Philosophy academic Nathan Cofnas, the whistle-blowing hero of the Jason Arday scandal, may be going to jail for engaging in free speech in Belgium.
From De Morgen via Google translation from Dutch:
Unia files a complaint for racism against UGent researcher Nathan Cofnas
Equal Opportunities Institute Unia is preparing a complaint against UGent researcher Nathan Cofnas. His views allegedly violate the anti-racism law. ‘We want a judge to rule.’
This article was written by Bruno Struys
Published on October 1, 2026, 03:01
One month after Ghent University initiated disciplinary proceedings against its American researcher Nathan Cofnas, Unia is taking legal action.
Unia call itself “independent.” It’s a government-funded and mandated agency, but it is not under democratic control. From Wikipedia:
Unia, or the Interfederal Center for Equal Opportunities (Dutch: Interfederaal Gelijkekansencentrum) and the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (French: Centre pour l’égalité des chances et la lutte contre le racisme) is an independent public institution that fights discrimination and promotes equal opportunities in Belgium.
History
The Centre was founded in 1993 by an Act of the Belgian Chamber of People’s Representatives. …
In 2011, the Centre received the mandate of independent mechanism responsible for the promotion, protection and monitoring of the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In 2013, the federal government, the regions and communities signed a partnership agreement officially making the former Centre - now Unia - an interfederal institution for combating discrimination. …
In 2018, Unia was recently recognized as a national institution for the protection of human rights, B status, by the competent international bodies.
So, Unia appears to be a government agency, except that it’s less under the rule of law. It’s paid for by the government of Belgium, but the democratically elected government has no control over it. Its board members are appointed by various Belgian parliaments, but then they are out of democratic control. So UNIA is kind of like a Federal Reserve Board of political correctness.
Sounds scary.
Back to De Morgen:
The Board of Directors gave the green light for this last Thursday. Unia is convinced that several statements made by Cofnas violate the anti-racism law, but wishes to issue only a brief response.
“This American philosopher is spreading a discourse in our country in which he allegedly establishes a hierarchy among people based on so-called scientific insights, in order to justify discrimination on the grounds of origin or skin color or to promote forms of segregation.”
Since Cofnas started working at Ghent University this spring, he has disseminated his controversial views in interviews, podcasts, blog posts, and a lecture at the student association KVHV.
Here’s Dr. Cofnas’s lecture at KVHV:
More from De Morgen:
Paywall here.
