{"id":6566,"date":"2020-11-25T14:50:11","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T14:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adfiuk.wpengine.com\/?p=6566"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:45:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:45:28","slug":"uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds","title":{"rendered":"UK students feel censored on campus, poll finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u2013 Half of UK students fear peers would judge them if they expressed their views
\u2013 44% voice concerns about expressing their opinions in front of lecturers<\/p>

LONDON<\/strong> (6th November 2020) \u2013 Universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech. Yet according to a nation-wide poll released today by ADF UK<\/a>, almost 40% of students admit fears that expressing their views on campus could adversely affect their future career opportunities. Over a third stated that events are being increasingly cancelled on campus due to objections from other student clubs and societies based on the topic and the speakers.<\/p>

\u201cFreedom of speech is the foundation of every free and democratic society. Of all places, university is where students should be free to debate and explore ideas \u2013 especially those with which they disagree. Institutional policies and practices can suggest that even mainstream views are beyond the pale. Today\u2019s censorship on campus can easily become cancel culture in the public square,\u201d said Ryan Christopher, Director of ADF UK.<\/p>

Suspending Belief: Students suspended from course for their views<\/h3>

The findings of the national poll follow a number of recent legal challenges to universities across the UK who have been accused of stifling free speech. In one example, Julia Rynkiewicz, a midwifery student, battled suspension<\/a> and a \u201cfitness to practise\u201d hearing at Nottingham University because of her involvement in a pro-life student group.<\/p>

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto promised to strengthen academic freedom and free speech at universities. ADF UK is sending a letter to No. 10 to seek action on the issue. The letter asks that the government take steps to end to \u201cno-platforming\u201d and strengthen legal safeguards for student expression. Supporters of free speech are encouraged to add their signature.<\/p>

\u201cToo often we have witnessed a students\u2019 union \u2018pick sides\u2019 on a social or moral issue and attempt to censor one side of the debate. Universities should be committed to embracing a diversity of views across the student body and improved guidance and training is desperately needed. As a society we should not accept students facing either social exclusion or even elevated disciplinary action because other students or staff disagree with their views. Such a culture runs against the very purpose of campus life and the wider mission of a university,\u201d continued Christopher.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Half of UK students fear peers would judge them if they expressed their views. 44% voice concerns about expressing their opinions in front of lecturers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":23558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[736],"tags":[898],"class_list":["post-6566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-uk-en-gb"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK students feel censored on campus, poll finds - ADF International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK students feel censored on campus, poll finds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Half of UK students fear peers would judge them if they expressed their views. 44% voice concerns about expressing their opinions in front of lecturers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADF International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/adfinternational\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-25T14:50:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-02T08:45:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Censored-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"885\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philipp Bues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adfintl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adfintl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philipp Bues\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Philipp Bues\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b776fc8535453c6aad8a6f9d78e6141\"},\"headline\":\"UK students feel censored on campus, poll finds\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-25T14:50:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-02T08:45:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\"},\"wordCount\":381,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/Censored-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"UK\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/uk-students-feel-censored-on-campus-poll-finds\",\"name\":\"UK students feel censored on campus, poll finds - 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