Free speech ‘stifled’ as universities cancel record number of speakers

[Eldorado]

The Office for Students found that nearly 200 requests for events and speakers were rejected by English universities and colleges in 2020-21, up from 94 in the previous academic year. 

Susan Lapworth, the watchdog’s interim chief executive, said she was concerned about the possibility that “lawful views are being stifled”. 

She warned universities that they would face regulatory intervention if they failed to meet their obligations on freedom of speech. 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/free-speech-stifled-as-universities-cancel-record-number-of-speakers/ar-AAZzVxA?

[Silver]

From the article:

Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: “This is a deeply worrying trend, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

“In the past 12 months, the Free Speech Union has helped hundreds of students and academics who’ve got into trouble for pushing back against ideological orthodoxy on campus, whether it’s refusing to do unconscious bias training, criticising their university’s links with Stonewall, objecting to the decolonisation of the curriculum, or daring to point out that George Floyd had a criminal record.”

Toby Young is a slightly more acceptable Tommy Robinson. The Free Speech Union is a Tory supported organisation that attempts to stifle free speech.

Free Speech Union - Wikipedia

Edited July 14, 2022 by The Silver Shroud

[Eldorado]

Andrea Jenkyns, the newly-appointed minister for higher education, said: “Universities and colleges must be places that champion debate and diversity of thought and this government has warned of the chilling effect of censorship on our campuses.

“While we know that the pandemic made it difficult for many organisations to arrange speaking events, this sharp rise in rejected speakers is very concerning.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/talk-of-free-speech-crisis-at-universities-e2-80-98at-odds-with-evidence-e2-80-99-union-say/ar-AAZA3Gs

[Knob Oddy]

1 hour ago, The Silver Shroud said:

From the article:

Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: “This is a deeply worrying trend, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

“In the past 12 months, the Free Speech Union has helped hundreds of students and academics who’ve got into trouble for pushing back against ideological orthodoxy on campus, whether it’s refusing to do unconscious bias training, criticising their university’s links with Stonewall, objecting to the decolonisation of the curriculum, or daring to point out that George Floyd had a criminal record.”

Toby Young is a slightly more acceptable Tommy Robinson. The Free Speech Union is a Tory supported organisation that attempts to stifle free speech.

Free Speech Union - Wikipedia

Who made you the acceptable speech police?

I understand the only criminal speech Tommy has done was to reveal the names of criminals who groomed and abused children, despite the names being suppressed by the courts because they were all Muslim sounding names

[Silver]

2 minutes ago, Knob Oddy said:

Who made you the acceptable speech police?

I understand the only criminal speech Tommy has done was to reveal the names of criminals who groomed and abused children, despite the names being suppressed by the courts because they were all Muslim sounding names

'Tommy' ( Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) is a convicted criminal several times over- stalking, fraud, I think also contempt of court, hate speech, domestic abuse- I can't be bothered to look it all up but he is a lowlife. Wasn't he deported from some country recently as an undesireable? It is a shame he was sent back here. Oh yes, he also tried to whip up illegal reviews of a restaurant which told him to move his sorry ass from their table, which made the headlines. He was convicted of spending thousands of defrauded money on prostitutes and drugs- is he in prison at the moment? 

[Silver]

15 minutes ago, Knob Oddy said:

Who made you the acceptable speech police?

I understand the only criminal speech Tommy has done was to reveal the names of criminals who groomed and abused children, despite the names being suppressed by the courts because they were all Muslim sounding names

Oh, you were defending Tommy Robinson. I was talking about Toby Young. They are much the same, lol!

Edited July 14, 2022 by The Silver Shroud

[Knob Oddy]

5 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

'Tommy' ( Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) is a convicted criminal several times over- stalking, fraud, I think also contempt of court, hate speech, domestic abuse- I can't be bothered to look it all up but he is a lowlife. Wasn't he deported from some country recently as an undesireable? It is a shame he was sent back here. Oh yes, he also tried to whip up illegal reviews of a restaurant which told him to move his sorry ass from their table, which made the headlines. He was convicted of spending thousands of defrauded money on prostitutes and drugs- is he in prison at the moment? 

I'm not saying he is a good person. In fact, Lauren Southern released a documentary this week. It was quite revealing about the type of person Tommy was (and also milo).

As far as I am concerned, he treated those around him like pieces of ****.

 

It doesn't discredit what he was saying or his ability to speak freely about any topic. Judge the speech, not the person

 

Edit: any leftist who wanted material about some of the "far right" influencers misdeeds should watch her documentary. Its full of dirt about these people 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Knob Oddy

[Knob Oddy]

4 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Oh, you were defending Tommy Robinson. I was talking about Toby Young. They are much the same, lol!

Tommies real name is Stephen Lenin. So I thought you were listing his crimes, which appear to be correct as per your list

[Silver]

4 minutes ago, Knob Oddy said:

I'm not saying he is a good person. In fact, Lauren Southern released a documentary this week. It was quite revealing about the type of person Tommy was (and also milo).

As far as I am concerned, he treated those around him like pieces of ****.

 

It doesn't discredit what he was saying or his ability to speak freely about any topic. Judge the speech, not the person

Dr Shipman had a nice bedside manner and his sister loved him. Nobody is all bad, we need to look for the positives.

[Knob Oddy]

1 minute ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Dr Shipman had a nice bedside manner and his sister loved him. Nobody is all bad, we need to look for the positives.

