Opinion

Why the rise in university censorship under the guise of being ‘woke’ is dangerous

By Chantal Brocca

Published Nov 14, 2019 at 12:08 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes


Human rights

Nov 14, 2019

In recent years, the increased policing of thought and language and the rise of social justice warriors have managed to bring into question one of the most fundamental tenets of a civilised, progressive society of democracy, and of tolerance. Freedom of speech has been hotly debated in the media and academia following years of ruined careers, bullying teetering on downright harassment and defamation, censored comedians and entertainers, aborted events and de-platformed speakers. We have witnessed countless attempts to criminalise language and what can only be described as social violence against those who dare to utter an opinion contrary to the conventional absolute truths.

This toxic climate of censorship has deeply ingrained itself into our lives—the implicit understanding being that even slight disagreement with what is deemed ‘woke’ or ‘PC’ is a PR faux pas leading straight to the bottom of the social hierarchy. Even the most progressive offices have inner networks whose purpose is to keep people in line with implicit social threats. At Google, the company’s chat rooms take the form of digital safe spaces, where dissident opinion is squashed like a bug. In today’s society, to engage in respectful yet open debate is to toy with the prospects of career and social suicide.

Somehow, in the past decade or so, we have lost the ability to understand the difference between legitimate criticism and personal insult; between an open, fair debate that solves an issue by looking at both sides, and targeted hate speech that can instantly brand the speaker as the worst kind. We seem to be living in a parody of life, where a woman calling the Church of Scientology a cult faces imprisonment, a professor is forced to resign after being attacked and screamed at by university students for the apparently ‘abhorrent’ suggestion that people be allowed to wear whatever Halloween costume they want, and where comedians are taken so deathly seriously that they spend their downtime defending themselves on Twitter from crazed, triggered mobs.

In 2018, Spiked’s Free Speech University Rankings catalogued university free speech infractions in order to highlight the issue. What it found was staggering: 54 per cent of the universities surveyed actively censored specific texts, views, speakers, the formation of groups or any form of expression based on its content. Another 40 per cent chilled speech and expression through difficult bureaucracy and vague allusions to ‘provocation.’

But what is truly alarming is that the most vigorous attempts to stifle any disagreement comes from student unions, who pressurise university boards to bend to their will by taking offence, barring opinions contrary to theirs from being aired on campus in any shape or form. While professors are bound by a professional code of conduct, it seems that students belonging to politically sensitive groups are somehow given a green light to enact whatever forms of justice they deem necessary in order to feel safe.

Put simply, an ideology that claims to preserve the democratic right to individual expression through censorship, and has the balls to call it progress, makes the entire premise fall into a deep pit of hypocrisy.

Unfortunately, life is not always easy, and the truth sometimes hurts. If we are not strong enough to handle a small criticism, how can we hope to handle the tidal waves that will come our way in a lifetime? In all this talk of living by the principle of live and let live, if we are not able to sit in the same room or handle an argument with someone we deeply disagree with, then all hope of progress and of achieving equality stop right here.

Perhaps it is time for us to start treating others how we would like to be treated. As Pinker tells us, discomfort is just another term for tolerance, and the price we pay for democracy and the open exchange of ideas. That is the kind of world that I’d like to live in. What about you?

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

Jake Shane’s TikTok skits have turned us all into octopus lovers, and given us serious bestie fomo

By Charlie Sawyer

The death of independent media. VICE may have been the first victim, but it won’t be the last

By Alma Fabiani

Machine Gun Kelly confronts stage-storming fan and apologises for primal reaction

By Jack Ramage

Is gen Z bringing dairy back or moo-ving on from milk for good?

By Charlie Sawyer

A gen Zer’s guide to Wimbledon 2023, from a self-proclaimed tennis addict

By Jennifer Raymont

Buy now, pay later services like Klarna and Clearpay see decline among gen Zers

By Mason Berlinka

Scientists invent Terminator-like self-healing skin for robots

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

How to become the ultimate gen Z cult leader: A playful guide

By Charlie Sawyer

Amanda Bynes makes Hollywood comeback following conservatorship with new podcast

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

The Biden approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A masterclass in American avoidance

By Charlie Sawyer

Taylor Swift impersonator pranks fans with bodyguards and instantly regrets it

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

AI-generated porn is growing in popularity. But will it simply become another man’s world?

By Mason Berlinka

Watch this viral video of a tourist defacing Rome’s historic Colosseum

By Charlie Sawyer

Award-winning sports journalist Miriam Walker-Khan: I love making content that’s gonna piss off old racist men

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Polish TV show faces backlash over white performer in blackface impersonating Kendrick Lamar

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have agreed to fight each other. No, we’re not joking 

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Taliban orders all of Afghanistan’s hair and beauty salons to close

By Abby Amoakuh

UN Secretary-General António Guterres critiques siege on Gaza as hospitals about to shut down

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

From Iwájú to Soul, here are 5 must-watch animations you need to see this Black History Month

By Abby Amoakuh

Suki Waterhouse expecting first child with Robert Pattinson, flaunts baby bump in sparkly dress