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In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

PayPal cancels FSU and The Daily Sceptic accounts

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This week, PayPal cancelled the accounts of the Free Speech Union as well as the “lockdown sceptic” blog, The Daily Sceptic, both run by journalist and political commentator Toby Young. The financial service did not give notice of the specific violation(s) of their “Acceptable Use Policy” that allegedly caused them to cancel the accounts in question. The fact that all of these accounts were targeted in one fell swoop seems to show that PayPal designated these groups and the people behind them as non grata, because of some unidentified political transgression. You really don’t need to be a fan of any of these groups to see how risky this flex of digital power is.

Mark Johnson, UnHerd, 21st September 2022.

Free speech group “is cancelled by PayPal’: Three accounts set up by Toby Young are cut off by US giant for breaking “acceptable use policy”

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Paypal has found itself in hot water after shutting down accounts belonging to the founder of the Free Speech Union. Toby Young, who set up the campaign group and the Daily Sceptic news blog, was told last week that three of his PayPal accounts would be closed for violating an “acceptable use policy”. But Mr Young accused it of “whisking the rug out from under” private businesses. “This is completely outrageous, but I am far from the only person to be deplatformed in this way,” he said. “The withdrawal of financial services from people who challenge the prevailing orthodoxy, whether it’s about teaching primary school children there are 27 different genders or Net Zero, is the new battlefront in the ongoing war against free speech.”

Izzy Lyons, Daily Mail, 21st September 2022.

Toby Young PayPal accounts ban is “gender-critical discrimination”, says SNP’s Joanna Cherry

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Toby Young said his Free Speech Union, his website the Daily Sceptic and his personal accounts have all been closed and has said he believes the company targeted him for his political views. Joanna Cherry KC, the SNP MP for Edinburgh South West who has criticised her own party for its position on transgender issues, has said if Young’s allegations he was targeted for his views were true, PayPal was discriminating on the basis of political beliefs.

Hamish Morrison, The National, 21st September 2022.

Queen Elizabeth: Republican protesters have a right to free speech, but there are clear legal limits – Murdo Fraser MSP

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I have been encouraged to see the Free Speech Union, with which I am proud to be associated, offering support to some of the protesters who were arrested last week. It is, however, clear that there is a definite line between what is permissible (albeit offensive to many) public protest, and what falls foul of the criminal law.

Murdo Fraser, The Scotsman, 21st September 2022.

Free speech has its limits for the timid right

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As noted trade unionist Paul Embery stated, “it’s very easy to make generalised statements about being opposed to woke, we can all do that. The real hard thing is to stand with the victims of that woke culture.” Indeed, and it shouldn’t be left to Toby Young and his Free Speech Union to keep picking up the slack on that front.

Edward Howard, TCW, 21st September 2022.

PayPal shuts down accounts of Free Speech Union

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PayPal has shut down the account of the Free Speech Union, an organisation which defends gender-critical academics and people who have lost work for expressing opinions. Mr Young said he suspected the action was driven by political motives and was a “sinister form of cancel culture”. He was told last week that PayPal was shutting down the accounts because of violations of PayPal’s “Acceptable Use Policy”. He is unaware of any possible ways he or the organisation could have breached the policy, which lists banned transactions such as those which are illegal or support ponzi schemes.

Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 20th September 2022.

A note on TCW’s comments section

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After extensive discussions with the British Board of Film Classification, which advises network providers, and following the help of and legal advice from the Free Speech Union, the operators have agreed that the content of TCW does not need to be blocked, and have lifted the block on the site. They are now blocking the comments section, with a view to reviewing this in the future.

TCW, 20th September 2022.

Flashes of Republicanism Met With Summons by Bobbies, as Queen Is Morned

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The chief legal counsel of a U.K.-based organization that advocates for freedom of speech, Free Speech Union, Bryn Harris, told the Sun that the laws were set to protect public order, not to control what people are saying or determine what’s acceptable or not. “The police have been making the mistake of not asking themselves if the action is likely to disturb public order,” Mr. Harris said. “They see a sign and immediately assume it’s going to disturb public order.” At the moment, Mr. Harris said, there is a general concern about the “misuse of public order powers.”

Clara Preve-Durrieu, New York The Sun, 16th September 2022.

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