If you decide who can speak and who can't, you might be surprised which list you are on

[Silver]

2 minutes ago, Knob Oddy said:

If you decide who can speak and who can't, you might be surprised which list you are on

So do you support Toby Young? And why, if you do?

[spartan max2]

As long as the speaking engagements are voluntary events than I don't think we should be banning speakers.

Except for very extreme circumstances. Like someone preaching violent revolution against the government, violence, or probably some other stuff. I think the guidelines for restricting speakers needs to be very specific and clear. 

Being simply contraversal should be enough to be banned 

Edited July 14, 2022 by spartan max2

[Silver]

1 hour ago, Eldorado said:

Andrea Jenkyns, the newly-appointed minister for higher education, said: “Universities and colleges must be places that champion debate and diversity of thought and this government has warned of the chilling effect of censorship on our campuses.

“While we know that the pandemic made it difficult for many organisations to arrange speaking events, this sharp rise in rejected speakers is very concerning.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/talk-of-free-speech-crisis-at-universities-e2-80-98at-odds-with-evidence-e2-80-99-union-say/ar-AAZA3Gs

Would that be the Andrea Jenkyns that gave the finger to the public for booing Johnson and warned them "you just wait!"? Yeah, free speech is welcome as long as it is pro-Tory.

Edited July 14, 2022 by The Silver Shroud

[zep73]

2 hours ago, Eldorado said:

The Office for Students found that nearly 200 requests for events and speakers were rejected by English universities and colleges in 2020-21, up from 94 in the previous academic year. 

Are they sure it's not because of the lockdowns? Most education around the western world went on at home during that period.

[Silver]

5 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

As long as the speaking engagements are voluntary events than I don't think we should be banning speakers.

Except for very extreme circumstances. Like someone preaching violent revolution against the government, violence, or probably some other stuff. I think the guidelines for restricting speakers needs to be very specific and clear. 

Being simply contraversal should be enough to be banned 

Being stupid, devisive, and promoting populist propoganda should be enough to get someone banned. Farage and Trump for example, should be banned from university campuses unless they were billed as comedy turns. Boris Johnson should be allowed just as an academic study into populism. 

[Duke Wellington]

1 hour ago, The Silver Shroud said:

From the article:

Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: “This is a deeply worrying trend, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

“In the past 12 months, the Free Speech Union has helped hundreds of students and academics who’ve got into trouble for pushing back against ideological orthodoxy on campus, whether it’s refusing to do unconscious bias training, criticising their university’s links with Stonewall, objecting to the decolonisation of the curriculum, or daring to point out that George Floyd had a criminal record.”

Toby Young is a slightly more acceptable Tommy Robinson. The Free Speech Union is a Tory supported organisation that attempts to stifle free speech.

Free Speech Union - Wikipedia

Hang on, this is a democracy, everyone has a right to debate.

If you dont agree with something you dont vote for it, you dont send out the speech and thought police. This is typical lefty behaviour trying to make everything they dont personally agree with illegal, or cancelled.

Yet it is not their country, it is all of our country.

Edited July 14, 2022 by Cookie Monster

[Duke Wellington]

2 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Being stupid, devisive, and promoting populist propoganda should be enough to get someone banned. Farage and Trump for example, should be banned from university campuses unless they were billed as comedy turns. Boris Johnson should be allowed just as an academic study into populism. 

Populism means whats popular with the electorate.

Right there in your answer you just said you are against democracy.

[Eldorado]

Everyone who offends us should be banned from speaking!

So much for equality, diversity and inclusion, eh.

Edited July 14, 2022 by Eldorado

[Silver]

4 minutes ago, Eldorado said:

Everyone who offends us should be banned from speaking!

So much for equality, diversity and inclusion, eh.

Do you not agree hate speech should be banned?

[Silver]

6 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

Populism means whats popular with the electorate.

Right there in your answer you just said you are against democracy.

What is popular with the electorate is not necessarily democracy. Your degree in Politics may have missed this out.

[Duke Wellington]

7 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Do you not agree hate speech should be banned?

No, I think you should be told to man up personally.

Enough of this wrapping people up in cotton wool and trying to force everyone else to agree with their lifestyle choices and bogus identities not supported by science.

Its making society full of weak people.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Cookie Monster

[Eldorado]

8 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Do you not agree hate speech should be banned?

Speech that is unlawful should not be tolerated.  In modern Britain "hate speech" can be anything that gets someone else's knickers in a twist.

It'll soon be a crime to hurt somebody's feelings, ffs!

Edited July 15, 2022 by Eldorado

[SHaYap]

Wait till all these folks get a load of this... 

Quote

The world population will pass 8 billion at the end of 2022

It passed its last milestone – 7 billion in 2011. And, by the end of 2022, it will pass another one: there will be 8 billion people in the world. While this rate of absolute growth is similar to previous decades, the growth rate continues to fall.3 days ago

https://ourworldindata.org › world-p...

Five key findings from the 2022 UN Population Prospects

~

 

[acidhead]

9 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Do you not agree hate speech should be banned?

Depends on "who" decides "what" is defined as hate speech.  

[+and-then]

2 hours ago, The Silver Shroud said:

Toby Young is a slightly more acceptable Tommy Robinson. The Free Speech Union is a Tory supported organisation that attempts to stifle free speech.

The irony here is palpable.  The same Berkley crowd of anti-war protesters who demanded freedom of speech on campus, grew up to train the next generation in targeted intolerance.  What a bunch of clowns.