Social media and deplatforming
The Free Speech Union has covered 78 stories on this topic. Browse our coverage below.
5 June 2026
Facebook silences former employee at Hay Festival
Meta is silencing Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Director of Global Public Policy at Facebook, who published a memoir — Careless People — containing damning claims about the company's internal culture and its appeasement of the Chinese government. Bound by a legal order that exposes her to a $50,000 fine for every breach, Wynn-Williams sat in silence on stage at the Hay Festival while Professor Tim Wu answered questions on her behalf.
22 April 2026
Council Code of Conduct used to try and silence Reform councillor and FSU member Steve Horner
Reform UK councillor Steve Horner faced a series of vexatious code-of-conduct complaints after standing up for residents online. The Free Speech Union helped him beat every one.
28 February 2026
Elon Musk launches landmark legal challenge against EU over Digital Services Act fine
Elon Musk is taking the EU to court over a €120m Digital Services Act fine against X — in what could be a defining battle for free speech and regulatory power in Europe.
1 February 2026
Victory for Robert Moss as police drop Orwellian charges
Staffordshire Police drop Orwellian charges against Robert Moss — a fireman of 28 years — after he was arrested for criticising his former employer on Facebook.
2 January 2026
FSU dealt with 211 cases where people got in trouble with the police or employers for social media posts in 2025
In 2025, the Free Speech Union handled 211 cases in which people got into trouble — either with their employer or the police — for words said on social media. Here are some of the most striking.
8 September 2025
Change law so we can stop policing tweets, demands Met chief
6 August 2025
Google wins case against Russia – but the real free speech fight may be yet to come
3 August 2025
Britain’s expanding censorship machine
29 July 2025
Britain is entering a new phase in the policing of digital dissent
22 May 2025
Employee sacked for liking Facebook video reinstated after FSU intervention
13 May 2025
Police force reviews ‘thought-crime’ tweet arrest
11 May 2025
FSU backs legal action after ex-officer arrested over ‘thought crime’ tweet
10 April 2025
BitChute discontinues video-sharing service for UK residents over online censorship laws
6 April 2025
Police make 30 arrests a day for offensive online messages
4 April 2025
Mastercard backtracks after getting caught using advertising revenue to censor Conservatives
25 March 2025
Laurence Fox charged with sex offence for “sharing upskirting photo of TV presenter”
25 March 2025
The treatment of Charlie Mullins proves that there’s no free speech if you’re Right-wing
21 March 2025
Home Office worker sacked for sharing post by Reform UK MP Richard Tice
16 March 2025
FSU member suspended by Waitrose for tweeting Conservative views
12 March 2025
Fitness influencer faces abuse and death threats from trans activists after pledging to open female-only gym in London
25 February 2025
Labour will use AI to snoop on “concerning” social media
25 February 2025
UK’s online regulator urges social media to censor lawful but ‘misogynistic’ speech
14 February 2025
Elon Musk and the Royal Society: The Campaign to Expel a Fellow
9 February 2025
Charity boss cancelled for ‘Islamophobia’ wins legal battle in victory for free speech
5 February 2025
Heretics podcast removed for being heretical
26 January 2025
PepsiCo adds viewpoint neutrality language after allegations of censorship in GARM’s influence on media policies
17 January 2025
Tories forced MP’s elderly mother to do diversity training after she liked immigration post
16 January 2025
US government officials screamed and swore at Facebook staff, says Zuckerberg
16 January 2025
YouTube censors video of Barrister highlighting vaccine harms at Covid Inquiry
8 January 2025
Royal College chief “deeply sorry” for accidentally following Tommy Robinson on X
7 January 2025
Facebook dumps fact-checkers in attempt to “restore” free speech
6 December 2024
LNER accuses passenger of ‘transphobia’ for asking questions about its ‘Pride train’
5 December 2024
Why we should worry about Google’s stopping serving political advertising in EU
4 December 2024
Cathay Pacific apologises over inflight Family Guy episode with Tiananmen Square scene
28 November 2024
Civil servant ‘railroaded to resign for Reform reposts on Facebook’
27 November 2024
Police forces withdraw from X after Elon Musk takeover
19 November 2024
German police raid man’s home over tweet mocking Greens’ politician
19 November 2024
German Vice Chancellor Wants To Censor Social Media After Being Ridiculed Online
18 November 2024
Tackle violent crime instead of tweets, Starmer urges police after Allison Pearson row
13 November 2024
Musk leads growing backlash against police for investigating Allison Pearson
7 November 2024
Is Trump’s victory good news for free speech? Yes and no.
