MILO was the most disinvited speaker of 2016 as levels of campus censorship hit record highs, according to a new report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
The report found that over the course of 2016, there were at least 42 cases of retracted invitations, compared to just half that in 2015. It also increased by 24% on the record set in 2013 of 34 cases of campus censorship.
Out of the 42 cases that took place, Breitbart’s MILO faced the most cancellations, having been forced to cancel 11 events due to excessive security fees as well as potentially violent protests.
FIRE, the organisation behind the report, has been fighting for intellectual diversity in education since its foundation in 2001, and has compiled a database of disinvitation attempts at American universities dating back to 200.
“The resurgence of disinvitation attempts following a year of decline in their prevalence is a disturbing development,” he said.
“The increasing unwillingness to allow anyone on campus to hear ideas with which one disagrees poses a grave risk to students’ intellectual development. Rather than seeking to banish controversial or offensive ideas from campus, students would be far better off if they confronted, grappled with, and rigorously debated the views that they find disagreeable,” he continued.
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