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Freedom of expression Caesar said that universities should place academic freedom over their commercial interests.
In an interview with Telegraph, Professor Arif Ahmed said that the advisor’s deputies should “show the spine” by supporting their commitment to freedom of expression even when it endangers at risk.
He suggested that many universities “do not do due care” before entering into research partnerships with foreign countries, warning that these arrangements make them vulnerable to freedom of expression clips.
Professor Ahmed said: “Universities need to understand that their reputation interests are less important than academic freedom.”
“If a foreign state tries to threaten the university to suppress the discourse of one of the academics, it is the mission of the deputy advisor to show the backbone in this case.”
His comments come after repeated warnings that China has threatened to remove financing or investing from universities if it does not cancel academics criticizing Beijing.
Government u.
It is his first interview on this issue since the government protects the protection of new universities freedom of expression last summer, before moving earlier this year.
Bridge Philipson, Minister of Education, said last July that she will stop temporarily and consider abolishing the Higher Education Law (freedom of expression), just days before the start of the implementation.
Ms. Philipson said that the main conservative legislation is “inappropriate for the purpose”, as the supreme work sources described it as a “hate speech charter” that would create a platform for Holocaust’s denial on the campus.
However, the Minister of Education in January announced that she would revive the act in a reduced version, while removing many major elements. This came a week before the government would face a challenge in the Supreme Court regarding the decision to attach the laws.
In a large -scale interview with Telegraph, freedom of expression Caesar refused to comment on either the assembly of the government or the case of the Supreme Court, which was included as a “interested party”.
Professor Ahmed said that “it is not for me to go into a kind of political discussion,” but he will not hesitate “to talk about my opinion on specific issues with their arrival to us.”
Telegraph realizes that the new freedom of expression regulations is scheduled to enter into force before the next school year in September, although the Ministry of Education has not officially confirmed this.
Professor Ahmed will supervise a new complaints plan as part of the law, which allows him to punish the universities if it turns out that it suffocates freedom of expression to academics or speakers with a visit.
The changes announced by Mrs. Philipson means that there will be no compensation plan for the victims of the cancellation culture, known as “legal damage”.
The ministers have not yet decided whether part of the legislation that will be required from the Student Office (Offers), the university organizer, “monitoring financing abroad” will be returned to universities.
This would have to check whether any funding received by universities from external sources had put in place the danger of freedom of expression and academic freedom.
“Spy tools”
China Hox said this step would have been helping attempts to suppress Beijing’s criticism on the UK campus through expensive partnerships and donations.
Professor Ahmed Telegraph told that the new freedom of expression regulations will give him the powers “to look carefully and closely in any arrangements that universities enjoy … as they have the ability to raise concerns about academic freedom and freedom of expression, whatever the country.”
In response to a question about whether he is especially concerned about China, Caesar is freedom of expression that there are concerns that some countries may use academic partnerships as tools to spy on, intimidate or harass people in this country.
Professor Ahmed warned of the risk of using universities as “spying tools” – Belinda Jiao
“Suppose you have an academic expressing their concerns about the human rights record in the tenth country, for example. Then the Country X Ambassador speaks to the vice consultant and says:” Well, you know that Grant will offer you, we may not give it to you now. “
Then the Vice President of the University has a word with the academy and says: “It is better to lower it a little,” in a mysterious threat. This contradicts everything for him. “
This comes after Telegraph revealed last year that Michelle Chibonworth, a co -professor at College University in London (UCL), was forced to drop an entire unit from the energy and social science course after Chinese students complained of some of its content.
Her head of her department at the University of California in Los Angeles told her that he was taking action because he was “in order to be commercially applied”, the university courses “need to keep a good reputation among the Chinese applicants in the future.”
Failure to Europe
Professor Ahmed, Director of Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom at OFS, warned that Britain is sliding the academic freedom index, which ranks sixty -sixth on the global freedom of expression plan.
“[The UK’s position] It has radically decreased over the past few years, and is behind every other European country. “
Professor Ahmed says that freedom of expression is “the most important thing for Western civilization” – Pelinda Jiao
“We believe this is an indication of the importance of the size of this issue … It is a very dangerous issue, and it is still essential to democracy.”
He suggested that universities consider allowing students to discuss some topics under Chatham House rules, which prevent participants from revealing the source of certain comments that were held during discussions.
“We believe that there can be some positive things that we can do in this field … Should there be a deep listening? Should students be encouraged to write articles defending the other side? Do you have to have the rules of Chatham’s house?”
The freedom of expression also insisted that the new complaints scheme “will not allow anti -Semitic, anti -Semitic, or anti -Semitic abuse or any other illegal activity” on the campus.
He said, “The action does not carry the freedom to express the words outside the law.”
“I am sure to move forward in pushing matters into effect … It is clear that there are social benefits and economic benefits for freedom of expression and academic freedom.
“On a broader scale, I would like to say it is the most important thing for Western civilization, for our country, that freedom of expression is still alive. It is the greatest thing we have since the seventeenth century, and it is really important to preserve it.”
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