London – The UK is facing a freedom of expression crisis, as a new left-wing government, overzealous police and courts crack down on freedom of expression.
Prime Minister keir starmerThe leader of the ruling Labor Party and his barely two-month-old government have been accused of rolling back free speech protections on security grounds and failing to prevent selective enforcement of laws.
“Every British citizen has a fundamental right to freedom of speech, but over the last few years we’ve seen this trend grow,” Lois McLatchie Miller, senior legal communications officer at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, told Fox News Digital. “It’s now widely recognised that some groups, by virtue of their beliefs, are more easily able to have their freedom of speech curtailed than other groups with different viewpoints.”
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Police officers confront protesters during an anti-immigration demonstration outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, Sunday, August 4, 2024. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP) (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
Widespread riots The harsh response to violence and social unrest on England’s streets last month has reignited the debate over freedom of expression.
The UK has struggled with harsh policing of online speech for several years. In 2019, former police officer Harry Miller was investigated for social media posts that were deemed transphobic for questioning transgender women’s ability to be real women. Miller’s post was recorded by police as a “non-crime hate incident”, leading him to challenge this designation in court. In 2020, a UK court ruled in Miller’s favour but stopped short of changing guidelines that allow police to pursue people over comments made online.
During a speech to parliament, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage complained of double standards in applying the law equally. “Establishment MPs can harass me as much as they like, but the British people are angry that we are living through a two-tier policing and justice system,” Farage wrote on X.
Last month, the government issued a direct reminder of such laws and warned its citizens to be cautious about posting content that is offensive and threatens imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service posted a warning to social media platform X, which was also forwarded by the government’s official social media accounts, warning citizens to “Think before you post!”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session at Parliament in London, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augustine) (AP Photo/Frank Augustine)
“Content that incites violence or hatred is not just harmful – it can be illegal,” the agency wrote. “The CPS takes online violence seriously and will prosecute if it meets the legal test. Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences.” The post added: “The British government is cracking down on people who share posts on social media about the riots in the UK, which it believes are ‘likely to incite racial hatred.'”
The government has simultaneously begun working on measures to force social media companies to suppress so-called “fake news” and legal content deemed harmful, so as not to fuel social unrest. The new measures will expand the scope of the UK’s Online Safety Act and make social media companies more targeted and accountable for “legal but harmful” content.
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Anti-Israel protesters gather in central London for a march to the Israeli Embassy on September 7, 2024 in London, United Kingdom. (Viktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has encouraged the Starmer Government to quickly implement changes to the online safety law, saying that at present, “it is not fit for purpose”.
“I think the government has very quickly realised that the Online Safety Act needs to be amended,” Khan said in an interview. The Guardian“I think the Government should very quickly examine whether it is fit for purpose. I think it is not fit for purpose.”
But the concern free speech In the UK this discrimination is not just limited to online, but double standards are also applied to different viewpoints and political opposition.
“It’s not 1984, it’s 2024.”
Last weekend, two pro-Israel counter-protesters, Mark Birbeck and Niak Ghorbani, carrying signs that read “Hamas is terrorist” were arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace during a pro-Hamas march in London. The march was reportedly stopped due to the presence of the counter-protesters, and they were arrested after clashes with police officers.
Ghorbani is a well-known anti-Hamas Iranian dissident who London’s Metropolitan Police tried to ban from taking part in future anti-Israel protests as part of his bail conditions after he was arrested for protesting against the protests. A court rebuked the police force and ruled in April that such bail conditions were neither proportionate nor necessary. Some on social media have reacted to the new prime minister’s policies by calling him ‘Two-Tier Kiir’.
In Britain, Christian preacher Diya Moodley fought a legal battle against police after officers said she could no longer comment on other religions while giving street sermons. (Dia Moodley)
“On the one hand, we see environmental protesters such as Stop Oil activists or pro-Palestinian and even, in some cases, pro-Hamas protesters being given wide latitude to express their beliefs, sometimes using very violent language,” Lois said. “Yet, when we consider different types of protests, for example, Christians going out to pray near places of worship, they often face very strict restrictions.”
For example, Diya Moodley, a Christian pastor Moodley, who sometimes engages in street preaching, was forced to sue the local police after they forbade him from “commenting on any other religion or comparing them to Christianity” and “commenting on the beliefs of atheists or those who believe in evolution.” Moodley won in court earlier this year, and the police admitted that the freedom of expression restrictions imposed on Moodley were “disproportionate.”
Some on social media have reacted to the new prime minister’s policies as ‘two-tier Keir’.
Meanwhile, Adam Smith-Connor, a Christian military veteran, is set to appear in court next week after being fined and criminally prosecuted for silently praying near an abortion facility. Local authorities alleged that Smith-Connor’s silent prayer violated the so-called “buffer zone,” a designated area where individuals are allowed to express approval or disapproval of abortion.
October 16: Hundreds of people attended a protest called by the National Jewish Assembly, the Campaign Against Antisemitism and UK Lawyers for Israel at BBC Broadcasting House in London, England on October 16, 2023. The National Jewish Assembly is protesting the BBC’s refusal to designate Hamas as terrorists and follows recent attacks on Israel by the terrorist group. Hamas was designated a terrorist organization by the U.K. in March 2021. (Photo: Guy Smallman/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
“Silent prayer is not a crime and never can be. Yet, the prosecution adam smith-kono“This is not 1984, but 2024,” said R. McClatchy Miller, who works to uphold fundamental freedoms for all in Afghanistan. “And yet, the kingdom’s determination to tightly curb even tacit Christian beliefs — while protecting the free expression of others with differing views — stands starkly exposed.”
Nevertheless, protests are growing against the government’s anti-free expression stance, particularly its decision to pause the implementation of the free expression law in higher education and possibly abolish it altogether due to security concerns.
More than 600 academics and intellectuals, including seven Nobel laureates, signed a letter urging the government to reconsider its decision to suspend the law. The Times of London reportedThe law was a key policy passed by the previous Conservative government, aimed at protecting the free speech rights of students and academics on campus.
“The decision to block (the act) reflects the view widely held among opponents that there is ‘no problem with free expression’ in UK universities. Nothing could be more false. Over the past 20 years hundreds of academics and students have been persecuted, vilified, silenced or even fired for expressing legal opinions,” the letter says.
