Campus and academic freedom
The Free Speech Union has covered 204 stories on this topic. Browse our coverage below.
2 September 2026
University of Sunderland accused of muzzling an academic over his views on assisted dying
A Sunderland academic says he was warned over his emeritus title after campaigning against assisted dying online — a case the FSU says highlights the growing pressure on academics to self-censor lawful views.
14 August 2026
The Jason Arday saga exposes the Met Police's troubling pattern on free speech
FSU Campaigns Officer Max Thompson, writing for GB News, argues the Met Police's investigations into Graham Linehan and journalist Jack Grove over the Jason Arday affair show a force still willing to police lawful speech rather than crime.
10 August 2026
In a desperate bid to avoid scrutiny, Professor Arday tried to use the police to silence a journalist and an academic
Professor Jason Arday, facing scrutiny over his academic record, reported a journalist and a fellow academic to the police. The Met investigated the journalist for four months before its Commissioner admitted it had "dropped the ball" — Lord Young has written to demand an explanation.
7 August 2026
The Green Party wanted Jonathan Sacerdoti arrested
A Green Party canvasser complained to police after Jonathan Sacerdoti challenged her on his own doorstep. The FSU-funded lawyer helped see off a baseless harassment investigation.
7 August 2026
New FSU Member Testimonial: Brodie Mitchell
Politics student Brodie Mitchell was suspended by Royal Holloway for seven weeks after a campus row. The FSU funded his High Court case, helping him return to his studies and secure a settlement.
5 August 2026
Ian Mactaggart Programme: a year of free speech on campus
A round-up of the Ian Mactaggart Programme's 2025–26 academic year, in which FSU grants supported more than sixteen university societies and individual students across debating, free speech advocacy, journalism, podcasts and one-off events.
5 August 2026
The Free Speech Union secures solicitor for Wings Over Scotland editor after police sought middle-of-the-night arrest
Police threatened Wings Over Scotland editor Stuart Campbell with a 2am arrest over a harassment complaint from a trans activist. The Free Speech Union secured him a solicitor, who negotiated a voluntary interview instead.
29 July 2026
FSU helps Nick Buckley MBE keep his honour after Whitehall committee threat
Nick Buckley MBE faced losing his honour after a Whitehall committee accused him of bringing the honours system into disrepute over his social media posts. With the FSU's help, he has kept his MBE.
22 July 2026
Who is in and who is out of Burnham's Cabinet — and their free speech record
As Andy Burnham replaces Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street, the Free Speech Union looks at who is in, out, demoted and promoted in the new Cabinet — and examines each minister's record on free speech.
22 July 2026
Germany's dystopian free speech crisis
German citizens are being fined and threatened with prison for memes, nicknames and mockery of politicians, as speech laws meant to guard democracy are turned against ordinary political comment.
22 July 2026
Member testimonial: Professor Michael Rainsborough on holding King's College London to account
Professor Michael Rainsborough, former Head of War Studies at King's College London, explains how the FSU helped him expose the university's neglect of academic freedom.
20 July 2026
Education Secretary wasted £500,000 of taxpayers' money attempting to axe university free speech laws
Bridget Phillipson has spent over £500,000 of taxpayers' money trying to water down university free speech laws, after being forced into a U-turn by an FSU legal threat. A complaints scheme for academics launches in September — but students remain excluded.
20 July 2026
Free Speech Union General Secretary and Policy and Research Director attend Parliamentary roundtable on free speech and policing in the wake of Henry Nowak's murder
Lord Young of Acton and David Rose joined MPs, peers and policing experts at a Parliamentary roundtable on policing and free speech following the murder of Henry Nowak, warning that anti-racism initiatives have tipped into discrimination against white working-class men.
19 June 2026
The Government has FINALLY commenced the section in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act to establish a complaints scheme
In a positive move for free speech, the Education has finally commenced the section in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act that establishes a statutory complaints scheme.
10 June 2026
Oxford professor cancels lecture series after pro-trans activist abuse
Oxford professor and expert on equality law Dr Michael Foran has been forced to cancel his lecture series after sustained abuse from trans activists.
11 May 2026
After the High Court ruling on the University of Sussex vs the Office for Students, free speech on campus will be weaker and litigation is set to rise
The High Court ruling in the case of the University of Sussex v the Office for Students (OfS) will weaken free speech on campus and see litigation rise. Students lose out; lawyers will be the only winners.
