Massey University has killed free speech, and now they are burying the body under a mountain of paperwork that I call the Massey Manifesto.
Massey University really, really REALLY don’t want speech to be free on their campus. Any event organiser who wants to have a speech event on Massey University grounds now has to fill out a form to help university officers conduct a ‘risk assessment’ of both the speaker and the topic. I kid you not but they actually have to include the likelihood of ‘mental harm’ and ‘negative media coverage’. To add insult to injury all this paperwork must be submitted three weeks prior to the event.
So now, not only can protestors be used by Massey as an excuse for de-platforming a speaker, they can use the possibility of negative media coverage as an excuse for de-platforming a speaker as well.
Given the media’s left-wing bias and the fact that most protestors are left-wing, that means that ONLY approved left-wing speakers (gay feminists with the wrong views are not welcome) are going to be able to gain permission to speak at Massey University.
You would think that it couldn’t get any worse but wait… there’s more…
The speaker is expected to express ideas that university officers consider ‘meaningful’ and ‘mana-enhancing’. And finally, if after the event the University deems that the speaker breached these terms, it can take disciplinary action against the event organiser.
Are you scared yet? Is this a manifesto supportive of free speech? Who would DARE to risk holding a free speech event with these kind of punitive and dictatorial edicts?
The broad, inscrutable language of Massey’s new policy gives university staff enormous discretion to shut down speech according to their own biases, or those of would-be protestors. The ‘thug’s veto’ which saw the cancellation of recent events will be as effective as ever.
Above all, Massey completely fails to understand the chilling effect of its anti-speech policies. The bureaucracy, delay, uncertainty, and threat of punishment all serve to discourage students from inviting *any* external speakers onto campus. In short, Massey is choosing to deprive its students of the rich educational experience they deserve.
@NZFreeSpeech