Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

(1) Thread: Freedom of speech in the United Kingdom (UK)

This recent parliamentary question & answer tells us a lot about the UK, & other countries whose legal systems began under it's umbrella, such as the USA, & the (British) Commonwealth countries.

(2) Did you know that the UK has almost the same level of constitutional protection of free speech as the USA?

We can be forgiven for not knowing this, because in recent years the gap has _appeared_ much bigger than it is.

(3) Broadly speaking, throughout the Anglosphere, government has a duty to protect the right to free speech, which is balanced by a duty to protect the physical safety of persons and property in certain situations. Performance of these duties is a matter of intense public debate.

(4) I'm one of those who consider our rights to have been granted by God/nature depending on who I'm speaking to. That is, they are inborn. I was born with the right of free speech, & no government can take that away. It can regulate some aspects of how the right is used, though.

(5) The current UK government recently announced their intention to legislate improvements to the system of protections for free speech in the country. This is a good idea, for many reasons, and it is relatively urgent. And it won't reduce the govt's pandemic response work.

(6) I'm not in favor of any govt this year taking time, money and other resources away from their first priority, which is always national security, including the public safety response to the pandemic. So, I approve of non-pandemic work that is genuinely necessary & urgent.

(7) The UK government is smart to focus first on universities and other tertiary education providers. As Rees-Mogg intimated, such institutions have a duty to give effect to the Bill of Rights in everything they do.

(8) Institutions receiving government funds, and especially those that were established by legislation, have this duty. So do private companies and individuals, but it is not as clear and direct.

Twitter can ban any account it wishes to. Private company.

(9) Social media companies are not "utilities" and IMO should not be regulated as such.

IMO, where governments like that of the UK take steps to improve the performance of their own institutions and funding recipients, public awareness of free speech rights is enhanced.

(10) Our countries have been embracing the values of The Age of Enlightenment (1600s-1700s) since that time.

More or less, this development has been maintained since then, and of course extended, too.

There has been a lot of fearmongering in recent years & decades, though.

(11) Every day on Twitter, you can find people on the far right and the far left who are freaking out about potentially losing "our rights," and they use the same kinds of arguments and phraseology.

I've been able to detect this because I've been on the right and the left.

(12) Being a moderate is particularly unfashionable at the moment. But that doesn't stop me.

I'm not lacking in convictions, as the less able among us have accused me of being.

I just refuse to fall into the far right OR the far left.

(13) These groups can be defined in a number of ways but here's my method:

If you condone violence that is unlawful & is intended to politically intimidate others, then you condone terrorism.

Terrorism condoners have no faith in the potential for peaceful dispute resolution.

(14) So much can be learned about these subjects from UK PM Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013). I read a really good quote by her the other day, and I can't find it. Will aim to add it here if I can.

It was about the need to stand up to terrorism, whatever the form.

(15) In the case of the USA, rebuilding civil society is going to require many things, including better protection of civil rights like the freedom of speech.

IMO, taking domestic terrorism seriously is fundamental if Americans are to turn the juggernaut around.

(16) I don't live in the USA, but the degradation of civil society there has understandably spread to other countries. Loss of faith in institutions is a big part of it.

We are all heirs of the Enlightenment Era and it's our job to preserve it's gains for future generations.

(17) Each country is, rightly, responsible for making and enforcing it's own laws. Supranational bodies like the UN, EU, WHO etc are inappropriate for matters that belong in the domestic sphere of each country. It's when an issue crosses borders that we must discuss what to do.

(18) "You never compromise with violence. You never compromise with intimidation. You never compromise with those who want to use it to extinguish freedom and democracy, because if you do then the very things for which you stand are extinguished." -MT

https://twitter.com/MrsMThatcher/status/1068222309910102016

(19) That is why I will not rest until those responsible for 1/6 are held to account. It's kinda ironic that in a few months we will mark 20 years since 9/11.

Back then, the US united against an external threat, and largely succeeded. This time they face an internal threat.

(20) Don't negotiate with terrorists.

Instead, bring them to justice.