8 May 2026
GCSE students are being taught that it is their civic duty not to offend
GCSE pupils are being told in a revision guide for Citizenship studies that Britons have a responsibility "to use freedom of speech but not offend".
5 May 2026
Is it a crime to make fun of a keffiyeh?
A student is under police investigation for comparing a Palestine activist's headgear to a 'tea towel' — the latest example of Britain's de facto blasphemy law at work on university campuses.
28 April 2026
The neglect of free speech is a national embarrassment
FSU Campaigns Officer Max Thompson writes in The Telegraph that Britain’s failure to implement the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act is a national embarrassment, with the country now ranking 64th in the world for academic freedom — below Burkina Faso and Malawi.
21 April 2026
Brodie Mitchell and Royal Holloway settle free speech dispute
Royal Holloway and FSU-backed student Brodie Mitchell have reached a settlement in their free speech dispute, with the university making a goodwill payment and acknowledging it could have communicated more clearly.
20 April 2026
Government Finally Addresses Free Speech Crisis at Universities
The FSU welcomes Bridget Phillipson’s decision to introduce the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act’s complaints scheme — a partial victory following the legal challenge the FSU brought against the Education Secretary’s decision to pause the Act.
18 April 2026
FSU Member Testimonial: Connie Shaw disciplined by Leeds University for gender-critical views
Connie Shaw was nearly expelled from the University of Leeds for expressing gender-critical beliefs — including ‘the offence’ of saying it was an honour to interview Graham Linehan. The Free Speech Union helped her beat the charges.
18 April 2026
New survey reveals teenagers don't share their political views for fear of being "cancelled"
A new Economist Educational Foundation survey finds nearly a quarter of 15- to 17-year-olds have held back their political views for fear of being ‘cancelled’ — with one in four also told to stop sharing opinions at school.
8 April 2026
Research biologist at the University of Oxford almost silenced by trans activists within the biology department
Dr Ace North, a research biologist at Oxford, faced disciplinary proceedings after countering gender identity ideology displays in his department with quotes from gender-critical scientists. The FSU secured written assurances protecting his right to hold gender-critical beliefs.
4 February 2026
Jazz lecturer 'forced out' after challenging critical race theory
Jazz lecturer Martin Speake was effectively cancelled after questioning critical race theory — now he's taking Trinity Laban to an employment tribunal with FSU's support.
15 November 2025
Students Fighting Back Against Ideological Conformity at Cambridge
14 November 2025
Building a Culture of Free Expression on Campus
5 November 2025
China is a threat to academic freedom in our universities
30 July 2025
Departing Selwyn College head warns of ideological conformity at Cambridge
2 July 2025
“Freedom-restricting harassment” of gender critical academics creating barriers to research, government review finds
19 June 2025
Universities told to uphold free speech “within the law” in major regulatory shake-up
9 June 2025
Epidemic of “no-contact orders” on US campuses raises free speech concerns
6 May 2025
Linking university funding to diversity initiatives threatens intellectual freedom, say academics
6 May 2025
Survey reveals widespread self-censorship and intimidation in UK arts sector
6 May 2025
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act
3 May 2025
Asking for pronouns ‘non-inclusive’, Liverpool University guidance says
22 April 2025
Call for University President to resign amid academic freedom row at Lyon 2
22 April 2025
Professor fired for questioning gender ideology wins $1.6 million free speech settlement
11 April 2025
Debate competition run by Oxford Union pressures children to declare gender pronouns
7 April 2025
Universities urged to review sex and gender policies after Sussex fined
1 April 2025
Academics sue their own union for campaigning against them
31 March 2025
University of Sussex to fight record fine for free speech failures
28 March 2025
Kathleen Stock renounces academic title over ‘dim-witted’ trans policies
26 March 2025
The Kathleen Stock case shows the OfS means business on free speech
26 March 2025
University of Sussex to challenge £585,000 fine by regulator over transgender free speech case
24 March 2025
Believing in meritocracy is ‘racist microaggression’, polar scientists told
24 March 2025
Cambridge causes bitter row by linking Stephen Hawking to slavery
17 March 2025
