Cancel culture is extremely damaging to free speech in universities, study finds

Cancel culture is a threat to freedom of expression in universities, according to research by Civitas, a British think tank that focuses on issues of social policy and democracy. Like in the US, there has been a rise in cases of students and faculty members getting canceled for expressing unpopular opinions in universities.

According to the researchers, more than 68% of universities in the UK have had cases of severe restrictions of free speech over the last three years. This rise in cancel culture is becoming a barrier to discussing issues such as gender and race.

“Our findings suggest that 86 percent of universities faced either severe or moderate free speech restrictions which need to be addressed,” said Civitas’ lead researcher Jim McConalogue.

“The fundamental issue must be dealt with because students and academics find themselves in educational institutions in which they cannot speak freely of the leading subjects of their day including on race, gender, the outcomes of elections, their views on religion, or on discrimination itself for fear of judgments that lead to eventual penalty or censorship,” McConalogue explained.

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