The Free Speech Union has serious concerns about the Government’s proposal to ban under-16s from some social media platforms (but not others).
When the proposal was first announced, ministers cited supposedly 'harmful' platforms such as X, Facebook and YouTube, but made no mention of the left-leaning Bluesky.
A selective ban, rather than a blanket one, means Ofcom will be tasked with enforcing the political preferences of whichever government happens to be in power. If there's a change of government, will X be taken off the banned list and Bluesky put in its place?
Another concern is enforcement. How exactly does the Government intend to make the ban work in practice? In Australia — the model ministers appear keen to follow — many under-16s continue to access social media through VPNs.
Will the Government’s next step be to ban VPNs as well? That would put the UK in the same company as Turkmenistan, Iran and North Korea.
The Government has also failed to explain how this proposal can be reconciled with its duties under the Online Safety Act to protect content of democratic importance and journalistic content — duties that are due to come into force next month.
This is particularly important given the Government’s intention to extend some social media restrictions to 16 and 17 year-olds and at the same time lower the voting age to 16.
How can 16 and 17 year-olds be expected to participate meaningfully in the democratic process if the Government is restricting the content of democratic importance and the journalistic content they're able to access?
The Free Speech Union will be keeping a wary eye on the Government’s plans 👇
Join over 50,000 people in signing the FSU petition to SAVE JURY TRIALS.
If David Lammy gets his way, more people will be banged up for simply expressing their right to free speech.
✍️ Sign below 👇
Why is Sir Keir Starmer’s Government set to ban under-16s from accessing 10 major social media platforms — including X — but not left-wing platforms like Bluesky?
Since coming to power, this Government has been openly hostile to X, a forum for debate that prides itself on free speech. Ministers have even floated the idea of blocking UK citizens’ access to the platform altogether.
Starmer can no longer pretend this is solely about protecting children.
A young girl in Scotland who defended herself against migrants, only to be vilified by the media, has now been vindicated in court.
Those same migrants were found guilty of directing sexual remarks at the girls.
The British media owe her and her family an apology.
'It's really reprehensible what Great Britain has come to and the freedoms that you are losing.'
Following the police's treatment towards Henry Nowak, Host of Real Beef with Don Keith, @RealDonKeith, says the UK is 'failing utterly' at being a 'shining example' for the West.
South Wales Police is enforcing its own bespoke Islamic blasphemy law — and it won’t be the only force to do so.
When the FSU warned that the Government’s official definition would silence legitimate criticism of Islam, some accused us of being hysterical.
Our warning has been vindicated time and again.
South Wales Police is now effectively enforcing a blasphemy code, with officers instructed to record speech that goes beyond what they regard as “legitimate discussion” of Islam.
But what constitutes “legitimate discussion” of Islam in a country that abolished blasphemy laws in 2008? And why should officers at South Wales Police have the power to decide what may and may not be said about Islam and Muslims?
The Government’s official definition of Islamophobia — now repackaged as “anti-Muslim hatred/hostility” — was a gilded invitation for public bodies to go even further with their own definitions and guidance.
The result is legal uncertainty. Individuals cannot know whether their lawful speech or beliefs will be recorded by the police, nor how any resulting record may be retained, used or disclosed.
If an officer decides that someone has crossed the line of what they consider “legitimate” debate about Islam and Muslims, the police will, in all likelihood, record it as an anti-social behaviour incident.
That record could then appear on an enhanced DBS check and cost someone a job.
We will inevitably see women who describe the burka as a tool of oppression logged alongside those who criticise halal food or public prayer events.
Most concerning of all, the policy will deter people from speaking out on sensitive issues — from the grooming gangs scandal to Islamist extremism — including public officials and journalists, for fear of acquiring a black mark against their name.
The Free Speech Union has written to South Wales Police demanding that it withdraw this guidance. If it refuses, it has been warned that judicial review proceedings will follow.
