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In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

Sajid Javid and Tim Farron lead backlash against Met Police over its probe into Pro-Brexit pundit Darren Grimes after David Starkey used term “damn blacks” in YouTube interview

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Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline: “Almost everyone has rightly condemned this grotesque assault on the freedom of the press, including an ex-Home Secretary. I hope the Met recognises that it’s made a silly mistake and drops this investigation immediately.”

Jack Wright for MailOnline and Kamal Sultan for The Daily Mail, 10th October 2020.

Darren Grimes under police investigation after David Starkey interview

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Mr Young questioned whether journalists would now be arrested over comments made by their interviewees and asked if similar action was being taken against a Sky News presenter who was interviewing the rapper Wiley when he made offensive comments about Jewish people. He added: “In a free and democratic society, it is paramount that journalists and broadcasters are permitted to interview a wide range of people, including those likely to make controversial remarks. Threatening them with arrest if their interviewees say something offensive will have a chilling effect on free speech, which is the lifeblood of democracy.”

Hayley Dixon, The Daily Telegraph, 9th October 2020.

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.

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.

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.

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