Hey, remember that AMAZING Free Speech Victory at Cambridge last week? Only it wasn't. T

The hidden story from me & @GavanTitley--and that's still only the tip of the very dodgy iceberg. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/18/free-speech-row-cambridge-restrict-expression-minorities-freedom-thought

Yes, I have emerged briefly from my mountain hideout to post this piece since we can't get the blanket coverage afforded the 'victory' from such reputable sites as Fox News, the Daily Mail, Spiked, and Unherd--all thrilled to bits with this 'progressive' move at Cambridge.

"In a move that might reasonably be regarded as political interference, the amendments were publicly backed by the universities minister, @michelledonelan, who urged dons to vote against the university’s more measured policy."

The repressive amendments were drafted by a member of 'the ferociously rightwing Free Speech Union – known less for actual work opposing political censorship than for weaponising the issue to create moral panics around race, sexuality and identity.'

"Paradoxically, the new policy also grants the university management sweeping powers to “restrict speaker events”

This is a very on point tagline from the Guardian: "Hateful or discredited viewpoints explicitly targeting minorities do not merit debate in any institution that values freedom of thought."

Anyway, we would appreciate retweets if you would consider doing that, to be able gather a miniscule amount of the reach the Government, the Free Speech Union & sundry rightwingers who backed these shameful repressive amendments have.

"To truly protect freedom of speech – a fundamental necessity for meaningful democratic life – we must be alert to how it can become weaponised in ideologically coercive ways."

".. the gleeful caricature of students as “woke snowflakes” distracts from the fact that fomented free-speech controversies hinge almost exclusively on the right to express discriminatory, hateful or discredited viewpoints that explicitly target racial and sexual minorities."