Is free speech threatened?

It is a commendable cause. Who could ever argue against the broad idea of free speech? It is the cornerstone of a liberal democracy. But when examined more closely, it seems that Moon’s letter has overstated the threat. He cites just one example, ‘‘the forced closure of a student club at Auckland University’’, which he calls a slippery slope.

Moon refers to a proposed Auckland University European Students Association, which was not forced to close, but chose to disband after media coverage and allegations of physical threats.

Is free speech really threatened? As Victoria University law lecturer Eddie Clark said, criticism of the student club was not a suppression of free speech at all, but an example of it in action.

It seems that Moon and the 27 signatories are not talking about something that is happening now, but something that may happen in future. Moon warns of a potential ‘‘avalanche’’.

The violent protests that stopped the appearance of controversial author Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley, in February, were called ‘‘a free speech battle at the birthplace of a movement’’. That referred to the irony of students trying to ban someone with incendiary views, given that their predecessors had argued strongly for free expression in the 1960s.

New Zealand universities are also expected to be places where free speech is cherished and where challenging ideas will be critically examined rather than suppressed.

But the freedom to offend comes with responsibilities. Those who promote views they know to be controversial should not mistake fair and robust criticism of their ideas for censorship, whether it takes place on social media, at protests or as a petition.