by Richard Eldred, Daily Sceptic:

Our laws are muzzling speech, from private chats to social media, leaving the country’s tradition of free expression hanging by a thread, warns David Frost in the Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt:

We all agree that rioting and violence should be punished. We all agree that threats and – genuine, meaningful – incitement to violence are not covered by the right to free speech. Many of those punished in recent days have been convicted for exactly those things. But not all have. We shouldn’t be surprised by that. For our legislation goes much wider than that, to criminalise far wider categories of speech and messaging. It’s now being used, brutally, by a Government that has little real regard for free speech.

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Take some examples. The 2003 Communications Act criminalises “grossly offensive” messages, even sent in private, and whether anyone reads them or not. Sentencing is tougher if messages are motivated by “hate”. People have been given prison sentences for (admittedly unpleasant) private Whatsapp messages.

Or the 1986 Public Order Act, which, broadly, makes it a crime to cause someone “alarm” or “distress” through writing or speech that is “abusive” or (in some circumstances) just “insulting”. It also criminalises messages likely, or intended, to “stir up” hatred on grounds of race, religion or sexual orientation. In these latter areas, the Attorney General’s consent to prosecute is required, as a safeguard, but many such charges have been brought in recent days, so it looks as if the new Attorney General has given a very broad sign off. Perhaps the Shadow Attorney General would like to investigate, if it is not too much trouble?

And finally, we have our unfortunate Online Safety Act. This creates a new concept of “false communication” and makes it illegal to send a message known to be false and intended to cause “psychological or physical harm”. Newspapers and broadcasters are exempt, but individuals are not. Yes, “fake news” is now a crime in Britain, and people are being prosecuted for it. …

In my view, these laws should mostly be abolished or focused much more clearly on genuine incitement. Until that happens, and I’m not exactly holding my breath, our only protection is a government, an establishment, or a wider climate of opinion, supportive of free speech.

Unfortunately, we have no such thing.

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