A joint investigation carried out by two well-known news outlets has revealed that twelve British universities – including a number of the most prestigious ones – had been paying a private security firm to keep tabs on students and faculty members who voiced pro-Palestinian views. According to documents, since 2022 the universities have funneled at least $594,000 to Horus Security Consultancy Limited, a firm run by former military intelligence officers that markets itself as a leading analysis center.
The investigation brought to light that, on the universities’ behalf, Horus Security Consultancy Limited tracked social media activity, carried out covert threat assessments for terrorism, and ran background checks on guest speakers. Internal documents show that, among other cases, the surveillance swept up a Palestinian scholar invited to speak at Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as a London School of Economics postgraduate student who had spoken out in support of Gaza.
In October 2024, the University of Bristol – as internal email exchanges reveal – handed over to the firm a list of student protest groups, including activists for Palestinian and animal rights, whose events the company was required to get notifications about.
Besides Bristol, the universities that signed up for these services include Oxford University, Imperial College London, University College London, King’s College London, the University of Sheffield, the University of Leicester, Nottingham University, and Cardiff Metropolitan University. All in all, twelve universities made use of monitoring services to keep an eye on protest activity on their campuses.