5 November 2024
FSU protecting members’ online speech in wake of Southport mass stabbing revelations
28 October 2024
‘Woke’ chatbots discriminate against free speech, according to new study
24 October 2024
Campaign group with close ties to Labour Party hopes to “kill Musk’s Twitter”
23 October 2024
Microsoft Word “censors” the term maternity leave
16 October 2024
Police force quits Elon Musk’s X over concerns about “values”
9 October 2024
Fifteen years in jail for “alarming” and “discriminatory” social media posts, as Nicaragua continues crack down on dissent
18 September 2024
FSU member Bernadette Spofforth has case dropped after arrest for Southport killer tweet
28 August 2024
How Zuckerberg censored Covid on Facebook
27 August 2024
Facebook and Instagram censoring Covid posts was wrong and I wish I’d fought it, says Mark Zuckerberg
27 August 2024
Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France
23 August 2024
FSU writes to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper over prejudicial “criminals” tweet
22 August 2024
FSU writes to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper over prejudicial “criminals” tweet
18 August 2024
Bridget Phillipson accused of censoring Facebook comments critical of private school tax raid
18 August 2024
Jailed for riot comments: justice or creeping censorship
8 August 2024
A ban on online anonymity is a threat to freedom of expression
7 August 2024
Secretive Covid-era ‘spy’ agency repurposed to monitor social media during riots
4 August 2024
Patriots for Europe demand answers on secret censorship deal offered to Elon Musk
4 August 2024
Southport riots: why social media’s role in unrest is overblown
15 July 2024
EU offered secret “censorship” deal to X, claims Elon Musk
26 June 2024
Supreme Court Strikes Down Injunction Preventing Government From Pressuring Big Tech to Suppress Free Speech
12 June 2024
New York Times bestseller list ‘biased against conservative authors’
10 June 2024
Baillie Gifford sponsorship row: writing is on the wall for book lovers
10 June 2024
Meta to focus on censoring “misinformation” and “hate speech” ahead of UK election
10 June 2024
Politico laments that WhatsApp isn’t specifically targeting election speech for censorship
9 June 2024
UK gender critical charity permanently banned by Instagram
5 June 2024
Elon Musk says “free speech prevailed” after Australia drops bid to impose global ban on ‘harmful’ online material
5 June 2024
Meta ordered to pay damages to shadow banned Flemish MEP
18 May 2024
“Controlling the Narrative”: Free Speech Under Fire
15 May 2024
Elon Musk wins temporary reprieve for free speech in Australia following court battle
8 May 2024
Facebook to investigate ‘from the river to the sea’ posts
25 April 2024
Leeds bans “unfairly disparaging” social media posts
4 March 2024
X quietly revives anti-misgendering policy that Musk dropped last year
7 February 2024
“It was TERRIFYING” Newcastle United fan BANNED for trans views talks to Nigel Farage
4 February 2024
"One of the most sinister things I've seen." Helen Joyce reacts to case of FSU member Linzi Smith
2 February 2024
Football fan banned over gender critical posts after ‘Stasi’ Premier League Investigation
31 January 2024
The Laurence Fox ruling should horrify anyone who cares about freedom of expression
13 January 2024
The disgusting attempt to silence Joey Barton
