Free Speech Union International defends freedom of speech, including freedom of the press, expression, conscience, religion and intellectual inquiry.
Joined February 2025
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Free Speech Union International retweeted
🎉🎉 WE’VE DONE IT!
The Free Speech Union now has 50,000 members!
Congratulations to David, our 50,000th member!
Free Speech Union International retweeted
The Free Speech Union is taking an interest in the story of Jason Arday for a number of reasons.
First, we want to know who paid for the threatening letter from the law firm Carter-Ruck — effectively a SLAPP — that was sent to Times Higher Education in an attempt to get journalist Jack Grove to stop asking Professor Arday questions about his academic record.
Was it Jason Arday himself? The University of Cambridge? Or the Good Law Project?
Second, we want to know who reported both the academic and former professor David Harris and Times Higher Education journalist Jack Grove to the police, alleging harassment after they began asking Arday questions about his academic and extracurricular record.
In David Harris’s case, the Metropolitan Police referred the complaint to Devon and Cornwall Police, which rightly decided there was nothing to investigate.
But in Jack Grove’s case, he was contacted by the police and informed that he had been the subject of a four-month investigation by the Met. While officers said they would be taking no further action, he was told he should refrain from questioning Jason Arday again because it was also affecting Arday’s mental health.
The police should never be telling journalists whom they can and cannot question — particularly when there are legitimate questions that need answering.
Powerful people should not be able to use the police to silence journalists and academics who are simply asking questions and doing their jobs.
The Free Speech Union has written to Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to ask what on earth his officers were playing at. He has yet to reply.
If Jason Arday was the person who reported these individuals to the police, that is one thing. But if it was the University of Cambridge, that would be even more serious — and is something FSU General Secretary Lord Young will be raising in Parliament in due course.
Watch Lord Young below 👇
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Please join us in welcoming our new Executive Director! 🇨🇦
The Board of the Free Speech Union of Canada is excited to announce that Kate Marland (@kateemarland) will assume the role of Executive Director, effective August 4, 2026.
Kate is a lawyer, the deputy editor of Without Diminishment (@WDiminishment), and an accomplished orchestral musician. She brings to the position a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for our civilization and the fundamental freedoms on which it is built.
Kate has accepted the challenge of leading FSUC into its next chapter, expanding our reach and strengthening our impact. We are all looking forward to working with her to achieve this.
🚨 Read our full announcement: fsucanada.ca/a-warm-welcome-…
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Germany has a dystopian free speech crisis. Thousands of Germans each year face the threat of prison for mocking elected officials under the country’s draconian Section 188 “political insult” law.
Free Speech Union General Secretary Lord Young of Acton is in talks with German free speech activists about establishing an FSU Germany next year.
Lord Young told The Telegraph: “FSU International… has been talking to various groups in Germany and trying to persuade them to set up an FSU Germany. We hope to establish such a group within the next year.”
German officials say the law was introduced to stem a rising tide of abuse and death threats against politicians. But it is clear that its scope has expanded and it is now being misused to criminalise those who mock elected representatives.
People who fall foul of the political insult law face a police investigation and, if convicted, can be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment.
The number of investigations launched under Germany’s political insult law reached a record 4,792 last year.
Another law, Section 86a, which bans the display of Nazi symbols, is also facing criticism after a historian was threatened with jail for posting a meme comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler.
Read more below 👇
Free Speech Union International retweeted
The Guardian journalist who targeted the Free Speech Union with a story stuffed with misinformation, Aisha Down, is a "Senior Tarbell Fellow". Charlotte Gill investigates what that means. dailysceptic.org/2026/07/25/…
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Earlier today a @Guardian journalist sent me this query:
Dear Toby Young,
I'm Aisha Down, a journalist at the Guardian. I'm getting in touch because we're planning to report that the US state department is considering a grant of $5m to Free Speech Union, your organisation, as part of a new grant-making scheme, and wanted to give you the chance to comment. We would appreciate receiving your comment by 14:30.
We are considering reporting the following:
- The grant to the FSU is part of a package to Maga aligned groups that former US officials have condemned as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics and interfere with democracy.
- It is rare for the US government to fund partisan political organisations in western countries.
