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Following the publication of the Law Commission’s proposals to replace sections of the Communications Act 2003 and the Malicious Communications Act 1988, this briefing outlines areas where the FSU agrees with these proposals, but also raises concerns that some of these proposals may create new problems for freedom of speech.
Summary | Full Briefing | September 2021 -
This briefing summarises the impact Stonewall has had on freedom of speech and the process by which the organisation appears to have bypassed the marketplace of ideas in policymaking.
Summary | Full Briefing | July 2021 -
Following the release by the government of the draft text of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, this briefing outlines why the Bill is welcome, links to the evidence showing why it’s necessary, including some of the free speech cases in universities we’ve been involved with, and addresses the most common criticisms against it.
Summary | Full Briefing | June 2021 -
Following the release by the Government of the draft text of its Online Safety Bill, this Free Speech Union briefing outlines why the legislation is a danger to online free speech.
Summary | Full Briefing | May 2021 -
The Government’s planned Online Safety Bill is intended to make the internet “safer”, but the Bill is a threat to our freedom of speech. It will lead to the censorship of speech that is legal offline, with companies obliged to remove material for dangerously vague reasons like an “adverse” psychological impact.
Summary | Full Report | April 2021 -
This is a 10-point manifesto for this year’s local elections. These ten policies would immediately improve the state of freedom of speech in the UK. The FSU would like to see these policies adopted by every party in this election and beyond. The FSU does not endorse any political party or candidates.
Summary | Full Report | March 2021 -
Non-Crime Hate Incidents (NCHIs) are a recent and chilling restriction of our free speech. Public awareness of NCHIs has grown since police recorded Harry Miller (in 2019) and Darren Grimes (in 2020) as having committed such “incidents”.
Summary | Full Report | March 2021 -
The Law Commission of England and Wales has proposed a number of changes to the law on hate crime that have been described as the Scottish Hate Crime Bill on steroids.
Summary | Full Briefing | November 2020 -
Many employers are insisting their workers undergo Unconscious Bias Training. But UBT isn’t based on science and the evidence suggests it doesn’t make people any less racist and may make them more so.
Summary | Full Report | September 2020 -
The Government published the Online Harms White Paper in April 2019 and intends to put a Bill before Parliament next year. The proposals aim to make the UK “the safest place in the world to go online”, but they will seriously infringe free speech.
Summary | Full Report | September 2020
