Antiracist progressives today often encounter the conservative backlash that twists the democratic doctrine of free speech into an absolutist or ‘purist’ form – weaponizing it as a warped defence of white supremacy in a way that seeks to make #racism legally acceptable.
Today the New/Alt-Right is asserting a putative political need for an ostensibly democratic society to maintain an absolute tolerance of abusive & even assaultive speech – as protected forms of dissent.
The free speech fallacy: opposition to hate speech imperils free speech.
Herbert Marcuse believed that this doctrine of absolute tolerance of 'free speech' was being systematically utilised to abuse guarantees against bigotry & discrimination, & to derail or destroy the possibility of democratic egalitarianism.
Many protect neofascist speech, but classical liberalism intended speech protections primarily for powerless minority voices expressing dissent against the ideology of dominant interests, not to protect establishment voices that are already hegemonic as well as often distasteful.
‘This pure tolerance of sense & nonsense’ practiced under the conditions prevailing in the United States today ‘…cannot fulfil the civilizing function attributed to it by the liberal protagonists of democracy, namely protection of dissent.’ (Herbert Marcuse, 1965).
The assertion, often heard nowadays, that racist and sexist views contribute necessary components of cultural diversity and belong within an inclusive pluralism is an utterly perverse example of vicious cultural and political double-speak.
After 6 January 2021, Tech-platforms banned Donald Trump in an effective action against a #neofascist threat of force & violence against liberal political leaders & ordinary citizens. Freedom of speech in not absolute & must be viewed in the context of its political consequences.
Crimes by the Right are tolerated by the US state eg racist police brutality, rejecting comprehensive health care, treating asylum seekers as criminals, implementing the death penalty in a racially biased manner, supplying training to Govts that commit human rights abuses etc.
We need a strategy to oppose racism, bigoted nationalism, & warlike patriotism - to go on the offensive for the changes that can support & extend race & other equality, labour freedoms, economic abundance, peace, & communal well-being: a ‘Great Refusal’.
A few thoughts on Bob Vylan leading the #GlastonburyFestival crowd in chants of "Death to the IDF" (Israeli Defence Force), livestreamed by the @BBC, and the mischaracterisation of the chant by some MPs, news media, and activists.
In England, where #GlastonburyFestival is located, all of us have the right to freely express our criticism of anyone or anything - as long as there is no intent to provoke immediate unlawful violence or there is a reasonable likelihood it will occur as a consequence.
In England, free speech is protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998. However, inciting violence is a criminal offence under several laws which attempt to balance public safety with free expression rights.
In many countries, especially since Musk bought Twitter/@X, underregulated online extreme content has been used to groom and radicalise vulnerable people.
Too many cowardly politicians are scared to speak up for fear of being branded 'anti-free speech'.
Some MPs who have been in parliament for many years NEVER appear on any of the @BBC's "flagship" politics shows - but Reform's privately educated shit-stirring 'anti-elite' former Tory Sarah Pochin - an MP for FIVE WEEKS - gets her own special introduction on #PoliticsLive.
Politicians using dangerously irresponsible anti-Muslim rhetoric know their comments are normalising Islamophobia and endanger British Muslim women. Islamophobic incidents rose by 375% in the week after Boris Johnson called veiled Muslim women “letterboxes” in 2018.
#PolitcsLive
Britain prides itself in NOT being the sort of country that tells women how to dress. States that do dictate women’s clothing (eg Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia) are vilified as misogynistic & ultra-controlling: the antithesis of the enlightened, liberal west. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The 'Women's Safety Initiative' is an anti-migrant AstroTurf disinformation group founded by Jess Gill, a Fellow of the Koch-funded climate change denial group, the Foundation for Economic Education, & an apprentice at the Mises Institute. The '1 in 4' claim is a lie.
Before I outline the evidence that (despite what we are told every day by politicians, activists, and news media) there is no discernable link between either legal or illegal immigration and increased crime rates in OECD countries, including ours, some context about Jess Gill.
Jess Gill’s involvement with these radical free-market climate change denying Koch foundation funded organisations is deeply concerning.
The WSI exploits young women to make misleading claims about supposed links between immigration with women’s safety.
"Foreigners" DO NOT claim £1BILLION/month in benefits.
This disgusting anti-migrant dogwhistle by shameless liar and former Head of Policy Exchange, Neil O'Brien MP, is just one of several recent dispicable divisive Telegraph front page lies.
WTAF @IpsoNews? @HoCStandards?
The claims that the UK spends £1bn/month "on UC benefits for overseas nationals" (O'Brien) and "Foreigners claim £1bn a month in benefits" (Telegraph) are revealed to be lies in the article: the£1bn relates to "Benefits claims by HOUSEHOLDS with AT LEAST ONE FOREIGN NATIONAL."
The Telegraph claims that (unnamed) "experts suggested the increase reflected a SURGE in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and in net migration."
To evaluate/make sense of this sensational unsourced claim, additional context is needed (but not provided).
Chase Herro, co-founder of Trump’s main crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, on crypto:
“You can literally sell shit in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin, for a billion dollars if the story’s right, because people will buy it.”
Despite crypto being bullshit, & memecoins being consciously bullshit, many – especially angry young gullible men – still invest: 42% of men & 17% of women aged 18-29 have invested in, traded or used crypto (2024 Pew Research), compared to only 11% of men & 5% of women over 50.
“It’s no accident that memecoins are such a phenomenon among young people who have grown immensely frustrated with a financial system that, I think it’s fair to say, has failed them” - Sander Lutz, the first crypto-focused White House correspondent.