An Educator's Guide to What's Changing at Twitter Now That Elon Musk Owns the Platform That Connects Many Teachers and School Leaders

Twitter chats sparked the connected educator movement and gave many educators support and a voice. But Twitter gave a megaphone to all voices and movements raising questions about free speech and the limits of what we should be able to say on social media. It turns out that free speech is not as free as many of us believe, and though we have the right to speak, we don’t have a right to be heard. These are two of several discoveries we found among our misunderstandings about our freedom to say what we want, any way we want. Listen to this thoughtful and informed conversation about what’s changing at Twitter and why it matters now that Elon Musk bought the social media platform that many educators rely on for informal professional learning.

Follow on Twitter: @Eric_Heinze @SuzanneNossel @jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork

Eric Heinze (Maîtrise, Paris; JD, Harvard; Ph.D. Leiden), a former Fulbright, DAAD and Chateaubriand fellow, is Professor of Law and Humanities at Queen Mary, University of London. He writes on justice theory and on human rights, and has worked with the International Commission of Jurists and the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. He has advised NGOs on human rights, including Liberty, Amnesty International and the Media Diversity Institute. Heinze is author of The Most Human Right: Why Free Speech Is Everything.

Suzanne Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, the foremost organization working to protect and advance human rights, free expression and literature. She has also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; and held senior State Department positions in the Clinton and Obama administrations. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Nossel frequently writes op-eds for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications, as well as a regular column for Foreign Policy magazine. She lives in New York City. Nosssel is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.

Jonathan Zimmerman is the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former Peace Corps volunteer, he is the author of Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know and seven other books. He is also a frequent op-ed contributor to The New York Times, the Washington Post, and other national newspapers and magazines. Zimmerman received the 2019 Open Inquiry Leadership Award from Heterodox Academy, which promotes viewpoint diversity in higher education. Zimmerman is author of Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn.