BY ANNA FEDER

This blog post will also be published in the Academic Freedom on the Line newsletter, a project of the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom.

In August of last year, I was fired from my staff position at Emerson College for screening the documentary film Israelism and for supporting the “People’s University” encampment that our brilliant and brave students erected to call for the administration to disclose and divest from investments in Israel and to advocate for Palestinian liberation. Standing with students of conscience and principled faculty and staff colleagues was one of the greatest honors of my life. Since I departed from Emerson, I have been building solidarity with academics facing repression for their stances on Palestine and working with the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom (CDAF) to gather resources to share with college and university communities. Below is an introduction to the work I have been doing for the past few months with CDAF Program Coordinator Kate Taylor and CDAF Director Isaac Kamola to incorporate materials into the Academic Freedom Field Guide.

Access to legal advice is one of the most critical resources for academics facing disciplinary action. It’s hard to know where to begin when you’re unsure if lawyers can assist with your difficulties and when your financial resources are limited. Palestine Legal is usually the best place to start when the friction with your institution is around advocacy for Palestine. You can fill out their intake form; they usually respond in a few days with contacts for lawyers in your area.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Mass Defense Program is a network of activists, community members, organizers, legal workers, law students, and lawyers who provide legal support for protests and movements. Find your local chapter or consult the referral directory. The NLG provides guidance for setting up a legal defense fund (with additional information here) and a directory of attorneys specializing in immigration issues. You can find the rest of the legal resources we gathered in the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom section of the AAUP website.

Digital security is another pressing concern for many academics who find themselves newly minted activists and organizers. I recommend starting with a webinar that 18 Million Rising hosted in late March, “Digital Security for Activists on the Go,” which can be found on YouTube. Another excellent starting point is Privacy Guides, a not-for-profit, volunteer-run project that hosts online communities and publishes news and recommendations about privacy and security tools, services, and knowledge. They offer an extensive list of tools, including information about browsers, email, VPNs, cloud storage, and much more. The site also provides a series of helpful videos, a forum, and a section on privacy best practices. Please visit CDAF web pages for more digital security tools and best practices.

Given the nature of harassment they have experienced,  the folks I have been working with demonstrate the need for both preventive measures as well as rapid response for those who have been doxed. Doxing happens when malicious actors can find personally identifiable information online, so protecting oneself from doxing starts by reducing the amount of private information that someone can find. You can dox yourself to see your sensitive personal information that is easily searchable online. Digital Defense offers some guidance. The ACLU also has some guidelines to defend against doxing and online harassment. Equality Labs is a Dalit-led, feminist digital security, technology, and political organizing startup dedicated to progressive power-building. They provide practical tools for activists and a comprehensive Anti-Doxing Guide for Activists. For more resources on dox defense, we encourage you to check out CDAF’s web page.

Groups seeking to discredit faculty and academic institutions have also been weaponizing the Freedom of Information (FOI) process. If your emails or other documents have been requested through a FOI process, you can consult CDAF’s Action Report #1, which offers  guidelines about how you and your institution might respond in ways that protect your privacy and academic freedom.

We are creating a guide to the considerable amount of “know-your-rights” training resources, which are in constant flux as the attacks on our rights as academics and citizens intensify. We are also planning to host weekly digital security “office hours” that we expect to launch in the coming weeks. Join the CDAF mailing list, sign up for the newsletter, and follow us on social media as we refine and add to our resource offerings.

Anna Feder is a consultant for the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom. She is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Emerson College for wrongful termination and infringing on her free speech rights. Feder has also launched a traveling festival of social justice cinema called Resistance of Vision.