Students at Britain's universities are scared of being "cancelled" if they speak out in classes, Oxford lecturers have claimed.
Some undergraduates are "frightened" that their views on topics like the British Empire or slavery could leave them at the mercy of their peers, according to Professor Lawrence Goldman of St Peter's College, Oxford.
Prof Goldman said students had become "somewhat reticent to speak openly because they feel that there are ideologies that they mustn't transgress.
"It's become the case that there are certain areas of historical study that are very sensitive for obvious reasons, like slavery and colonialism.
Young students have been left without "the confidence to think for themselves"
GETTY"It's very difficult, as it were, for students to speak openly - and you can sense that they may not be agreeing with each other but it's not done anymore for them to disagree, as was the case, say, 10 or 15 years ago in seminars.
"And it is ironic that in the opening up of British history and other histories to full scrutiny, actually, we've made it rather more difficult.
"What saddens me is that it's been imposed in such a way - and I think imposed is the word.
"It's been imposed on young people so that they don't have the confidence to think for themselves based upon the sources that they're reading."
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Free Speech Union director Toby Young said that a fifth of cases his group had dealt with since 2020 have involved universities
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Free Speech Union director Toby Young said that a fifth of the nearly 3,000 cases his group had dealt with since 2020 have involved universities - and he said the professor's comments "don't come as a surprise".
Young drew attention to how his group had heard cases from "students or academics who've got into trouble for challenging the prevailing woke orthodoxy on campus, particularly when it comes to the history of slavery and colonialism".
Prof Goldman's comments weren't the only words condemning students' free speech concerns.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Professor Nigel Biggar, regius professor emeritus of moral theology at Oxford, said: "self-censoring fear is now a fact of academic life."
Prof Biggar recounted an incident where a young post-doctoral fellow in history asked to meet up - but under the condition they spoke in "a venue where none of his colleagues would see us".
According to the professor, the fellow "expressed firm sympathy with my moderate, nuanced views of colonialism" - but was afraid that this, and the meeting, coming to light would "damage his career prospects".
"University leaders who pretend there's no problem with free speech simply aren't looking," prof Biggar added, joining Toby Young's push for Labour to go ahead with implementing a Tory-era law promoting free speech on campuses.
The Starmer Government announced it would be bringing the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 to a halt - with the Department for Education claiming it would have a "negative impact" on vulnerable groups.
