May I speak freely?

I had a different blog planned this month. Instead, I feel the issue of free speech is more pressing.

It is a subject that as a writer I think is particularly relevant, but I have always felt a profound agreement with Voltaire’s words; “I wholly disapprove of what you say—and will defend to the death your right to say it.”. The reality of free speech in society is this simple. And scary too.

Why scary? Because there is a ‘risk’ we may hear things which make us feel uncomfortable - perhaps, we might find our beliefs challenged, our values rocked. We might hear something which causes us to have to confront logical or moral inconsistencies we have been holding in our hearts. Or perhaps we may have it pointed out to us that by sticking to a singular viewpoint we are propagating unfairness in society. Or simply have it confirmed that other human beings on the planet do not think exactly like we do.

So, yeah, scary. But hang on a minute – isn’t all the above (and more) exactly how each of us has discovered new things about ourselves and our world. Isn’t hearing a completely different perspective the trigger for human progression. Isn’t this the process at the heart of all the material-science modern society is so deeply enthralled with?

Canadian Prof. Jordan B Peterson is well known for his views on free speech – he’s nearly as succinct about it as Voltaire – his explanation of the fundamental good free speech does for society is based on the need for humanity to think. Really think. From thought comes speech – we humans do love to speak – and through speech (and I include writing in this, as I think Peterson does too) we process our thoughts, may view them critically and ultimately come to agree on the things which matter most. Even if this agreement is ultimately one where we agree to disagree.

For these reasons, I stand in defence of free speech. I want to be free to think all things, to talk and to write, to consider my words, to come to conclusions and hear a myriad of other opinions. I want to acquire knowledge and wisdom and to behave befittingly.

So why am I writing about this now? Because there is a lot of censorship and compelled speech going around. By compelled speech I mean the forcing, by use of legislation, the use of specific language or expressions irrespective of your agreement with them or your belief in the meaning behind such speech. This is different from prohibited speech, which sensibly seeks to prevent the use of language which has malicious or prejudicial intent, such as racist speech.

People who downright disagree with free speech are usually easy to spot – look up any despot or totalitarian dictator of any creed or ideology in the history books and their manipulations around what language is and isn’t allowed to be heard is usually cited as the first sign of their dangerous intentions.

The word ‘de-platform’ is now in common use (I fear its modern usage will no doubt be added to the Oxford dictionary soon, if it hasn’t already). I have witnessed many people I know being chucked off various social media platforms – not because they were speaking about illegal or even immoral things, just because they did not hold orthodox or ‘mainstream’ views. Are you aware of the clause in the proposed Online Safety Bill being pushed through Parliament which will enshrine in British law the crime of saying something online which is entirely lawful but might be harmful (with harm being defined in a vague ‘hurt-feeling’ kind of way)? So, that’s a potential law which aims to criminalise lawful behaviour, not because it is now deemed unlawful, but because it might cause someone, somewhere to be upset. I’m no lawyer, but that sounds bonkers to me.

But what actually made me swap to this topic for this letter was the news that the Free Speech Union had their PayPal account removed without notice and fair explanation. A third of their membership revenue is processed via PayPal, so this is a significant business disruption. Why did PayPal, a corporation, decide they could no longer enable the financial transaction of the Free Speech Union? The official line is it went against their equivalent of ‘community guidelines’.

Make of this what you will.

I made of it that I should act now and join the Free Speech Union (paying by direct debit – the censors haven’t infiltrated all UK banking functionality, yet) and that I should delete my PayPal account too.

I don’t generally use these letters for political rhetoric. That’s my point though – if we think of the right to free speech as being ‘political’ and therefore ‘partisan’ or ‘not polite conversation’ then we may be assured we’re not living in a truly free and civil society at all.

The right to, and the active support of, free speech is the singular line-in-the-sand which must never be crossed.

I hope that, whilst there is a possibility you may wholly disagree with what I have written here today, you will not only let me know but also stand up and defend my right to write it (with thanks to Voltaire).

Rachel x