‘It’s disgusting’: 84 per cent say protest monitoring damages trust in Bristol Uni

The University of Bristol has been using a private security firm to monitor student protest activity using publicly available information, a joint investigation by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigations has revealed.

A majority of students say this alone is enough to damage their trust.

84 per cent of respondents to a Bristol Tab survey said the revelations would make them trust the university less, while just 16 per cent said it wouldn’t. Student reactions were varied.

One student responded “can you just pay your staff please,” while another described the spending as “disgusting considering the cuts to uni departments in the name of budget.” A third said: “The university has long been an extension of the security state – this confirms it.” A final respondent added: “Can we really pretend to be shocked? It’s Bristol doing their usual stuff.”

Others defended the move. “You’d much rather they monitored them to check for any extremism than not,” one respondent said. Another argued that, following incidents of alleged harassment at previous protests, “it’s sadly necessary.”

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The reports included updates on a student encampment in Royal Fort Gardens during May and June 2024, organised as part of wider demonstrations calling on universities to review ties with companies linked to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Earlier that year, students occupied university buildings including the Victoria Rooms and an administrative site on Tyndall Avenue.

The investigation also found that individuals, including academics and postgraduate students, were referenced in reports prepared for some institutions.

Representatives of the University and College Union (UCU) said the use of external monitoring services raises questions about how universities respond to student activism.

Max de Bono, a postgraduate representative, said the development should be considered in the context of wider international trends: “In the US, universities have worked with authorities in relation to protest activity,” he said. “There are questions about how similar approaches could develop in the UK.”

There is no indication that the use of Horus Security services by the University of Bristol was unlawful, or that individual protesters were directly targeted.

You can read the full report by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigations here.