Shakespeare’s birthplace to be decolonised after ‘white supremacy’ fears
16 March 2025
Jewish students “scared to leave halls” as societies share Hamas propaganda
14 March 2025
University ‘snooped’ on academics in hunt for chief’s affair leak
11 March 2025
Universities must put academic freedom above commercial interests, says free speech tsar
4 March 2025
“Bias response teams” on US campuses under fire
4 March 2025
Go broke, go woke
2 March 2025
Dr Almut Gadow wins victory for academic freedom
26 February 2025
Lecturer loses tribunal after claiming ‘tone policing’ was a racist micro-aggression
20 February 2025
Lord Hague promises Oxford will be “a home of free speech”
14 February 2025
Elon Musk and the Royal Society: The Campaign to Expel a Fellow
14 February 2025
FSU criticises “upset” students who “can’t sit through” a triggering Shakespeare play
8 February 2025
Universities failing to promote diversity will face funding cuts
30 January 2025
FSU-backed Vice-Chancellor is reinstated
24 January 2025
University regulator under pressure to resolve Kathleen Stock investigation amid battle over watered-down free speech duties
23 January 2025
Student suicide prompts fears of the wider implications of cancel culture
19 January 2025
Banished from history! Scottish education chiefs axe the word ‘slave’ from exams to ‘decolonise’ curriculum
19 January 2025
University accused of fostering division with ‘race-segregated’ classes
18 January 2025
Phillipson faces pressure to revive free speech law before next academic year
16 January 2025
Government Faces Criticism for Shelving Plans to Address Chinese Influence in Universities
16 January 2025
Labour revives free speech law — minus controversial clause
8 January 2025
Royal Society of Literature director and chair quit after free speech rows
6 January 2025
Government pauses higher education free speech act, sparking concerns among campaigners
5 January 2025
Universities say courses too focused on ‘undertakings of white people’
3 January 2025
Epic nonsense: trigger warnings for Greek classics
29 December 2024
Phillipson tried to pull plug on new free speech law days after election
19 December 2024
Freedom of Speech Act “toothless” without right to sue universities, campaigners say
17 December 2024
Labour government gives green light for woke councils to rename streets with links to Empire
13 December 2024
German university refuses to host an exhibition on anti-Jewish pogroms for fear of protests
13 December 2024
Huge increase in anti-Semitism on British campuses
13 December 2024
Professor censored over concerns that citing Victorian historian during public talk suggests pro-colonial viewpoint
11 December 2024
In defence of Connie Shaw
9 December 2024
Student barred from university radio over gender critical views will “keep fighting for free speech”
6 December 2024
Gender-critical student suspended from university radio after posting interview with detransitioner
6 December 2024
Senior academics rally to the defence of Buckingham university’s suspended vice-chancellor
4 December 2024
Oxford Union accused of breaking the law during Israel debate
2 December 2024
Students unable to speak with those who disagree with them, says Ivy League chief
2 December 2024
Theatre bosses issue trigger warnings for Cinderella pantomime over audiences yelling “behind you”
1 December 2024
Oxford Union descends into chaos as students shout down Israeli speakers
28 November 2024
Lord Hague demands end to cancel culture in defence of free speech
25 November 2024
University accused of ‘attributing inherited guilt’ over slavery links
17 November 2024
Geology is racist, claims university professor
12 November 2024
How Oxbridge’s “self-appointed morality crusades” took cancel culture too far
12 November 2024
University slaps trigger warnings on “graphic” human body images to avoid upsetting biology students
11 November 2024
If we are to avoid more tragedies, we must foster tolerance on our toxic university campuses
11 November 2024
Licence to Silence
10 November 2024
Buckingham vice-chancellor’s allies blame woke backlash for suspension
10 November 2024
I lived in fear of being cancelled as an Oxbridge student. We all did
10 November 2024
University cancel culture “eroding” liberal values, warn authors
3 November 2024
Education Secretary faces court over shelving free speech laws
3 November 2024
FSU reports university to watchdog after Vice-Chancellor pushed out for holding right-wing views
31 October 2024
UK court rules in favour of student whose visa was revoked after she spoke of “joy” following October 7th
28 October 2024
Inside the anti-woke university where you can’t be cancelled
27 October 2024
David Lloyd George’s childhood home to be ‘decolonised’
27 October 2024
Now the one British university unambiguous in championing free speech is at risk of being muzzled
