PHOTOS Far left University students march in London, 7 October 2025 © Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images Left Protest signs in the windows of the University of Birmingham’s Guild of Students building, 29 July 2025 © Martin Pope/Getty Images
What the law says
Public universities are considered public authorities for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998. This means that their decisions are subject to legal duties to protect and facilitate, and not unduly interfere with, rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including the right to protest. Universities and courts are required to balance competing rights and interests, ensuring any restrictions meet the strict standards of legality, necessity, and proportionality.
As the UK courts and European Court of Human Rights have said, Article 10 protection is not limited to inoffensive speech. Protest and expression are protected in many situations, even when they offend or disturb.
Targeting Muslim students
Amnesty has received reports of university staff and students being targeted for expressing visible markers of Muslim identity. Those wearing religious head coverings appear to have been disproportionately
treated as
security risks. There have even been cases of campus security requiring students who wear headscarves to remove them during ID checks. Restriction on face coverings, even when it is a security measure, may constitute indirect discrimination under UK equality law, as it disproportionately affects Muslim women and fails to account for the right to religious freedom. This also leaves the affected students feeling stigmatised.
Such cases may reflect a broader pattern of racial stereotyping and Islamophobia, where expressions of solidarity with Palestine by Muslims are treated as potential threats rather than legitimate political speech.
Referring to Prevent
One element of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy is the Prevent duty. This requires university staff and students, among others, to refer people to the police if they think they might be drawn into terrorism. Amnesty research
has found that Prevent is discriminatory and disproportionately targets Muslim people. Some universities have been referring students and staff to Prevent and alerting counter- terrorism police about political statements or social media posts expressing support for the Palestinian people, and their right to resist an occupation considered illegal by the International Court of Justice.
Such referrals have sometimes led to police raids and arrests, which has had a chilling effect on freedom of expression on campus, not only undermining academic freedom but contributing to an atmosphere of surveillance and mistrust.
Reputation before human rights Instead of capitulating to external pressure from
the media and others, universities should ensure due process and transparency, protect those who are subject to smears and doxxing, and adopt policies compatible with human rights. The Defend Dissent campaign is a student- led movement calling on universities to sign our Defend Dissent Charter and implement such policies – ones that protect freedom of expression, protest and academic freedom. The campaign is fighting for a higher education sector where students and staff have the right to speak out without censorship or reprisal. Already active on 17 campuses, it has been endorsed by several student unions, with students, staff and local community members pushing universities to act. n
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Defend Dissent is a student- led movement fighting for a higher education sector where all students and staff have the human right to speak out and protest without censorship or reprisal. Whether you’re a student, academic, alumni, or community member, we need to work together to defend our rights.
Find out more:
amnesty.org.uk/ defenddissent
SPRING 2026 AMNESTY 15
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