The documentary also covers free speech controversies occasioned when conservatives are invited to speak in university settings.

With production beginning in 2017, the filmmakers were on hand for commentator Ben Shapiro's September 14, 2017, speech at the University of California, Berkeley, a site of civic protests and unrest.

[10] The film focuses on such speech disruptions in the United States of America, but also examines similar incidents in Canada with Jordan Peterson.

[11][12] In particular, it shows the case of Lindsay Shepherd who was disciplined at Wilfrid Laurier University for using a recording of a debate with Peterson in class.

[19] Compulsion was also an issue discussed in the segments with Jordan Peterson, who gained international attention when he refused to adopt gender-neutral language, calling it an unwelcome form of compelled speech.

[16] Attorney Alan Dershowitz criticizes many college leaders and "the hard left" for not standing up for free speech.

Club, Vadim Rizov gave the film an F, summing up, "This isn't an argument for free speech, it's just paranoid whining, complete with a roundtable of comics sympathetically agreeing how sad and scary this all is, plus images of the Statue of Liberty with tape over its mouth.

"[33] Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised the movie's defense of free speech, stating "the most head-turning point made by No Safe Spaces is that today's anti-free-speech radicals, who on many college campuses dominate the discourse, are going to be tomorrow's leaders.

"[34] Nathanial Bell of LA Weekly gave a positive review, saying: "While somewhat loose and undisciplined in its structure, the film builds a case that academia is the primary battleground in a war to eliminate ideological diversity in the United States.