25 October 2024
Oxford Chancellorship: FSU and AFFS update best free speech candidate list
24 October 2024
FSU offers its support to suspended Buckingham University Vice-Chancellor
15 October 2024
Leading academic who left the UK to teach in Australia after publishing pro-Brexit article says British universities are now ‘just places of indoctrination’
14 October 2024
Oxford candidate runs into row over freedom of speech
13 October 2024
An open letter on academic free speech
13 October 2024
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales given trigger warning over “expressions of Christian faith”
13 October 2024
Oxford Chancellorship: FSU and AFFS recommend best free speech candidates
13 October 2024
Pub landlords to be turned into ‘banter police’ under reforms to workers’ rights
10 October 2024
FSU intervenes after “mob rule tactics” force cancellation of ex-Home Secretary’s Cambridge speech
9 October 2024
Oxford University debate series to “reaffirm importance of free speech”
8 October 2024
Gender-critical Prof Jo Phoenix condemns Open University view “whitewash”
8 October 2024
Trigger warnings applied to museum photographs of English folk events
7 October 2024
The Open University publishes disappointing report on gender-critical professor Jo Phoenix’s Employment Tribunal
3 October 2024
FSU writes to Durham University after student society blocked from Freshers’ Fair
1 October 2024
Education Secretary repeats canard that Freedom of Speech Act risks enabling ‘hate speech’ and Holocaust denial
30 September 2024
Jewish students withdrawing from university life as antisemitic abuse soars in wake of October 7th attacks
28 September 2024
University professor sacked for questioning puberty blockers for gender confused children
7 September 2024
Government faces High Court showdown with its free speech tsar
6 September 2024
Students scared to speak their minds for fear of being cancelled, say Oxford dons
5 September 2024
Trigger warnings are dumbing down the arts, says The Crown star Matt Smith
3 September 2024
University eradicates phrase Anglo-Saxon to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum and protect students from “nationalist narratives”
27 August 2024
FSU legal action forces admission that Government dropped free speech law after universities feared for China interests
27 August 2024
If Labour cancels the university free speech act, Jewish students will suffer
27 August 2024
Labour’s outrageous attack on academic free speech
27 August 2024
Teachers will be trained to challenge ‘whiteness’ in schools
23 August 2024
Academic freedom under threat at Cambridge University
21 August 2024
Decolonisation experts warn Welsh librarians: avoid “racist” buildings
10 August 2024
Ditching this free speech act is a green light to campus bullies
7 August 2024
UCL wins court order on Gaza protest camps
6 August 2024
A free speech counter-revolution is stirring in Britain’s universities
4 August 2024
Why the Labour Government is wrong to stop commencement of the Freedom of Speech Act
1 August 2024
City University London settles Dr Laura Favaro’s gender critical “silencing” tribunal claim
28 July 2024
Does Labour care about free speech on campus?
28 July 2024
Government declares war on free speech, FSU to launch legal fightback
28 July 2024
Labour has just surrendered to the enemies of free speech
28 July 2024
Scrapping cancel culture law “puts campus free speech in peril”, Labour warned
26 July 2024
Government has just declared war on free speech
26 July 2024
Labour to axe university free speech bill
11 July 2024
Will campus free speech be protected under Labour?
11 July 2024
Will gender identity ideology be taught as ‘fact’ in schools under Labour?
16 June 2024
Academic freedom in peril as top university ‘coerces’ staff into signing Stonewall-backed LGBTQ+ pledge
16 June 2024
‘Dead white men’ of western philosophical canon sidelined in latest drive to ‘decolonise’ classroom philosophy
16 June 2024
No, we haven’t reached ‘peak woke’, it’s going mainstream
16 June 2024
University tells staff to teach that whiteness and heterosexuality are problematic
13 June 2024
Pro-Palestine protesters shut down debate at Durham University
9 June 2024
Exeter University staff “feel coerced” to sign Stonewall anti-transphobia pledge
8 June 2024
Leading academics urge new government not to stall on full implementation of Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act
30 May 2024
Teachers could get legal protection from blasphemy claims
25 May 2024
FSU supporting academics after the BMJ rejected their research papers “because of their views on the trans debate”
24 May 2024
Academic freedom event at Cardiff University goes ahead thanks to FSU administered Ian Mactaggart Programme!
