MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom
The following statement, drafted by the MIT Ad Hoc Working Group on Free Expression andamended by the MIT Faculty through extensive discussion and debate, was adopted by theFaculty on December 21, 2022.
The influential 1949 Lewis Report observed that MIT’s mission was “to encourage initiative,
to promote the spirit of free and objective inquiry, to recognize and provide opportunities forunusual interests and aptitudes,” and to develop “individuals who will contribute creativelyto our society.” With a tradition of celebrating provocative thinking, controversial views, andnonconformity, MIT unequivocally endorses the principles of freedom of expression andacademic freedom.
Free expression is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition of a diverse and inclusive
community. We cannot have a truly free community of expression if some perspectives canbe heard and others cannot. Learning from a diversity of viewpoints, and from thedeliberation, debate, and dissent that accompany them, is an essential ingredient of academic
excellence.
Free expression promotes creativity by affirming the ability to exchange ideas without
constraints. It not only facilitates individual autonomy and self-fulfillment, it provides forparticipation in collective decision-making and is essential to the search for truth and justice.
Free expression is enhanced by the doctrine of academic freedom, which protects both
intramural and extramural expression without institutional censorship or discipline.
Academic freedom promotes scholarly rigor and the testing of ideas by protecting research,
publication, and teaching from interference.
MIT does not protect direct threats, harassment, plagiarism, or other speech that falls outside
the boundaries of the First Amendment. Moreover, the time, place, and manner of protected
expression, including organized protests, may be restrained so as not to disrupt the essential
activities of the Institute.
At the intersection of the ideal of free expression and MIT community values lies theexpectation of a collegial and respectful learning and working environment. We cannot
prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious. At the same time, MIT deeply
values civility, mutual respect, and uninhibited, wide-open debate. In fostering such debate,
we have a responsibility to express ourselves in ways that consider the prospect of offense
and injury and the risk of discouraging others from expressing their own views. This
responsibility complements, and does not conflict with, the right to free expression. Evenrobust disagreements shall not be liable to official censure or disciplinary action. This applies
broadly. For example, when MIT leaders speak on matters of public interest, whether in theirown voice or in the name of MIT, this should always be understood as being open to debate
by the broader MIT community.

MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom

2A commitment to free expression includes hearing and hosting speakers, including those
whose views or opinions may not be shared by many members of the MIT community andmay be harmful to some. This commitment includes the freedom to criticize and peacefully
protest speakers to whom one may object, but it does not extend to suppressing or restricting
such speakers from expressing their views. Debate and deliberation of controversial ideas arehallmarks of the Institute’s educational and research missions and are essential to the pursuitof truth, knowledge, equity, and justice.
MIT has played a leading role in the continuing transformation of communication
technology, and recent digital and networked modes of speech make our campus moreaccessible to all. At the same time, those technologies make our campus more disembodied
and more vulnerable to the pull of ideological extremes. Although new modes of speechchange the character of expression, such technologies need not and should not lessen ourcommitment to the values underlying free speech, even as we adapt creatively to meet theneeds of our physical and virtual landscapes.