Universities have been warned they must uphold free speech or face huge fines, after the University of Sussex was hit with a record £585,000 fine by the Office for Students (OfS) for "significant and serious breaches" of free speech and governance issues.
The penalty relates to the treatment of Prof Kathleen Stock, an expert in philosophy who claims she was forced out of the university in 2021 after a three-year witch-hunt over her views on gender identity.
The ruling marks the watchdog's first major reproval over free speech violations at a university.
The OfS investigation, which ran for three-and-a-half years, concluded that "a chilling effect arose" from the university's transgender policy.
The University of Sussex has been hit with a record £585,000 fine by the Office for Students (OfS)
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This left staff and students feeling "self-censored" and unable to express "lawful views".
The regulator found that Prof Stock "felt unable to teach certain topics" as a result of the university's trans and non-binary equality policy.
The university could have faced a maximum fine of nearly £3.3million for breaching two "conditions of registration" with the OfS.
Prof Stock confirmed she would not receive any money from the fine.
Prof Arif Ahmed, the Government's free speech tsar, warned that universities could face "higher fines in the future" if they failed to uphold academic freedom.
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Professor Kathleen Stock awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to higher educationPAHe explained the regulator "applied significant discounts" to Sussex's fine "to reflect the fact that this is the first case of its type that we've dealt with".
"Clearly, future cases will not be the first case of their kind, so there will be a potential for higher fines in the future," he told journalists on Wednesday.
Ahmed added that tougher new free speech laws would soon allow complaints to be addressed "more straightforwardly and more quickly".
The University of Sussex has condemned the findings and vowed to launch a legal challenge.
A spokesman told The Telegraph the university is "being made an example to other universities" as part of efforts to stoke the "culture wars".
They claimed Sussex is "far from the only university to face challenges navigating contested issues" but has been "the sole focus of attention" from the regulator.
The university, ranked 26th in the UK, said lawyers were drafting a pre-action protocol letter.
Prof Sasha Roseneil, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex, criticised the verdict, saying it would have far-reaching implications for the sector.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the OfS on Wednesday, stating that free speech and academic freedom were 'non-negotiables in our universities'
PA"The OfS is effectively decreeing libertarian free-speech absolutism as the fundamental principle for UK universities. In our view, the OfS is perpetuating the culture wars," she said.
Roseneil claimed university officials faced a "Kafkaesque" process during the investigation after being warned not to speak publicly about the issue.
A university spokesman said their "nine explicit requests for meetings with the regulator were either refused or ignored".
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the OfS on Wednesday, stating that free speech and academic freedom were "non-negotiables in our universities".
She said the regulator was there to ensure "students and academics are not muzzled by the chilling effect demonstrated in this case".
Phillipson warned that "robust action will be taken" if university officials are found to have breached these principles.
This comes after she announced in January that she would revive the Tories' flagship Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, despite Labour sources previously branding it a "Tory hate charter".
