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In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Thanet District Council ditches PSPO including fines for swearing amid legal threat that new rules could ‘breach free speech’

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But the local authority has now revoked its new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) after the Free Speech Union (FSU) threatened to make it the subject of a judicial review battle in the High Court, after cabinet members met to discuss the issue tonight.
The FSU opposed the council’s new order on the grounds it could prevent a person’s right to protest peacefully due to “too vague and too broad” parameters about how they could express discontent.

James Pallant, Kent Online, 22nd August 2024.

Controversial Public Spaces Protection Order sent back to Thanet council Cabinet members in face of legal threat from Free Speech Union

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However, the new PSPO has faced a legal challenge from the Free Speech Union which says there are issues with the wording of the PSPO and also with the consultation that was carried out in May. The decision was called in to the scrutiny panel by chairman Cllr Phil Fellows due to the council receiving a letter under the pre-action protocol for judicial review from the Free Speech Union (FSU). The FSU said it would apply to judicially review the PSPO decision.

Kathy Bailes, The Isle of Thanet News, 21st August 2024.

Will Starmer make the Online Safety Act even worse?

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Good God, there’s a lot of guff being talked about the Online Safety Act. This was a piece of legislation passed by the previous government to make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to go online’. To free speech advocates like me, that sounded ominous, given that ‘safety’ is always invoked by authoritarian regimes to clamp down on free speech. But after we raised the alarm, the government stripped out the most draconian clauses and put in some protections for freedom of expression, so even though it’s bad, it’s not quite as awful as it could have been.

Toby Young, The Spectator, 17th August 2024.

Free speech stops riots

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With depressing predictability, the riots have led to calls for more censorship. Historically, it was the authoritarian right who blamed outbreaks of civil disorder on too much free speech, but this knee-jerk, illiberal reaction is now more likely to be found on the left.

Toby Young, The Spectator Australia, 10th August 2024.

Ditching this free speech act is a green light to campus bullies

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The Free Speech Union, a mass membership organisation, is seeking a judicial review of Phillipson’s decision to stop its commencement. Campus free speech groups are gathering signatories for a letter asking her to reconsider. “Free speech duties on universities have long been neglected, despite being enshrined in law,” they write. “Hundreds of academics and students have been hounded, censured, silenced or even sacked over the last 20 years for the expression of legal opinions.”

Helen Joyce, The Times, 9th August 2024.

Labour-run council to fine people £100 for swearing in street

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The Free Speech Union, which campaigns against restrictions to individual liberty, has written to the council ahead of launching a potential lawsuit unless it changes course. The campaign group argues that the Thanet PSPO could criminalise, for example, a legitimate political protest outside the council offices, or a religious preacher standing in the town centre giving a sermon on “Christian beliefs about sexuality”

Henry Bodkin, The Telegraph, 9th August 2024.

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