Free Speech Under Threat on Campuses

We should all be able to agree, in a grown up society, that people have their own views and we should have open debate. However at many college campuses in the US, this once universally held principle is coming under determined and often violent opposition.

In America, there is at least a legal framework under the First Amendment to maintain freedom of speech, so it is unlikely to be legally opposed. But there is a growing trend among College students to protest against radical speakers.

The most prominent example of this was Milo Yiannopolous, an repugnant person but with every right to free speech. When he came to speak at Berkeley last year, he wanted to provoke a response to prove his oft-stated point that the left wanted to destroy free speech. Sadly, some on the far left took the bait and rioted, destroying $100,000 dollars worth of property, giving a bad name to the left and proving the point of the Alt-Right.

Even non-Alt Right but conservative speakers like Ben Shapiro, who are not trolls and do not deliberately provoke people but simply are principled, albeit with view we may disagree, are targeted by this. Shapiro was invited to Berkeley by conservative students, who were then asked to pay $15,000 for ‘security’ at his speech. This is UC Berkeley’s ‘free speech year’, so we shall see whether they fulfil this and use the money to prevent riots. If there are riots, they haven’t done their job and were simply posturing to try to bluff Shapiro into cancelling his speech.

Moderate liberals such as Richard Dawkins are even being no-platformed and having their speeches cancelled. Dawkins supports the Liberal Democrats in the UK, a party that is probably communist by US standards for wanting free healthcare, and to legalise prostitution and cannabis. If people as sensible and moderate as Dawkins can be considered to be insufficiently liberal to speak, then I fear that campuses are going to become completely liberal echo-chambers.

One interpretation I hear on the left is that Antifa and others like them are well-meaning but wrong. This is incorrect. Trying to silence views that oppose your own because you find them offensive on behalf of others is not honourable or right. In fact, even if you want to reduce, ‘hate speech’, then silencing it is counter-productive. All it does it further polarise both sides, as rational conversation is impossible.

Freedom of speech is respected as a human right, as stated in the UN Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; yet not every one receives it. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers

Repressing the speech of the opposing side doesn’t actually help. The biggest thing that draws people to the Alt-Right is opposition to political correctness. In a way PC-culture is the number one thing that radicalises otherwise normal people into joining the Alt-Right.

This isn’t actually isn’t even a controversial position. 85% of Americans say that free speech is more important than political correctness, and in fact only 8% of the public say that it is more important to, ‘make sure no one gets offended’. This statistic is both good and bad. On the one hand, it means that there is scope to cut this problem out on both sides of the aisle. However on the other hand it means that a few college students are ruining open debate for everyone else by trying to prevent this right being exercised.

These people may well think that they are protecting minorities. However, as a minority myself, I find it incredibly patronising that mostly young, privileged white college students think that I am too sensitive to hear anything that they consider is offensive to me. And the statistics prove that I’m not alone. 75% of white people agree that they would defend the right of free speech they disagree with to the death. What may surprise you is that a large majority of black people agree with the statement (65%) and 73% of other minorities agree. So thank you, Antifa, but we are capable of putting up with bigoted speech without you needing to censor it.

Having a riot when someone says something offensive isn’t the way to reduce offensive speech. The best way is to debate with them, and if the other person’s view is so indefensible, then show the world how moronic they are. If someone debated with the average white supremacist, you’d show the world how shallow and pathetic they really are. The main weapon fascists have is fear. By not having open dialogue, we allow them to propagate that fear as their true pathetic nature will never be revealed.

#DonaldTrump