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England’s campus free speech tsar says ‘shocking’ ideas must be protected and foreign interference rebuffed

Former Cambridge philosophy professor Arif Ahmed will oversee a new complaints regime from August

Professor Arif Ahmed has been appointed as the Office for Students' first Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom. Photograph: Cambridge University

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Mark Paul in London
Sat Mar 30 2024 - 05:00

Lucrative education and research partnerships between universities in England and institutions linked to autocratic regimes abroad could be shut down under a new regime to protect free speech on campus.

Arif Ahmed, who was a Cambridge philosophy professor before he was appointed by the UK government as England’s campus free speech tsar, said the deals could be ended or a renegotiation ordered if evidence emerged that foreign students were under speech constraints while studying in England.

Concerns have been repeatedly raised among UK politicians about the influence wielded in British universities by, for example, China’s Confucius Institutes. Similar questions have been raised about the UCD Confucius Institute in Dublin.

A Westminster parliamentary committee last year concluded that the institutes, which have partnerships with several big universities, were seeking to control narratives around China.

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Ahmed was appointed to his campus free speech tsar role last year under the auspices of the Office for Students (OFS), the regulator for universities in England. He has broad powers to intervene with universities and also with students’ unions to force them to protect free expression.

“The duty [of universities] to protect freedom of speech extends to all students studying at universities here, whether they are international students or not,” Ahmed told The Irish Times in an interview this week, as he discussed a planned further beefing up this summer of England’s speech protection regime.

He said his office would probably intervene in cases where, for example, international students arrived to study in England under rules on their freedom of expression set by a foreign institute or government. He said it would be an “an issue of concern” if such students had to agree to political speech rules “or take orders from an embassy” while in England.

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He also cited his concern over the potential “chilling effect” of an over reliance on partnerships with institutes from “autocracies” abroad, even if there were no formal rules restricting students’ speech.

Ahmed’s power to intervene with England’s universities to force them to address concerns over campus free speech is rooted in the OFS’s role in distributing UK taxpayers’ funds. Universities must be registered with the OFS to receive public cash – their registration could be threatened if they fail to implement his recommendations.

His role was established by parliament after universities became increasingly dragged into Britain’s so-called “culture wars”. Examples include invited speakers on controversial topics, such as trans rights or the war in Gaza, having events cancelled due to objections by specific interest groups. He says he also has concerns about academics being sanctioned by their employers after complaints.

Freedom of speech, within the law, must include ideas that are highly shocking, offensive and disturbing

—  Prof Arif Ahmed

Ahmed this week cited seven-year-old research from trade unions that showed 34 per cent of UK academics were self censoring out of fear of criticism. This was almost twice as high as the relevant figure for elsewhere in Europe at the time, he said.

He also cited a survey last year by the OFS where he is based, which found that one in seven students felt they were unable to freely express themselves on campus.

“That is alarmingly high,” said Ahmed. He said the OFS would commission further research to track fear of self censorship among academics since the 2017 poll by trade unions.

A new complaints regime kicks off in England’s universities in August (Wales’s, Scotland’s and Northern Ireland’s universities are overseen by devolved administrations).

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Students, academics, visiting speakers and other complainants will be able to bring free speech complaints against institutions and students’ unions to Ahmed’s office for investigation. Previously, complainants often had to resort to expensive legal procedures.

In September 2025, the rules linking England’s universities’ registration to their obligation to protect free speech will also be strengthened, making it easier to withhold public cash from institutions that are accused of allowing free expression to become restrained.

Ahmed refused this week to get drawn on specifics, such as whether restrictions over the chanting on campus of the phrase “from the river to the sea” by pro-Palestinian protesters would be of concern to his office.

“Freedom of speech, within the law, must include ideas that are highly shocking, offensive and disturbing,” said Ahmed. He said it was vital to protect the expression of such ideas, especially if they were related to issues of political controversy.

“If they cannot be discussed freely [on campus], that raises questions of democratic legitimacy.”

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