[FOSDEM] Academic Freedom vs CoC at FOSDEM

[Daniel Pocock]

On 10/01/2022 13:31, Jens at trendhosting.net wrote:
> I'll bite, but only once.
> 
> I read the Anderson case ruling, and it's quite interesting. The court
> agreed with the professor, but on the merits of the case as presented,
> not on anything relating to codes of conduct or academic liberty in
> general.
> 
> What's important to understand is that Dr. Anderson got fired after
> posting anti-semitic content. The contract the university had with Dr.
> Anderson granted him academic liberty, but also referred to a code of
> conduct as the standards to which employees should adhere.
> 
> The court case revolved entirely around the technicalities of how the
> firing was conducted. The problem was just contractual. The contract
> was not explicit in giving appropriate weight to the code of conduct
> in comparison to the guarantees of academic freedom given elsewhere.

This question of how much weight to give the code of conduct is just as
critical in free software organizations.  As you point out, most people
are not employees but the CoC may be balanced against other rights.

Notice that the NTEU (union of university staff) made a statement about
their decision to fund the law suit.  The funding was not automatic.
The NTEU also has members who are Jewish.


> In other words, your example of Dr. Anderson is misleading. It does
> not relate in any meaningful way, nor does it have anything to say about
> the value of academic freedom versus a code of conduct.
> 
> Whether intentional or not, I won't judge, but you are far from
> "presenting both sides of the story".
> 
> You're also undermining the efforts of a team of volunteers to run as
> inclusive an event as possible. They're very likely so busy that they
> won't be able to goole for and read the ruling as I have done. Refering
> to it preys on their good intentions, which effectively turns this claim
> that the case is relevant into a social engineering denial of service attack.

My intention was the opposite.  I didn't expect anybody to drop what
they are doing and join a CoC discussion.  I feel that having a
guarantee of academic liberty would be liberating.

Under the previous White House CoC, many employees were fired for
telling the truth, for example Lt. Col. Vindman.  People felt like they
were walking on eggshells.  It is interesting to look at the first TV
interview with Dr Fauci after the change of president / change of CoC,
he simply looks happier that he can say what is technically correct even
if it is inconvenient for his latest boss.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/anthony-fauci-trump-biden/index.html

Regards,

Daniel

-- 
Debian Developer
https://danielpocock.com