to human rights at home and abroad, universities interested in best supporting their students and faculty must reassess their policies toward international actors.