- These grants are likely to pose a challenge to Andy Burnham, who has said he will be "very upfront" with Trump about any disagreements.
- These grants - including to your organisation - are "sole source" grants, meaning they are to be awarded without any competitive process. This is unusual for a highly regulated process which usually requires grantees to show they have a track record for handling funds and clear plans for the money.
- This lack of process has been criticised as "outrageous and absurd" by former US officials, and as "gross incompetence" and "horrible stewardship" of US taxpayer money.
- Your organisation does not appear to have a track record of handling grants of this amount.
- We describe your organisation as "a rallying point for “anti-woke” grievance" which "frequently allies itself with rightwing causes" and say that you, Toby Young, appeared on Rees-Mogg's GB news show earlier this month to warn about 'Soviet-style' censorship in the UK.
- The state department says that its grant to FSU will “support campaigns promoting free speech and countering digital overregulation across the UK, Europe and Australia”. The sole-source award is justified “due to FSU’s global network of free speech activists”.
We would like to fully and fairly reflect your point of view and look forward to your statement. Thank you,
--
Aisha Kehoe Down
Senior Tarbell Fellow,
Guardian News and Media
I replied as follows:
It sounds like a pretty garbled story.
Free Speech Union International, which is the umbrella group that FSU UK, FSU Australia, FSU New Zealand, FSU Canada, FSU South Africa and FSU Brazil sit within, has expressed interest in applying for grant funding from the US State Department. This would be to promote the right to freedom of expression in those countries, which, far from being a partisan cause, is a universal human right. But it hasn't submitted a formal application and, consequently, has been awarded no grant from the State Department or any other branch of the US Government.
You've mischaracterised the FSUs, all of which are non-partisan organisations that defend people who get into trouble for exercising their right to feee speech regardless of their political views. The FSU UK, for instance, is currently paying for the legal defence of a protestor who's being prosecuted for holding up a sign saying "I support Palestine Action", as well as a protestor for wearing a t-shirt at a Unite the Kingdom rally for saying "Fuck Islam Christ is King". Yes, we helped Lucy Connolly appeal her sentence -- we thought a prison sentence of over two-and-a-half years for a single tweet was excessive -- but we also tweeted yesterday, condemning the arrest of Heather Herbert and offering our support. Yes, we came to the defence of Nigel Farage when he was debanked, but we've also offered to help the Canary in its recent debanking case. So to describe the FSU UK as a "rallying point for anti-woke grievance" is misleading. We are a rallying point for those who want to defend the right to freedom of expression.
Best,
Toby
The @Guardian then ran this story:
theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
You be the judge of whether you think this is good journalism.
Free Speech Union International retweeted
How did Amnesty International go from championing the rights of political prisoners to championing the right of men to use women’s bathrooms?
buff.ly/xg16V0Q
Free Speech Union International retweeted
FSU General Secretary Lord Young speaking at ARC today alongside the heads of Free Speech Unions from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil. @ARC_Conference
Free Speech Union International retweeted
The Free Speech Union exposed in our investigative briefing that ALL FIVE MEMBERS of the Working Group tasked with drafting the official definition of Islamophobia — now repackaged as “anti-Muslim hostility” — have troubling links to Islamist organisations.
This definition is already being weaponised to stifle legitimate criticism of Islam, its practices, and its history.
In a free society, no religion should be afforded greater protection than others, nor shielded from legitimate criticism and debate.
It will inevitably deter people — including public officials and media outlets — from speaking out about the grooming gangs scandal and Islamist extremism.
Read our briefing below 👇
Free Speech Union International retweeted
I’m honoured to become a member of the Advisory Board of the brand new Free Speech Union of Brazil fsu-br.org @FSU_BR
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Today, we’re celebrating the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of @FSU_Canada 🇨🇦
Thank you to all of our members, we are humbled by your support, and could not do this without you!
We are proud of all we have accomplished in this first year and are honoured to continue this important work in 2026.
Sign up to become a member today at fsucanada.ca!
We’re excited to announce the launch of the Free Speech Union of Canada!
We are a membership-based community dedicated to defending the free speech of Canadians.
Find out more at fsucanada.ca and become a member today.
