Durham Students’ Union has accused the UK government of “empowering Holocaust deniers and flat-earthers” through its new Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which legally obliges students’ unions to take steps to protect free speech.
The Bill, which may still be amended before it becomes law, would legally require universities to defend free speech and “help stamp out unlawful ‘silencing ”. This legal duty would also apply to students’ unions which “will have to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure lawful freedom of speech”.
The government claims it “has been clear throughout that it is important to distinguish between lawful, if offensive, views on one hand and unacceptable acts of abuse, intimidation, and violence on the other”. But Anna Marshall, Durham SU’s Opportunities Officer, told
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