Thread by @allthecitizens

🚨BREAKING:

42% of Russell Group Universities refuse to say which Chinese state-linked tech firms fund them, citing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or Freedom of Information exemptions, research by @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens has found.🧵

We asked 24 Russell Group institutions which companies were funding their tech research. 3 did not respond to requests, 11 cited NDAs or Section 43 FOI exemptions. And 2 refused to disclose for reasons relating to cost or because the data was “not routinely collected centrally”.

Of those that did share information about Uni research agreements with Chinese tech firms, typically only minimal information was released.

At least 24 NDAs between universities and the Chinese company Huawei have been signed since 2018.

Queen’s University, Belfast, said that, “Huawei have... included a specific clause to protect the release of such information under contract”.

Non-disclosure agreements are legal texts designed to prevent the release of certain information to outside parties.

The University of Leeds stated that it was party to one research project and three NDAs, and that it was withholding information under FOI sections 43 and 41, relating to actionable breaches of confidence by a third-party should that information be disclosed.

@BylineTimes and @allthecitizens previously revealed that Oxford University has engaged in an AI programme with the state-backed Chinese tech giant Tencent, and that 75% of Russell Group universities have accepted money since 2018 from Tencent and Huawei:
bylinetimes.com/2021/11/18/aut…

The lack of transparency over the contracts is of concern. Given that Chinese firms linked to surveillance tech have been implicated in human rights abuses by the Chinese government, it is not known if research projects could be inadvertently fuelling abuses in China and beyond.

Chinese companies have been accused of seeking to buy their way into the UK’s higher education sector, funding research or buying professorships. Critics say these actions may enable China to censor those abroad who speak out against the regime.
newstatesman.com/politics/2021/…

In one example, Cambridge Professor Peter Nolan, when employed in a role allegedly funded by the family of China’s former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, cautioned against students wanting to hold a debate about the Chinese state’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims
opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

In another case, nearly 200 academics were investigated early in 2021 on suspicion of unwittingly helping the Chinese Gov research weapons development – violating laws designed to prevent intellectual property falling into the hands of hostile state-actors
thetimes.co.uk/article/hundre…

With reference to NDA’s more generally, it was recently reported that almost 1/3 of British Universities were using them to “silence” students in relation to poor teaching, false advertising on courses, and, worryingly, against victims of sexual assault.
inews.co.uk/news/education…

Figures obtained by the BBC in 2019 showed that universities had spent around £87 million in NDA payoffs since 2017, with critics accusing them of issuing “gagging orders”
bbc.co.uk/news/education…

Meanwhile, the ongoing and worsening culture of secrecy in public life extends far beyond British universities. 2020 was recently found to be the worst year on record for UK government secrecy. opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-…

Additionally, the government also spent half a million pounds of taxpayer money on lawyers to fight FOI disclosures:
opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-…

Likewise the Cabinet Office, already under fire for operating a secretive ‘Clearing House’ unit geared towards blacklisting journalists by vetting FOI requests
opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

As standards around information disclosure continue to be disregarded to preserve commercial interests of third parties or personal reputations, the resulting lack of accountability only serves to erode public trust in institutions that ostensibly operate to serve a common good.

For the full story from @MC_00_ in the @BylineTimes, please see the link below:

bylinetimes.com/2021/11/23/the…