Free Speech Tsar: Arif Ahmed on how to avoid the 'abyss' of political violence

How do you protect and police freedom of speech on campus and in society? Arif Ahmed is a Cambridge Philosopher who is now responsible for enforcing new freedom of speech rules on universities, colleges and students. He took office at a time when there is particular focus on a vexed question: where the boundary should lie between free speech - which should be protected - and speech that threatens, intimidates and leaves people feeling unsafe, which can and should be restricted. He talks to Nick about why he ended up so passionate about this subject, and warns of society falling into an "abyss" of political violence. Producer: Daniel Kraemer Research: Chloe Desave Sound: Ged Sudlow and Fiona Fairmaner Editors: Giles Edwards and Leela Padmanabhan

You can listen to Free Speech Tsar: Arif Ahmed on how to avoid the 'abyss' of political violence online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Free Speech Tsar: Arif Ahmed on how to avoid the 'abyss' of political violence is an episode from Political Thinking with Nick Robinson by BBC.

This episode is 44:57 long.

This episode was published on Oct 10, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Political Thinking with Nick Robinson when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.