24 May 2024
Gender-critical academics raise “ideological filtering” concerns over BMJ’s peer-review process
24 May 2024
Russell Group apologises for classing ‘gender critical’ views as hate speech
20 May 2024
Teachers to get free speech protection from blasphemy claims
16 May 2024
FSU pays venue and security costs to help save Cardiff University academic freedom event
16 May 2024
“Hypersensitive” Japanese professor who sued British university for racism after boss spoke to her about sushi has case thrown out
15 May 2024
Columbia University’s Minouche Shafik showed her true colours when she voted on campus free speech
15 May 2024
Oxford University drops “woke” plan to vet new chancellor after wokeism row
15 May 2024
Teachers must tell pupils gender ideology is a ‘contested belief’
9 May 2024
Autism school signed up to LGBT charter pushing ‘pseudoscientific’ trans ideology
9 May 2024
How universities raised a generation of activists
6 May 2024
US universities denied free speech for years — no wonder chaos reigns
6 May 2024
Why we should defend Nathan Cofnas’s academic freedom
3 May 2024
Britain must fight ‘chilling effect’ of cancel culture, Sunak says
2 May 2024
Uphold academic freedom and call off investigation into ‘race realism’ researcher, say eminent colleagues
29 April 2024
Debt-laden universities terminating hundreds of lecturers, but appointing ‘woke’ EDI staff
29 April 2024
What to do when you’re cancelled
27 April 2024
The Cass review of gender identity services marks a return to reason and evidence – it must be defended
25 April 2024
Leeds bans “unfairly disparaging” social media posts
24 April 2024
Oxford University has ‘allowed political diversity to wither’
24 April 2024
Transphobia at Edinburgh University ‘driving out staff’
24 April 2024
Turn of the woke tide will leave many stranded
23 April 2024
University student disciplined after saying “veganism is wrong” in his own room
22 April 2024
Cambridge in free-speech row over researcher’s ‘race realism’ blog
20 April 2024
King’s College London bars staff from promotion unless they support pro-trans diversity policy
16 April 2024
Gagging of the brave has let gender ideologues seize control
15 April 2024
Gender ideology and the ‘institutional capture’ of our public institutions
14 April 2024
Why academia failed to challenge trans ideology
10 April 2024
Make universities name secret foreign donors, academics say
9 April 2024
Scotland’s hate crime act is stifling academic freedom
27 March 2024
Free speech will return to our great universities
27 March 2024
Universities have forgotten their true purpose
26 March 2024
Threats, fear and surveillance: how Beijing targets students in the UK who criticise regime
26 March 2024
Universities told to protect free speech from foreign state attacks
25 March 2024
Climate of harassment and censorship threatens free speech, warns government advisor
21 March 2024
Dr Laura Favaro’s research revealed female academics are bullied into silence over their views on gender – now she’s been silenced and ousted too
15 March 2024
British academic deplatformed by Canadian government because “you are not allowed to talk about sex in Canada”
15 March 2024
“Stark decline” in academic freedom in the UK over the past 50 years
9 March 2024
UCL launches investigation over “concerning” decision to ban lecturer from teaching “provocative” China module to protect “commercial interests”
5 March 2024
U.S. Supreme Court won’t review growth of “literal speech police” on campus colleges
4 March 2024
Academics self-censoring out of fear of being bullied, says Vice Chancellor
27 February 2024
“Most qualified person should get the job” is microaggression, Russell Group universities say
20 February 2024
Harvard Professor needed armed protection after publishing research that challenged woke orthodoxies
20 February 2024
Universities watchdog wants to hear from students on campus free speech proposals
14 February 2024
Edinburgh University staff and students launch attempt to cancel new gender-critical Rector
14 February 2024
The Higher Education Act 2023 and the future of free speech at UK universities
7 February 2024
“Outrageous censorship” Swansea University pulls gender critical book from library to protect students
6 February 2024
Bristol University professor sacked for anti-Zionist views was unfairly dismissed, tribunal finds
1 February 2024
85% of US universities have policies in place that put free speech at risk
27 January 2024
Academic sacked for “serious misconduct” following Greta Thunberg tweet
26 January 2024
Open University "apologises unreservedly" to gender critical Prof Jo Phoenix over freedom of speech failings
26 January 2024
Students attempt heckler's veto against Twitter Files journalist Bari Weiss
24 January 2024
Professor Jo Phoenix's legal triumph is also a triumph for freedom of speech
23 January 2024
Open University Professor wins tribunal case over gender-critical views