Read FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson’s opinion piece for @GBNEWS 👇
The Free Speech Union is concerned by the growing trend of councils using broad and vaguely worded Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to police everyday behaviour in an increasingly Orwellian manner.
New figures reveal that one in five councils has introduced bans on swearing, offensive language or shouting.
A survey of nearly 300 councils found that 61 (20.3%) had imposed restrictions on swearing and shouting — up from just 16 in 2022.
Josie Appleton, Director of the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life, said: “Officials should not be able to punish or restrict people simply because they might cause offence.
“We urgently need proper safeguards to ensure these powers are tightly defined and used only to address genuine nuisance and harm.
“It is extraordinary that you could now be fined for swearing in the street, shouting across a road, or even staring at someone. Council officers have been given the power to criminalise behaviour that has never previously been a matter for the law.
“This isn’t tackling antisocial behaviour — it’s policing ordinary human expression, controlling the words we use and the gestures we make.”
Read more below 👇
British citizens are flocking to a US free speech portal to avoid censorship at home.
US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers says the new https://t.co/azO5rB5vR0 website — created by the Trump administration to bypass overseas “hate speech” restrictions — has been inundated with British users.
The site is a “censorship circumvention project”, launched in response to growing concerns about Orwellian online safety regimes such as the UK’s Online Safety Act and the EU’s Digital Services Act.
It says a great deal when Britain’s closest ally feels compelled to create a website to help British citizens access the internet freely.
Read more below 👇
📣🚨 NEW BOOK!
Next month sees the publication of FSU Director of Case Management Dr Ben Jones’s new book, Island of Strangers: Diversity, Decline and Free Speech in Crisis.
Britain is being transformed. It is becoming less free — and the situation is getting worse.
The book explores how, as mass migration reshapes Britain’s population, an increasingly authoritarian state is attempting to manage the resulting hyper-diversity by suppressing freedom of speech.
We see this in two-tier policing, in attempts to criminalise blasphemy against Islam, and even in the private sector, where thousands have been punished for expressing beliefs that fail to celebrate the UK as a multicultural paradise.
Grounded in a long view of British history, and drawing heavily on Ben’s work at the FSU, Island of Strangers examines the deeper causes of why Sir Keir Starmer’s Britain feels increasingly unfree.
It also confronts difficult questions: how competing identity groups are increasingly locked in conflict over the protection of their sacred values, and how the most significant challenge to Britain’s free speech tradition comes from Islam.
The entire FSU team is incredibly proud of Ben and his work.
You can preorder the book below 👇
Among the Bills announced in the King’s Speech, six have caught the attention of the Free Speech Union because of the threat they could pose to free speech.
Given this Government’s apparent disdain for free speech, we’ll be keeping a close watch.
Read more from FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson below 👇
This week, the Government confirmed that it is pressing ahead with its authoritarian plan to slash our right to jury trials.
Keir Starmer and David Lammy are ignoring warnings from judges, lawyers, opposition MPs, their own backbenchers, and victims of crime.
Their plan will undermine public trust in the criminal justice system, increase the risk of violent assaults against judges, and take a wrecking ball to one of our most precious rights.
Hear from FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson and join more than 50,000 people and sign our petition to SAVE JURY TRIALS 👇
The Free Speech Union is currently assisting a member who was arrested at Saturday’s Unite the Kingdom rally for holding a sign reading: “F*** Islam, Christ is King”.
The FSU believes this was not an offence or an isolated case. We also understand that signs were distributed to attendees at the rally.
If you were arrested in these circumstances on Saturday — or know someone who was — please get in touch. We are here to help.
Contact:[email protected]
See you tomorrow Pink Ladies of Great Britain 🇬🇧 a proud day for us.. a huge platform to show the world that the Mothers, Grandmothers and Women of this nation will no longer stand by and watch our friends, sisters, cousins, friends and most importantly children be abused because our government has failed in its most important duty.. to protect its most vulnerable citizens! Be proud, be loud 🩷🩷🩷 We will never be Silenced !!! @iamrydersaurus@TRobinsonNewEra