So, Tom Cotton has introduced a new bill that would have the federal government monitor speech on public and private campuses, and remove federal funding if Dept of Ed officials don't like what they see.
Tell me again about limited government. 1/ https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/tom-cotton-introduces-campus-free-speech-bill/

Here is the thing; there are strong protections for speech on campuses, especially public institutions. If someone violates those protections, you can sue. This bill goes in a different direction, banning the ability of universities to manage speech on their own campus. 2/

*Any person or organization* unhappy with speech policies at a campus can bring complaint to the Dept of Education, which then reviews the content of university policies. So, e.g. Turning Point works with Sec DeVos to investigate multiple campuses. 3/

One observation here is that bumper sticker "free speech" policies are often misleading, merely an effort to empower some speech over other. At UW Madison conservative regents adopted a "free speech" policy that restricted student's right to protest. 4/ https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/971027909245919233?s=20

Religious institutions are arguably the worst institutions on free speech issues. For example, Liberty University has a terrible record of muting dissenting voices on campus https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/25/jerry-falwell-key-trump-ally-falls-short-big-talk-free-speech-critics-say. But religious universities are exempted from this bill. 5/

I realize there many sincerely believe free speech is under such threat that federal intervention is necessary. I think a) their concerns are overstated, and b) the greater danger is from opportunistic political actors, like Cotton, using tools like this to control campuses. 6/

As someone who has worked on campus at a time of growing illiberalism in the US, I think the biggest mistake that free speech advocates can make is to view students as a greater threat than governments. 7/ https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1095325750201327616?s=20

We are much better off having fights about speech on campus settled by local participants - and when necessary by the courts - than to have that power removed from campus, and determined by partisan federal actors. That is, or used to be, at least, a conservative belief. 8/