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In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Peers oppose free speech bill’s prospect of “endless litigation”

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Eric Kaufmann, professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London, co-author of a report for the Policy Exchange thinktank that was the source for the key elements of the bill including the statutory tort, and a member of the Free Speech Union’s advisory board, said: “We are concerned, but I think things are still very much in play.” He added: “Regrettably the risk of being sued tends to be required to concentrate institutional minds on upholding the law since the more proximal and frequent pressure on administrators comes from the anti-[free] speech side.”

John Morgan, Times Higher Education, 28th November 2022.

Government urged not to U-turn on free speech rights at universities

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In the letter, co-ordinated by the Free Speech Union, the academics said that critics of the Bill “underestimate the scale of the free speech crisis in our universities”. They said that critics, “for the most part” are “ideologically aligned with the enforcers of intellectual orthodoxy and therefore have not had to self-censor or contend with prolonged investigations merely for expressing their opinions, let alone the bullying and intimidation faced by academics who challenge the prevailing wisdom on campus about trans rights”. They said that “as academics who have swum against the tide, we know just how little tolerance there can be for genuinely dissenting points of view”.

Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 21st November 2022.

Oxford thinks woke culture has gone too far

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Speaking on proposition was Founder of the Free Speech Union (FSU) and Associate Editor of the Spectator Toby Young. Young argued that “Wanting to reduce prejudice and discrimination and improve outcomes for historically disadvantaged groups is an admirable goal…the objection to woke culture is not the end but the means used to achieve it.” In his speech Young cited examples of legitimate free speech crises around the world from the Uyghurs in China to women in Iran to Kathleen Stock who in his eyes “was essentially hounded off the Sussex University campus”.

Anvee Bhutani, The Oxford Student, 20th November 2022.

Durham University’s free speech crisis, as left-wing students look to shut down Jeremy Vine’s old student paper, shows how far it has fallen

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Universities should be places where students are exposed to a range of opinions and given an opportunity to test ideas in open discussion and debate. If students are told there’s only one acceptable view on hot topics such as gender identity and Britain’s colonial past they might as well be at a madrasa. Instead of being taught how to think, they’re being taught what to think. I’m afraid Durham is becoming such a place. The unstinting efforts of the students’ union to shut down the print version of Palatinate – for no better reason, according to its supporters, than because it subjects the union’s hard-Left officers to scrutiny – is just one example of how far this institution has fallen.

Toby Young, Mail on Sunday, 12th November 2022.

Now Big Tech is coming for your money

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In a review of these practices for the Free Speech Union (FSU), I found that a majority of payment processors and crowdfunding platforms use vague, subjective language in their policies. Not only do they have the usual prohibitions on ‘hate speech’ – their guidelines also ban ‘code words and slogans’ that could be ‘proxies’ for beliefs they do not approve of. This approach gives these firms expansive scope to deny services to users, potentially based on the mere perception of heretical political views.

Carrie Clark, Spiked, 6th November 2022.

Tory MP Takes on PayPal

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The Free Speech Union welcomed the move and joined Hart’s call for the government to support the amendment. Toby Young, General Secretary of the organisation, said: “Every MP who’s concerned about the emergence of a Chinese-style social credit system in the U.K. should support this amendment. British people should not be denied access to essential financial services because some liberal authoritarian in California disapproves of their political views. It’s cancel culture at its worst.”

Guido Fawkes, 3rd November 2022.

Online Safety Bill to be rewritten amid fears Nicola Sturgeon could hijack it

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Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, explained: “The Bill says that if something is unlawful in any part of the UK, social media platforms will be obliged to remove it in every part of the UK. Scotland’s Hate Crime Act criminalises vast swathes of speech which you can say in the rest of the UK – which is perfectly legal elsewhere in the UK.”

Camilla Turner, The Telegraph, 3rd November 2022.

British MP Wants Law to Stop Digital Payment Firms Like PayPal Withdrawing Service Over Political Views

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It shut down the account of the Free Speech Union (FSU), an organisation that defends people who have lost work or been canceled for expressing their opinions, and the Daily Sceptic news site. Both were founded by Associate Editor of The Spectator, Toby Young. At the time, Young told The Epoch Times that “this feels like an escalation in the ongoing war against free speech by Big Tech.”

Owen Evans, The Epoch Times, 2nd November 2022.

“Offensive” Tom Moore tweet’s author appeals to European court

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Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told STV News: “What Joseph Kelly said was undoubtedly offensive, but we don’t believe anyone should be prosecuted for being offensive. This out-of-date law is about to be repealed in England and Wales and if this appeal is successful, I cannot see it remaining on the statute books in Scotland for much longer.”

Kevin Scott, STV News, 1st November 2022.

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