Although there is no single “hate speech law” in the UK, nor any agreed international definition of the term, a number of laws forbid hatred or discrimination against individuals or groups, which can include things people say, based on colour, race, ethnicity and nationality, religion, and sexual orientation.
CATEGORY: United Kingdom
Victory is Not an Option
The Victory is Not an Option exhibition is a great example of how with the right training and preparation controversial art can inspire and reward
Arron Banks drops two parts of libel claim against Carole Cadwalladr (The Guardian)
Arron Banks, the insurance businessman who co-founded the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign, has dropped two elements of his libel claim against the...
Free speech & the law: Child Protection
Child protection is a sensitive area of law and a deserved focus of public concern. As there is no clear legal definition of the concept of indecency, and because of the sensitivity of the matter, decisions made by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can be subjective and inconsistent, and in the wrong context can seriously compromise freedom of expression rights.
Bringing the Story Home – Trojan Horse in Birmingham
Index’s case study on the production of a play covering the Trojan Horse affair
Free speech & the law: Obscene Publications
It is nearly 300 years since bookseller Edmund Curll was convicted in 1727 on a charge of obscenity in an English court for his publication of the mildly pornographic Venus in the Cloister or The Nun in Her Smock. Obscenity was thereafter recognised as a crime under common law.
Free speech & the law: Public Order
Under the Human Rights Act 1998, police officers must respect people’s right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, Article 10 of the convention states that restrictions on people’s free expression rights may be justified on the grounds of preventing disorder or crime, protecting public safety and protecting the rights of others
Free speech & the law: Counter Terrorism
Counter-terrorism laws seek to address the application of “violence for political ends”. It is the “political ends” element that makes these laws interact so frequently with free expression rights, as the law tries to clamp down on expressions of sympathy with terrorist organisations and ideologies, as well as any resulting violence.
Urgent reforms needed to protect journalists from vexatious legal threats: Index on Censorship
The UK should make it harder for powerful individuals and companies to bring libel actions or use other vexatious legal threats designed to stifle investigative journalism, Index on Censorship said on Friday.
This Week at Index: Free speech is for me – the class of 2020
Free speech is in danger of being co-opted by extremists. This has led to all sorts of effects on our societies, from “deplatforming” on social media and in debates, to proposed laws on curbing speech which might cause offence. Here at Index, we want to push back against that.