UK Parliament Report on Campus Free Speech

The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights released a report on the state of freedom of speech at universities in England and Wales. The report details the scale of the problem and the specific ways in which free speech may be inhibited on campuses. Recommendations are made to students, universities, and government authorities for protecting speech.

The report establishes the importance of free speech to democracy while noting legal restrictions on speech. Speech which "incites murder, violence or terrorism; stirs up racial hatred, or hatred to other groups; causes fear of violence, alarm or distress, constitutes harassment or is defamatory or malicious" may be restricted under the law. Importantly, it also notes that the law "does not prohibit speech which others may find upsetting or offensive." With these limits to legal speech in mind, the report lists several ways in which free speech is unduly inhibited at universities:

• intolerant attitudes, often incorrectly using the banner of “no platforming” and “safe-space” policies;
• incidents of unacceptable intimidatory behaviour by protestors intent on preventing free speech and debate;
• unnecessary bureaucracy imposed on those organising events;
• fear and confusion over what the Prevent duty entails;
• regulatory complexity;
• unduly complicated and cautious guidance from the Charity Commission;
• concern by student unions not to infringe what they perceive to be restrictions

The Prevent duty is anti-extremist/anti-terrorist regulation that requires institutes of higher education to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism." The Charity Commission is the government body regulating charities and it also imposes guidelines on student unions stating they "should not comment publicly on issues which do not affect the welfare of students as students."

The inquiry found that free speech restrictions most often occur for controversial issues where there is strong emotional debate. The scale of the problem was determined to be largely overblown by media coverage. Those surveyed mostly expressed that people could speak freely at their universities. The report states, "Any inhibition on lawful free speech is serious, and there have been such incursions, but we did not find the wholesale censorship of debate in universities which media coverage has suggested." The report also expresses concern that the restrictions on speech that do exist may create a "chilling effect" on speech in general.

The following recommendations are made to protect free speech on campus:

• That an independent review of the Prevent policy is necessary to assess what impact it is having on students and free speech, after evidence the Committee took demonstrated an adverse effect on events with student faith groups
• That the Charity Commission, which regulates student unions as registered charities, review its approach and guidance, and that its actions are proportionate and are adequately explained to student unions and don’t unnecessarily limit free speech
• That the Office for Students should ensure university policies proactively secure lawful free speech and are not overly burdensome
• That student societies should not stop other student societies from holding their meetings. They have the right to protest but must not seek to stop events entirely
• That while there must be opportunities for genuinely sensitive discussions, and that the whole of the university cannot be a “safe space.” Universities must be places where open debate can take place so that students can develop their own opinions on unpopular, controversial or provocative ideas
• Groups or individuals holding unpopular opinions which are within the law should not be shut down nor be subject to undue additional scrutiny by student unions or universities.

A limited number student and university representatives were surveyed for this report so it is also recommended that a survey be conducted of the wider student body to get a better sense of students' confidence in the ability to speak freely.

Free speech must be protected, especially in the university setting, from restrictions both legal and social. Even a small number of violations of the right of students to listen or speak freely can have large effect on their willingness to do so. The UK is at a precarious point where freedom of expression is in danger of being eroded. It has already begun with legal repercussions for subjective 'offense.' It is at least encouraging that one government body, the Joint Committee on Human Rights, recognizes that the law should protect speech which others may find upsetting or offensive.

Report: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtrights/589/589.pdf

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