Students at Plymouth university have followed students at City, University of London by deciding to ban three newspapers from their campus.
It means that the campus shop run by Plymouth’s students will not sell copies of the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express and their Sunday equivalents from the new year.
According to a report in the Plymouth Herald, the decision was taken by the executive council of the University of Plymouth Students’ Union (UPSU).
The motion was passed, says a UPSU Facebook statement, by “a large majority”. It states:
“Whilst we believe that freedom of expression and speech are inalienable human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a number of British tabloids are known to express hateful views.
They aim at belittling and demonising certain groups in society, such as immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, disabled people, the LGBTIQA+ community, Muslims, Black and Asian communities...
It is our duty to protect and empower and represent marginalised and discriminated against groups... UPSU opposes hatred, discrimination and demonisation of any individual..
Because of these very values that we hold and we are proud of, we believe that it is unethical for us to profit out of the sale of hateful, non-factual and anti-scientific media platforms.”
But the decision has split the student community, as happened a couple of weeks ago following the City University vote. Many students have accused their union leaders of censoring free speech.
Several students quoted by the Herald argue that the executive council’s decision does not represent their views. One complained that it “is made up of 13 members, only six of whom are elected to represent the student body.”
He said: “There was no consultation with the students, no referendum or anything like that... I don’t read these papers, but to call it hate speech is wrong.
Another student told the Herald that “universities are supposed to be institutions for promoting students to think for themselves, not sheltering them from the outside world.”
At least one student was supportive of the ban. He said newspapers like the Mail and the Sun “spread bigoted and poisonous lies”. Such papers have “no place in a culturally diverse educational institution.”
NB: At City, University of London, where I teach, I am assured that journalism students - none of whom voted for the ban - will seek to overturn the ban at the next students’ union meeting in February.
COMMENT: No matter how much one dislikes the content of a newspaper, to ban it amounts to censorship and is a clear denial of press freedom.
Perhaps the students would care to visit the library and read John Milton’s 1644 book, Areopagitica, in which he condemned censorship and made an impassioned defence of free speech.
People must be able to read heretical books, he wrote, in order to discover their wrongs and be prepared to deal with their arguments. He wrote: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience.”
The ban is illiberal. Think again, Plymouth students’ union. Think again, students’ union at City, University of London. Think again, all students. Fascists burn books. Tyrannies ban newspapers. Despots lock up journalists. Think again.