Free Speech Union International retweeted
🚨EVERY MEMBER OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ISLAMOPHOBIA HAS LINKS TO ISLAMIST ORGANISATIONS.
The controversial Working Group tasked with drafting an official definition of Islamophobia operated in secrecy.
This definition — now rebranded as “anti-Muslim hostility” — will have a chilling effect on free speech.
It will silence legitimate criticism of Islam and its practices, and deter open discussion of serious public concerns, including the grooming gangs scandal and Islamist extremism.
So who is behind Britain’s new Muslim blasphemy law?
FSU Director of Policy and Research @DavidRoseUK has published a new briefing exposing the Working Group’s members and their links to Islamists.
A thread 🧵
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Leaders who attack free speech are exposing their own weaknesses.
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Tonight in the House of Lords, Lord Young of Acton proposed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would scrap Non-Crime Hate Incidents.
NCHIs have had a chilling effect on free speech — while also being a complete waste of police time.
Since the concept of NCHIs was introduced in 2014, police forces in England and Wales alone are estimated to have spent at least 660,000 hours investigating and recording them. These include NCHIs logged against a woman for saying she thought her cat was a Methodist on X, a man who whistled the theme tune to Bob the Builder and a nine-year-old child for 'hurty words' in the playground.
The most pernicious aspect of an NCHI is that it remains on your record for six years and can be disclosed in an enhanced DBS check. You can literally be refused a job for committing a non-crime.
The Free Speech Union has campaigned for the abolition of NCHIs since it was founded in 2020. Police chiefs have finally come around to our thinking and are set to recommend to the Home Secretary that they be scrapped.
Lord Young’s amendment would abolish NCHIs entirely, delete all historic records, and ensure that in future non-crimes aren't disclosed in employment background checks.
If we are going to scrap NCHIs, let’s do it properly.
Watch Lord Young below 👇
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Warning to all @unisontheunion's women members: if you get into trouble with your employer for objecting to an unlawful policy in your workplace allowing men to access single sex women's spaces, your union won't defend you. We will. Join the @speechunion freespeechunion.org
Free Speech Union International retweeted
@RobertJenrick is right.
The police are capitulating to Islamist extremists rather than confronting them, for fear of being labelled racist.
The decision to ban Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans from attending a Europa League match in November, citing safety concerns, is an egregious example.
If the Government implements its official definition of Islamophobia — now repackaged as “anti-Muslim hostility” — it will silence legitimate debate and criticism of Islam.
In a free society, no religion is beyond criticism or legitimate challenge. Public services must not be deterred from doing their job for fear of being branded “Islamophobic”.
Read more below 👇
Free Speech Union International retweeted
This is why we need to restore a free speech culture. Much of the censorship of the past decade or two has come from citizens and non-governmental organizations "cancelling" other citizens for their (often mainstream) opinions. The government doesn't need to bother censoring speech that might challenge the orthodoxy when it has a volunteer army running around doing its dirty work.
The FSUC is here to protect free speech from the government AND the mobs -- before it's gone for good. Join us.
@GarnettGenuis @YorkUniversity
Free Speech Union International retweeted
An official definition of Islamophobia would stifle free speech, particularly discussion of important topics such as the grooming gangs scandal and Islamist terrorism.
Blasphemy laws were abolished in 2008 — 17 years ago. This government appears intent on resurrecting them and is due to publish the long-awaited definition this week.
No religion in a free society should be beyond legitimate criticism or challenge.
Use our tool on our website to write to your MP and tell them that you oppose an official definition of Islamophobia.
👇
freespeechunion.org/oppose-a…
Free Speech Union International retweeted
Ex-footballer Joey Barton is appealing his conviction.
Earlier this week, Joey was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, for sending “grossly offensive” messages on social media.
This is a disproportionate punishment. No one should receive a custodial sentence for “hurty words” online — especially when hardened criminals are being released early due to a lack of space in our prisons.
My appeal is now formally underway.
I reject this conviction, and the questions it raises about free expression reach far beyond me.
I’ve stood by that principle my whole life, and I won’t step away from it now. But I’ll respect the legal process now in motion.
I’m confident this will be put right.
Thank you to everyone who has stood up and spoken out in good faith.
When the appeal is complete, I’ll speak openly and in full.