Society and Culture

Hate speech laws will never be enforced neutrally


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Andy Mayer writes for CapX

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IEA research featured in The Telegraph

Dictating words: The Culture-Control Left and the war against free speech, a new paper by IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening has been featured in The Daily Telegraph. The paper warns that freedom of expression has been fatally undermined by the idea that words can have power akin to coercion – an idea which has been adopted in legislation.

The article said:

“To overcome what he claimed was ‘rising censorship’, he called for a new concept of free speech, focused on the intrinsic right of all individuals to express their opinions, regardless of their background or views.

“Mr Glendening cited the trebling of the number of non-crime hate incidents logged by police, which rose from 45,000 in 2013 to 120,000 now.

“Among the cases this year was one opened against a pensioner for putting up stickers that said: “Keep males out of women-only spaces.”

“In another, feminist Marion Miller was charged under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 for an allegedly transphobic tweet. The case was later dropped.”

Read the full article here (and in The Daily Telegraph’s 31/10/2023 edition, page 12).

You can also read a full copy of Dictating Words here.



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