EU Leader Calls on Voters to Help Defend Academic Freedom
Frances Jones | 03 June 2024 | Research Professional News
European Parliament president warns of increasing threats to academia and democracy in Europe
The president of the European Parliament has called on EU voters to defend academic freedom and democracy more broadly in casting votes in the European elections later this week. Roberta Metsola made her call in a statement focused on not taking democracy and Europe for granted, which was published on 31 May by the Coimbra Group of long-established multidisciplinary European universities.
She warned EU citizens of the “urgent” need to protect European values including academic freedom, adding that the threat to them has been accelerated by digitisation. Threats to European democracy and values include disinformation, cyberattacks and hacks from those who champion autocracy, she said.
“While academic oppression is nothing new, what has evolved are the methods by which academic freedom and institutional autonomy are being curtailed in a globalised digital world. This problem does not solely occur in autocracies. It is a broader problem of manipulating knowledge,” Metsola said…