[slivym]

I hate this debate. Firstly, this headline is terrible - the BBC basically states that Universities do not censor speech and the facts back them up. They make the perfectly valid point that practically all 'censorship', 'no platforming' and 'protests' cited are actually carried out by independent bodies such as student unions. The Spectator is just factually wrong, they're trying to conflate debates about what are valid ideas to discuss between independent political bodies at universities with the idea that the universities themselves are taking an active role in censoring speech which is incorrect.

Secondly, and more broadly though - it should be down to the people at university to decide what they discuss, what should be beyond discussion at their university and how those ideas should be discussed. No student is restrained from going outside of their campus to discuss ideas either. It's also not the same thing stopping someone speaking and stopping someone using university resources to speak. What this debate actually seems to be about is older, right wing people attempting to force their right wing view points into universities that simply aren't receptive to them. It's not good enough for Tom Slater that students simply don't want to hear his fact-free anecdata about censorship. The arguments simply don't stand up to basic scrutiny- if the problem is that Tommy Robinson is having his free speech curtailed, then quick! Take down those videos of him standing on stage outside the high court, take down that interview at the Oxford Union, censor those pictures of him having lunch in the House of Lords. But if one of the most famous right wing campaigners is being censored then I need a bit more evidence for it than just the convicted fraudsters word for it.