British Universities will vet external speakers, Christian students fear losing freedom of speech

The British Government has presented the “Prevent duty guidance”, that asks University authorities to vet speeches and presentations of all outside speakers in Universities in order to “protect British values and prevent terrorism.”

Every time a University invites an external speaker, it will have at least 14 days’ notice of the event “for checks to be made and cancellation to take place if necessary”. In order to prevent radical views that support terrorism, the new draft will require university to provide “advance notice of the content of the event, including an outline of the topics to be discussed and sight of any presentations, footage to be broadcast etc”.

“EASILY USED AGAINST CHRISTIANS”

Many voices have raised against this new policy, that Christian and secular groups alike have describe as a threat for the freedom of speech inside British universities.

The United Kingdom Evangelical Alliance, has issued a statement, explaining its point of view about the draft, and warning that this is becoming “a familiar pattern” whereby “1. Terrorists terrorise, 2. Media misreport, 3. Politicians politicise, 4. Governments overreact, 5. Freedom diminish.”

UCCF (The Christian Unions) has also published a response, in which it shows its concerns about the dangers to the freedom of speech that this policy might bring: “Rather than be transparently specific about the nature of Islamist rhetoric this Prevent duty guidance speaks of an Institution’s obligation to promote ‘British values’. Such broad guidelines could easily be used by secular or religious people within our universities as an opportunity to censor or even ban any aspects of a CU’s programme they happen not to like or simply disagree with”.

The Christian Institute pointed out that even the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has already raised concerns about the draft’s effect on freedom of expression, because the “legal uncertainty” about the definition of ‘extremist’ “will have a seriously inhibiting effect on bona fide academic debate in universities.”

As David Roberston, a Scottish pastor and regular speaker at UCCF, has written in Christianity Today: “It has never become more necessary for Christians to pray for our politicians and to ask that we have freedom to continue to proclaim the Gospel throughout our land. Pray and act now”.