Number of Rejected University Speakers Has ‘Sharply Increased,’ Raising Free Speech Concerns

Reforms are needed to stop thousands of students being silenced by universities from speaking about abuse they have faced, ministers have been warned. Alamy/PA

Almost 200 speaker requests or events were rejected by English universities or other higher education institutions in 2020–2021, new figures show, raising fears of rising incidents of cancel culture.

“One person stopped from speaking is one too many,” said Prof. Dennis Hayes, president of Academics for Academics Freedom (AFAF) told The Epoch Times by email. One world-renowned artist who was cancelled by the mob said that she believed many “want an easy life so capitulate to their demands.”