The government now wants to get hold of the so-called cancel culture in the university world. On Thursday, a decision was made to give the expert authority the University Chancellor’s Office the task of mapping the spread, which is a direct reaction to Kalla fakta’s reviews last autumn.
– It is a historic decision we are making and I expect the authority to get to the bottom of the individual cases and for the authority to put an end to this culture of silence, the cancel culture. Individual researchers should not be silenced, you should have your academic freedom, says Education Minister Mats Persson (L).
During the autumn, cold facts examined how researchers were silenced and pushed out when they brought up sensitive words or topics. Among other things through high-profile cases at Konstfack and Uppsala University. And the problem is widespread – every third lecturer in the humanities stated in Kalla fakta’s survey that they encountered difficulties.
– The work that the media and not least Cold Facts has done has shed light on the issue. This means that an area that was previously silenced and where there has been a great deal of darkness has now come to the surface. We don’t sweep it under the rug, but we deal with it, says Mats Persson.
So now the government’s expert authority, the University Chancellor’s Office, is given a task on academic freedom. The authority must conduct case studies and map the threats to the free dissemination of knowledge. It must work to promote “a culture that allows the free pursuit of knowledge”.
The results must be reported to the government next year, starting in February.