When this motion was passed last year, the arguments against came not from the right, but from self-defined leftists who argued that it may be necessary from time to time to stop speakers with objectionable views (for example misogynists, supporters of UKIP, etc.) from coming on to campus, in order to protect oppressed groups. We replied that freedom of speech is especially important for oppressed groups, who are the most vulnerable when it comes to government censorship.
Already the state and university managements are determined to clamp down on any debate that may lead to rowdiness or controversy. Student unions should not add to the censorious atmosphere by banning speakers or societies.
For more on universities, capitalism and free speech, see here.
Freedom of speech and organisation on campus
Motion passed by University College London Union, March 2015
UCLU notes
• That there has been a rise in instances of meetings, debates and publications being suppressed on university campuses, whether by campus authorities, the Home Office/police or sometimes by student unions themselves.
• That in one particularly alarming case recently a university management (at Birkbeck) closed down a conference because a far-right racist group threatened to picket it.
• That the government’s proposed Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill risks challenging freedom of speech on campus by allowing the government to insist that universities ban speakers that it disapproves of from speaking.
• That this year is the 50th anniversary of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, when students at the University of California, Berkeley demanded that their university management lift the ban of on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students' right to free speech and academic freedom.
UCLU believes
• That the right to free expression is a fundamental human right, one that is most crucial for the student movement and the most oppressed in society. Freedom of speech and organisation are essential for any struggle against oppression to be successful.
• That for freedom of expression to be genuinely established on campus, it must extend to those whose views may be regarded as objectionable.
• That if a precedent is set that free speech can be curtailed on campus, whether by the state, college authorities or students, that precedent can be turned against the student movement, campus protests and liberation struggles.
• That student unions should generally champion free speech and organisation, and advocate their curtailment only in extreme circumstances, such as when speakers incite violence.
• That fascist organising and presence on campus must be opposed and stopped, not because it leads to offensive speech, but because it contributes to violent, organised attacks on students, especially oppressed groups.
UCLU resolves
• To campaign for freedom of speech and organisation on campus and in broader society.
• To continue to advocate “No platform for fascists” as an exception to this general approach.