Open petition to protect freedom of science

Petition addressed to: Ammattikorkeakoulujen rehtorineuvosto Arene ry, Suomen yliopistojen rehtorineuvosto Unifi ry

Dear Rectors of Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences,  

We, as members of the scientific community, have been following the restriction of free science and freedom of speech in the United States with concern. As part of Presidents Trump’s administration’s move against diversity, equality and inclusion, and against battling climate change, even the use of certain expressions has been denied from federal employees and the scientific community.  
This attempt to restrict academic freedom and freedom of speech has now reached Finland. The University of Helsinki has already been issued demands to remove terms like “climate change” and “egalitarian society” from Fulbright scholarship announcements. We are concerned that this is just the beginning. The way in which we respond to these demands now will set limits on how far-reaching demands are issued in the future.  

We, the undersigned, request that UNIFI and Arene show their unequivocal support for the freedom of speech and free science. We ask that you publish statements on your institutional websites in which you in clear terms refuse to censor the activities of higher education institutions,  their scientific work, or their communications in response to political pressure. We also ask that as leaders of these institutions, you share these statements and instructions on how to put them in practice within your organization, and inform your staff of what support is available for researchers facing attempts to suppress free science and freedom of speech.  

By publicly drawing the line in this way, we will discourage further attempts to curtail scientific freedom, and make it easier to refuse such requests should any still be issued.