SPEAK UK

We are fighting against the erosion of free speech in the UK.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Ordinary Brits can’t believe some of the speech arrests that have happened right here in the UK.

How do we know that? Well, we’ve been asking them 🎥

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

We've said it once, and we'll say it again: social media is not as dangerous as smoking. The causal evidence that it is meaningfully harmful is quite weak.

And even if you buy the evidence that it's somewhat harmful, to compare it to smoking is absurd.

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Denmark’s PM Mette Frederiksen:

If I had small kids today, I would rather have them smoking than allowing them to stay on their own on social media.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

We don't need to refuse people entry into the country for having controversial views.

We don't need to arrest people for their opinions.

We don't need to censor the internet.

We could have free speech instead.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

The Online Safety Act is becoming an international example of what NOT to do. We're trying to censor the global internet, while global companies just ignore Ofcom's fines.

Why are we doing this?

[Taylor Lorenz @TaylorLorenz]

The Online Safety Act is just the latest in a troubling global trend towards a more censored internet. https://t.co/h4eHZN4IpM

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

The evidence from Australia suggests that youth social media bans aren't as effective as they're made out to be.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Social media is not as dangerous as smoking.

[Preston Byrne @prestonjbyrne]

*taps the sign*

https://t.co/M5HjWeneLw

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Free speech in the UK is in a dire state.

People from across the political spectrum need to fight back.

[Taylor Lorenz @TaylorLorenz]

It’s not just Israel. The UK has been escalating mass censorship under the guise of “safety” for yrs now. This is EXACTLY what every single free speech activist predicted, it’s horrible to see it come to fruition. This censorship is intertwined w laws like the “Online Safety Act”

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Many young people in Australia are consuming less news than before the social media ban. Others are just evading the ban altogether.

Adopting that same ban in the UK risks condemning a generation to being ignorant of the world around them.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

In 2025, people handed their IDs over to discord for age-assurance. Thousands of them were leaked.

In the UK, we have to hand over ID to access ordinary legal content. Is it worth the risk?

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

The percentage of people charged after terrorism arrests has fallen off a cliff.

Even the police know that people holding up placards in support of Palestine Action aren’t really terrorists. What a waste of everyone’s time.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

“I wouldn’t have expected stuff like that to happen in the UK.”

Britain has a proud history of protecting free speech. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to believe that we’re not as liberal as we think we are.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Ofcom have had ONE paid fine for non-compliance with the Online Safety Act. That's it. One.

They keep acting as though companies in other countries are going to pay their fines. They aren't. We can't regulate the global internet. This is mad.

[LBC @LBC]

‘There’s little point in the fines if they don’t pay you.’

@NickFerrariLBC learns that OFCOM has only been paid for one of its fines levied against websites and platforms.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

❌ Doesn’t achieve its aims
❌ Blocks non-adult content
❌ Easy to get around

The Online Safety Act is broken.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

This is genuinely madness.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

📱ID to access your phone…

UK iPhone users must now prove their age under a new update, or have their internet access restricted

Our message to Apple - #No2DigitalID

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Social media is not as harmful as tobacco. The causal evidence linking it to poor mental health outcomes is weak.

And the evidence suggests that kids will just get around bans anyway.

[Wes Streeting @wesstreeting]

Big tech's behaviour has been akin to big tobacco, introducing an addictive and harmful product whilst avoiding regulation.

We’ve got to give our children their childhood back, and that starts with a social media ban for under-16s.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

As a reminder: you still have to hand over your ID to access the uncensored web on your iPhone in the UK.

No, this isn't a joke. Your iPhone is locked down until you prove your age.

This is madness.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

You should not be arrested for saying "I support Palestine Action".

You should be able to post things online that others disagree with or find offensive.

You should be able to browse the internet without showing ID.

You should be able to express yourself freely.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

This is what being arrested for online posts looks like in the UK.

We don't have to do this.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

@ajrgd @AlecMuffett Yeah, we agree that this *probably* wasn't directly caused by OSA (although it isn't totally clear), so deleted to avoid misinformation that may have got significant attention.

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

ICYMI: We asked people on the streets of London what they thought about some of the craziest speech arrests that have happened in the UK.

Check out their reactions ⬇️

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

Ordinary Brits can’t believe some of the speech arrests that have happened right here in the UK.

How do we know that? Well, we’ve been asking them 🎥

[SPEAK UK @speakukorg]

When we think about policies like a youth social media ban, we have to consider the trade-offs.

In Australia, around half of the young people who have been blocked are seeing less news than they were before the ban. Many are just evading the ban entirely.

A social media ban is not a simple and effective way to keep kids of social media and nothing else: many won't be kept off anything at all, some will move to fringe sites, others will stop being able to access websites that benefit them, like the news.