Will I be PayPal’s downfall?

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Dan Schulman, the president and CEO of PayPal, gave an interview earlier this year entitled: ‘The thing that separates good companies from great ones: trust.’ He told the audience that companies need to do more than deliver an outstanding product to build trust. In addition, they need to ‘stand up for social issues that are important’ and ‘do the right things to help create a better world’. Ironically, it is precisely because PayPal has been energetically pursuing this agenda that trust in the company is beginning to evaporate.

Toby Young, The Spectator, 15th October 2022

Transgender schools guidance says discussing women’s rights could be offensive

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Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, said that the NEU trans network was planning to redefine transphobia “in such broad terms that any criticism of gender identity ideology – or the agenda of trans rights activists – would be deemed ‘transphobic’.”

Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 10th October 2022.

“Universities are turning debating chambers into echo chambers”: Institutions adopt stricter vetting rules for guest speakers and suggest trigger warnings and safe spaces for “controversial” speakers who might “cause upset”

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Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: “The people running these debating societies have lost sight of their original purpose, which was to expose students to a range of different views, including those they may find challenging and disagreeable, so they can develop their own ideas and opinions and learn how to defend them in the public square. Safe spaces, trigger warnings and risk assessments have turned what were once debating chambers into echo chambers.”

Miles Dilworth, Daily Mail, 9th October 2022.

Student union BANS white students from attending Black History Month events – sparking accusations of racial segregation

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Leader of the Free Speech Union Toby Young has also weighed into the debate as he labelled the group ‘zealots’ who were failing to see the bigger picture. “At some point, you’d think it would be clear to these zealots that you’re not going to reduce racial discrimination by discriminating against people on the basis of their race, but they’re so blinkered by ideological groupthink they cannot see this glaring contradiction,” he said.

Arthur Parashar, MailOnline, 9th October 2022.

White students banned from Black History Month events at Westminster University

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Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union said: “At some point, you’d think it would be clear to these zealots that you’re not going to reduce racial discrimination by discriminating against people on the basis of their race, but they’re so blinded by ideological groupthink they cannot see this glaring contradiction.”

Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 7th October 2022.

Access to finance systems must be protected in the age of cancel culture

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PayPal has reversed its decision to close the accounts of the Free Speech Union (FSU) and the child welfare organisation UsforThem. But this ugly incident should not be forgotten. It reveals the vulnerability of even the most respectable pressure groups to arbitrary action by those who, for whatever reason, object to their message. PayPal may have backed down, but this problem is not going to go away.

Jonathan Sumption, The Times, 6th October 2022.

Elon Musk’s free speech vision for Twitter at risk from Britain’s “purse-lipped puritans”

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Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, says: “I cannot see Elon Musk being willing to remove content from Twitter that’s perfectly legal but which some purse-lipped puritan has decided is too dangerous for adults to be trusted with.”

Matthew Field and Gareth Corfield, The Telegraph, 5th October 2022.

Fury over arrest of Catholic mother over claims she posted “malicious” messages online: Campaigners condemn Surrey Police for “wasting time on trivial nonsense” after swooping on vicar’s wife following “Twitter spat about gender issues”

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This afternoon Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union told MailOnline: “Police forces in England and Wales have been told by the Home Secretary and the head of the College of Policing to stop investigating Twitter spats and focus on crime. Unfortunately, it seems like Surrey Police didn’t get the memo. If I was a Surrey resident who’d been burgled and couldn’t persuade the local police to do anything about it, I’d be extremely angry that they’re wasting time on this trivial nonsense. Something has gone very, very wrong at Surrey Police. They need to get their priorities straight.”

Dan Sales, MailOnline, 5th October 2022.

Oxford University students fear freshers’ fair stalls may be too triggering for some

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Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union and an alumnus of Oxford University, told The Telegraph: “This absurd mollycoddling does students no favours. The Oxford Students’ Union is effectively telling students that just seeing a young man in a blue rosette standing behind a trestle table could have a catastrophic impact on their mental health. Surely, a better message to send to students is that sticks and stones may break their bones but words can never hurt them?”

Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph, 3rd October 2022.

The left’s suicidal pact with Silicon Valley

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Mr Dee’s fascistic offence was to take the side of the Free Speech Union when it was locked out of its accounts by PayPal on the utterly spurious grounds that it engaged in ‘misinformation’. The Daily Sceptic, the website set up by the FSU’s founder Toby Young, was similarly defunded by PayPal’s thoughtpolice.

Brendan O’Neill, Spiked, 30th September 2022.

In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Will I be PayPal’s downfall?

Transgender schools guidance says discussing women’s rights could be offensive

“Universities are turning debating chambers into echo chambers”: Institutions adopt stricter vetting rules for guest speakers and suggest trigger warnings and safe spaces for “controversial” speakers who might “cause upset”

Student union BANS white students from attending Black History Month events – sparking accusations of racial segregation

White students banned from Black History Month events at Westminster University

Access to finance systems must be protected in the age of cancel culture

Elon Musk’s free speech vision for Twitter at risk from Britain’s “purse-lipped puritans”

Fury over arrest of Catholic mother over claims she posted “malicious” messages online: Campaigners condemn Surrey Police for “wasting time on trivial nonsense” after swooping on vicar’s wife following “Twitter spat about gender issues”

Oxford University students fear freshers’ fair stalls may be too triggering for some

The left’s suicidal pact with Silicon Valley

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