The free speech crisis

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Many people deny the existence of cancel culture, but when people can be hounded from jobs for expressing certain views, a proper debate is needed on the future of free speech. ThinkTent, together with the Free Speech Union, hosts a discussion about the rise of intolerance for differing viewpoints, how it affects different walks of life, and asks what can be done to turn back the tide.

Mark Littlewood chairs a discussion with Inaya Folarin Iman, Laurence Fox and Toby Young, Think Tent, 5th October 2020.

The creep of internet censorship

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Kristie’s treatment is obviously deeply concerning for believers in free speech, but there’s another aspect of her case that worries me. […] The Free Speech Union has just produced a briefing paper warning of the dire consequences for free speech if the government’s internet censorship plans become law, and I urge you to read it. Soon, it won’t just be Kristie Higgs who is punished for challenging woke dogma. It will be all of us.

Toby Young, The Spectator, magazine issue of 26th September 2020.

“Cancellers are cowards – their beliefs are built on sand”

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“Around then, I joined the Free Speech Union. It was fantastic. It got me a pro-bono solicitor, who said it was an open-and-shut case. […] The solicitor wrote to the board. He explained all their mistakes and said I was going to sue them unless they resigned. They did. A new board was appointed, and reinstated me.”

Interview with Nick Buckley, Spiked, 25th September 2020.

Censorship is the greatest “online harm”

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The Online Harms White Paper was created largely by staff in the Home Office, and the government now plans an internet censorship bill of the same name next year. As our Free Speech Union briefing explains, the government’s plans are a profound threat to our freedom of speech.

Dr Radomir Tylecote, Spiked, 24th September 2020.

Christian school secretary, 44, reveals shock at being sacked for opposing plans to teach LGBT relationships to primary pupils and says it is “morally necessary to defend the Bible truth against harmful doctrines”

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Toby Young […] told MailOnline: “No one should be punished for expressing their religious beliefs in private, whether they are a Christian or a Muslim. Not only has Kristie Higgs’ right to privacy been violated, but so too has her right to free speech.”

Jack Wright and Georgia Simcox, MailOnline, 21st September 2020.

Exeter University debating society is forced into humiliating U-turn after “disinviting” Catholic author opposed to gay marriage – only to then re-invite her and call it “a mistake”

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She and the Free Speech Union, of which she is a member, complained to the university authorities, pointing out that its event management policy was “committed to the protection of freedom of speech” and the society’s own aims claimed to promote “exposure to a diversity of thought” for members.

Nick Craven, The Mail on Sunday, 20th September 2020.

University of Exeter “No Platforming” of Catholic Campaigner Overturned by Free Speech Union

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Within hours the invitation was restored. They would have got away with it if wasn’t for that pesky Free Speech Union…

Guido Fawkes, 18th September 2020

Why is the government pushing unprecedented online censorship?

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As our new briefing at the Free Speech Union explains, [the government’s plans] will lead to sweeping online censorship unprecedented in a democracy. Some of the harms the plans describe are vague, like “unacceptable content” and “disinformation”. The new regulations will prohibit material “that may directly or indirectly cause harm” even if it is “not necessarily illegal”.

Dr Radomir Tylecote, The Daily Telegraph, 18th September 2020.

Conservative Intellectual Douglas Murray on the Newly Emboldened Radical Left and Why the Silent Majority Needs to Speak Up

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Author Douglas Murray talks about the new Afterword to The Madness of Crowds, his best-selling book about identity politics, and the events of the last six months which have accelerated the toxic trends he warned about.

Toby Young interviews Douglas Murray, Quillette Podcast, 3rd September 2020.

This is “not a fundamentally racist society” | Inaya Folarin Iman interview

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We discuss the importance of free speech, the threats to it, and why Inaya thinks the Black Lives Matter movement is not only incorrect in its assumptions but divisive and disempowering for black people.

Max Klinger interviews Inaya Folarin Iman, E2 Review Podcast, 25th August 2020.

In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

The free speech crisis

The creep of internet censorship

“Cancellers are cowards – their beliefs are built on sand”

Censorship is the greatest “online harm”

Christian school secretary, 44, reveals shock at being sacked for opposing plans to teach LGBT relationships to primary pupils and says it is “morally necessary to defend the Bible truth against harmful doctrines”

Exeter University debating society is forced into humiliating U-turn after “disinviting” Catholic author opposed to gay marriage – only to then re-invite her and call it “a mistake”

University of Exeter “No Platforming” of Catholic Campaigner Overturned by Free Speech Union

Why is the government pushing unprecedented online censorship?

Conservative Intellectual Douglas Murray on the Newly Emboldened Radical Left and Why the Silent Majority Needs to Speak Up

This is “not a fundamentally racist society” | Inaya Folarin Iman interview

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