by Branwen Jeffreys, BBC News
The University of Sussex has been fined £585,000 by the higher education regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), for failing to uphold freedom of speech.
It follows the case of Prof Kathleen Stock, who left the university in 2021 after being accused of transphobia for her views on sex and gender issues.
The OfS criticised the university’s policy statement on Trans and Non-Binary equality, saying its requirement to “positively represent trans people” and an assertion that “transphobic propaganda [would] not be tolerated” could lead staff and students to “self-censor”.
The University of Sussex plans to challenge the OfS findings legally, Vice-Chancellor Prof Sasha Roseneil said.
Describing the judgement as an “unreasonably absolutist definition of free speech”, the university warned that the ruling left institutions facing “opposing and irreconcilable duties” which rendered them “powerless to prevent abusive, bullying and harassing speech”.
The OfS, it added, had pursued a “vindictive and unreasonable campaign” against it.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said free speech and academic freedom were “non-negotiables” in universities.
“I have been clear that where those principles are not upheld, robust action will be taken,” she said.
“If you go to university you must be prepared to have your views challenged, hear contrary opinions and be exposed to uncomfortable truths.