Labour Slammed For Deploying AI Censorship Tool to Police Posts

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Since 2021, the Government has spent more than £5.3 million on developing the CDDP and other disinformation projects. Toby Young of the Free Speech Union slammed the project:

It’s politically unwise, to put it mildly. To the Trump-Vance administration this will look like another attempt to ‘kill Musk’s Twitter’, the self-professed agenda of a pro-censorship lobby group founded by Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.”

Guido Fawkes, 24th February 2025.

Woman visited by police after anti-Labour Facebook posts

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Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: “Good luck persuading Greater Manchester police to send two police officers to your house if you’re burgled or your car is stolen.”

Ben Ellery, The Times, 23rd February 2025.

EXCLUSIVE Knock knock, it’s the Thought Police: As thousands of criminals go uninvestigated, detectives call on a grandmother. Her crime? She went on Facebook to criticise Labour councillors at the centre of the ‘Hope you Die’ WhatsApp scandal exposed by the MoS

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And Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This is typical of the weird authoritarian atmosphere that has grown up in Britain since Sir Keir Starmer took control. Good luck persuading Greater Manchester Police to send two police officers to your house if you’re burgled or your car is stolen.’

Abul Taher and Mark Hooham, Daily Mail, 23rd February 2025.

Labour will use AI to snoop on social media

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Lord Young of the Free Speech Union said: “To scale up the British arm of the censorship-industrial complex at a time when it’s being dismantled on the other side of the Atlantic is politically unwise, to put it mildly.”

“It’s particularly tin-eared given that the social media platforms that will be targeted by this new robo-censor are all American-owned.”

“To the Trump-Vance administration this will look like another attempt to ‘kill Musk’s Twitter’, the self-professed agenda of a pro-censorship lobby group founded by Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.”

Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph, 22nd February 2025.

Badenoch: Islamophobia definition would create a blasphemy law

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Lord Young, who founded the Free Speech Union, said: “She’s certainly said more and done more in office to stand up for free speech than any other conservative politician. You know she’s serious about free speech because she ennobled me and Nigel Bigger. I’m the CEO of the Free Speech union, Nigel’s the chair, so she obviously cares about it and thinks it’s important, and our voices should be in Parliament standing up for it.”

Dominic Penna, The Telegraph, 19th February 2025.

Kristie Higgs: A victory for Christianity and free speech

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The Free Speech Union (FSU) intervened in the case and successfully persuaded the Court to adopt several key arguments, reinforcing vital protections for freedom of belief in the workplace.

Dr Frederick Attenborough, TCW, 17th February 2025.

Hundreds charged with online ‘speech crimes’ amid claims UK civil liberties under threat

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Lord Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “The number of people who’ve been charged with this offence is deeply concerning. The problem with trying to criminalise ‘disinformation’ is that it empowers the state to decide what is and isn’t true.”

Ciaran McGrath, Daily Express, 16th February 2025.

UK 1984: Hundreds Charged in Britain for Speech Crimes Under Orwellian Online Safety Act

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Conservative peer and founder of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton, commented: “The number of people who’ve been charged with this offence is deeply concerning. The problem with trying to criminalise ‘disinformation’ is that it empowers the state to decide what is and isn’t true.”

Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart, 16th February 2025.

Hundreds charged with online ‘speech crimes’ under ‘Orwellian’ crackdown

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Lord Toby Young, the Conservative peer and founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “The number of people who’ve been charged with this offence is deeply concerning. The problem with trying to criminalise ‘disinformation’ is that it empowers the state to decide what is and isn’t true.”

Lord Young added that the false communications offence was the latest in a number of “speech crimes” created by successive governments. He said: “Causing someone psychological distress should not be a criminal offence.”

Matthew Field, The Telegraph, 15th February 2025.

Should free speech campaigners hope Andrew Gwynne is prosecuted?

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David McKelvey, a former detective chief inspector in the Met Police, has called for the prosecution of Andrew Gwynne, the Labour MP forced to resign as a health minister last weekend for posting racist and sexist comments in a private WhatsApp group. ‘One rule for MPs, another for police officers?’ he asked on LinkedIn, pointing out that other officers have been prosecuted for sending less offensive messages. ‘The law must be applied fairly to all – no exceptions.’

Toby Young, The Spectator, 15th February 2025.