Free speech tsar: students won’t be protected if they call for genocide
Free speech laws won’t protect you if you call for genocide, England’s academic freedom tsar has told students amid pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Arif Ahmed, a former Cambridge University philosophy professor who is the first Office for Students (OfS) director overseeing free speech at universities, told The Telegraph that calls for genocide, or speech that incites violence, will not be protected “under any circumstances” by new free speech legislation.
Prof Ahmed said: “Under no circumstances is there any possibility that any speech that amounts to illegal harassment, any speech that stirs up racial hatred, calls for genocide, none of those could possibly be protected under any circumstances by this legislation, by our complaints scheme.”
Prof Ahmed joined the OfS, the higher education regulator, after the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill became law in May.
On Thursday, the OfS will publish a consultation on its proposed free-to-use complaints scheme for students, staff and visiting speakers, as well as its approach to regulating students’ unions on free speech matters.
Ccompensation for failing to uphold free speech
Under the proposed complaints scheme, someone can complain to the OfS about a loss that they have suffered because a university, college, or students’ union has not taken steps to secure their free speech within the law.
When asked whether it would be acceptable for a student or academic to be sanctioned for supporting an intifada or using the phrase “from the river to the sea”, Prof Ahmed said he would be reluctant to say whether a phrase is always going to be acceptable or not as it depends “on a variety of factors”.
Prof Ahmed’s warning comes after a series of controversial pro-Palestine protests at UK and US universities.
In October, a group of Oxford academics submitted a motion to the local University College Union branch calling for “intifada until victory”. However, the motion was later cancelled after the university raised “serious legal concerns”.
In another controversy, a booklet handed out at Bristol University protests praised Hamas.
Meanwhile, Hanin Barghouti, the women’s officer at Sussex University’s student union, hailed Hamas’ Oct 7 attacks as “a victory”.
The OfS consultation suggests that an institution may be told to make a “payment of sums” to the complainant if the OfS decides that the free speech complaint is justified.
The complaints scheme will not launch until Aug 1 2024. The OfS plans to limit its review to complaints about matters that occurred on or after that date.
Prof Ahmed said that universities, colleges and students’ unions in England which fail to uphold free speech duties would be named publicly by the higher education watchdog.
Students’ unions in England will also need to take steps to secure legal free speech for students, staff and visiting speakers under legislation, and they will need to maintain a code of practice to support this.
A Universities UK spokesman said: “Freedom of speech and academic freedom sit right at the heart of universities’ purpose, and the sector takes its responsibility to protect and promote them extremely seriously.
“It is crucial that the Office for Students and the sector as a whole works together to ensure that everyone on campus feels able to share their lawful views and opinions without fear of censorship.”
