Major report confirms CAGE view that Prevent is having a chilling effect on free speech

A new paper by The Higher Education Policy Institute (hepi) entitled “Free Speech and Censorship on Campus” confirms our statement signed by over 100 academics at the introduction of the CTS Act in 2015.  We stated then that PREVENT would have a chilling effect on free speech on campuses.  The paper outlines the tension between Free Speech and anti-oppression policies in universities, but comes short of offering a constructive path to address the political realities on campuses, or of considering the wider shape of repression against students.  Cerie Bullivant Spokesperson for CAGE said: “This paper is a further damning indictment of the toxic policy that is Prevent. In the age of austerity, the Government would do well to scrap Prevent and waste no further public money on a policy that is detrimental to education.” “The paper’s focus on PREVENT is a welcome addition to the free speech debate, but discussions must deepen to consider how PREVENT fits in to a wider architecture of repression on campuses, where the main casualty is the right to organise.”   Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash