'Horrendously misleading': WaPo blatantly lies about Ron DeSantis' push for academic freedom because the truth is far less inflammatory

Shocking news from the Washington Post about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing push for academic freedom:

In push against “indoctrination,” DeSantis mandates surveys of Florida students’ beliefs https://t.co/KzFaoeVP9r

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 24, 2021

Wow. Ron DeSantis is mandating surveys of college students’ beliefs? How is that even legal? How is that not a total violation of the First Amendment?

Well, as it turns out, what Ron DeSantis signed into law not illegal, and it’s not a violation of the First Amendment. Because what he signed into law is not what the Washington Post’s headline would have you believe.

Wow. He did nothing of the sort. https://t.co/lEyHdLYCxG

— HouseRepEEE (D) (@EEElverhoy) June 24, 2021

This is not what it does. This is a horrendously misleading headline. https://t.co/onTSvr19BL

— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) June 24, 2021

A horrendously misleading headline? From the Washington Post? The devil, you say!

"It does not ask student, faculty and staff what their viewpoints are, but whether they feel free to express their viewpoints, whatever they may be. It is a survey about the academic environment, not the political beliefs of members of the academic community." https://t.co/yN1Pa1TKzS

— 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘑. 𝘋𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 (@StevenJDuffield) June 24, 2021

This simply isn't true, as @jadler1969 has pointed out. It's a survey that asks only if people feel that they are free to express their views on campus. It doesn't ask what their views are, and it expressly reaffirms the First Amendment in its text. https://t.co/hyg6OocXze

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 24, 2021

The statutory language in question calls for surveying whether viewpoint diversity is tolerated and encouraged, not the ideological views of individual faculty or students. IOW, it is focused on things university administrators should be concerned about anyway.

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) June 23, 2021

The bill text is here: https://t.co/CSLIfW37lw
It suggests administering something like the @HdxAcademy survey on viewpoint diversity and the climate for speech on campus. We've administered that at @CWRU and the results were useful.

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) June 23, 2021

There is nothing problematic with a state legislature seeking to ensure that state universities are open to the range of viewpoints held by the state's citizens, i.e. those who fund and are the purported beneficiaries of state higher education.

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) June 23, 2021

State efforts to control, direct, censor or otherwise constrain teaching, research or other activities of state institutions of higher education are quite problematic. Unlike what's been alleged in some places (e.g. North Carolina), this is not that.

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) June 23, 2021

Jonathan Adler wrote up a whole piece about DeSantis’ legislation, and, unlike what WaPo put out, it’s not sensationalist garbage.

Does a New Florida Law Require State Universities to Monitor Faculty and Student Beliefs? https://t.co/DIKlVL3Fjc via @reason @VolokhC

— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) June 24, 2021

God forbid WaPo take a page from Adler’s book instead of their own demented one.

This is a lie.#FakeNews https://t.co/816MxPpFri

— #JohnMcAfeeDidntKillHimself (@Crapplefratz) June 24, 2021

This is, of course, a lie. https://t.co/lbEMYam5hR

— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) June 24, 2021

This headline warrants an apologetic retraction https://t.co/rBHxw4A0m3

— Anabel (@LadyLibertas76) June 24, 2021

As you can see from the replies, all sorts of people are freaking out — there's at least one Hitler comparison — because the Washington Post couldn't clear the very low bar of not blasting out a false internet rumor via its giant main feed. This needs to be deleted/corrected. https://t.co/VAXrPeiCf3

— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) June 24, 2021

It certainly does merit an extensive correction, but we won’t hold our breath. Because this is the Washington Post we’re dealing with, after all.