Leader: In defence of the open society
A healthy liberal democracy must guarantee freedom of expression; it must not guarantee freedom from offence.
ByFree speech
Salman Rushdie shows us that free speech is life itself
Rushdie knows how vital, how serious the business of storytelling is. Yet in my encounters with him he never took…
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The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on a global community of writers and readers
The freedom of expression and imagination that the novelist has bravely championed for so long is under renewed assault.
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The Online Safety Bill has sparked a free speech culture war
As child safety campaigners push for stronger regulation, a growing faction of the Tory party is crying “censorship”.
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Is Nadine Dorries a free speech champion or censorship fanatic?
As the Culture Secretary prepares to reveal the latest version of the Online Safety Bill, serious concerns remain.
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The right decries cancel culture, but still it tries to cancel me
By all means champion free speech, but please, be consistent.
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Cancelling Kate Clanchy won’t root out real racism
Intention matters – it is the difference in law between murder and manslaughter.
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If Rod Liddle has the right to lecture Durham students about sex work, where’s my invitation to talk about cats?
After students were condemned for walking out of a surprise dinner talk by the controversial right-wing columnist, I have some…
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Why do students still want Jordan Peterson to tell them how to live?
I shadowed Peterson at two events in Oxford and Cambridge, where the anti-woke culture warrior received an unexpectedly warm welcome.
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Kathleen Stock and Sussex University: the war over academic freedom
How a campus trans row ended in protests, a police investigation – and a debate over the future of free…
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