Free Speech & Cancel Culture

A week before the scheduled launch of the latest book by Professor Frank Furedi, the executive director of the leading conservative think tank MCC (Mathias Corvinus Collegium) Brussels, the bookstore that previously agreed to host the event cancelled the event saying:

After careful consideration, we have found out that the political connotation of the initiative is more strongly marked than we initially understood. Our venue has always maintained a line of neutrality, this choice allows us to ensure an inclusive space that respects all sensibilities.

The event was supposed to take place on Monday, September 30th, in the Piola.libri bookstore, just a few minutes' walk from the European Commission's headquarters and other major EU institutions.

In their press release, MCC explained that the critically acclaimed book, The War Against the Past, explores today's cultural crusade against Western history which is being increasingly dismissed as toxic. From the toppling of statues to the removal of historical terms from everyday vocabulary, Furedi examines the growing effort to cast the past in a negative light.

The MCC has secured an alternative venue for the book launch, which will be announced shortly.

Acting union Equity has criticised a growing culture of censorship after a play was cancelled, reportedly in a dispute over references to the Israel-Gaza war and trans rights. Equity said it was deeply frustrated at the lack of transparency over the cancellation, and that it was speaking to theatre bosses to protect the principle of artistic freedom. An Equity statement reads:

We reject the growing culture of censorship created by funders and pressure groups. We are fighting for artistic integrity, as well as dignity for our members, and all working people.

We remain in conversation with Royal Exchange management to protect the principle of artistic freedom, guarantee our members' dignity at work, and ensure the integrity of our collective agreements.

The Royal Exchange, Manchester's main producing theatre, has scrapped its entire five-week run of a modern retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream .

The theatre has said that the play faced a number of challenges. It said those challenges included injuries, a delayed technical week and changes late in the process.

The Manchester Evening News reported , external that the show, set in the city's present-day rave scene, was axed after managers objected to a song with lyrics that referred to trans rights and the phrase free Palestine.

Theatre newspaper The Stage reported , external that one of the points of contention was free Palestine being daubed on the set as well as featuring in a rap.

Ofcom wrote:

People's Forum: The Prime Minister
GB News, 12 February 2024, 20:00

Ofcom received 547 complaints about this live, hour-long current affairs programme which featured the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in a question-and-answer session with a studio audience about the Government's policies and performance, in the context of the forthcoming UK General Election.

We considered that this constituted a matter of major political controversy and a major matter relating to current public policy. When covering major matters, all Ofcom licensees must comply with the heightened special impartiality requirements in the Code. These rules require broadcasters to include and give due weight to an appropriately wide range of significant views within a programme or in clearly linked and timely programmes.

Ofcom had no issue with this programme's format in principle. Broadcasters have freedom to decide the editorial approach of their programmes as long as they comply with the Code. We took into account factors such as: the audience's questions to the Prime Minister; his responses; the Presenter's contribution; and whether due impartiality was preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes. In this case:

• While some of the audience's questions provided some challenge to, and criticism of, the Government's policies and performance, audience members were not able to challenge the Prime Minister's responses and the Presenter did not do this to any meaningful extent.

• The Prime Minister was able to set out some future policies that his Government planned to implement, if re-elected in the forthcoming UK General Election. Neither the audience or the Presenter challenged or otherwise referred to significant alternative views on these.

• The Prime Minister criticised aspects of the Labour Party's policies and performance. While politicians are of course able to do this in programmes, licensees must ensure that due impartiality is preserved. Neither the Labour Party's views or positions on those issues, or any other significant views on those issues were included in the programme or given due weight.

• The Licensee did not, and was not able to, include a reference in the programme to an agreed future programme in which an appropriately wide range of significant views on the major matter would be presented and given due weight.

We found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented and given due weight in this case. As a result, Rishi Sunak had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election.

GB News failed to preserve due impartiality, in breach of Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Code. Our decision is that this breach was serious and repeated.

We will therefore consider this breach for the imposition of a statutory sanction

 

Update: GB News to challege Ofcom's censorship in the courts

21st May 2024. See article from pressgazette.co.uk

A GB News spokesperson responded to the Ofcom censorship:

GB News has begun the formal legal process of challenging recent Ofcom decisions which go against journalists' and broadcasters' rights to make their own editorial judgements in line with the law and which also go against Ofcom's own rules.

Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression. Ofcom is also obliged to apply its rules fairly and lawfully. We believe that, for some time now, Ofcom has been operating in the exact opposite manner.

We cannot allow freedom of expression and media freedom to be trampled on in this way.

Freedom of the press is a civil right established by the British in the seventeenth century with the abolition of censorship and licensing of the printing press.

We refuse to stand by and allow this right to be threatened. As the People's Channel we champion this freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, for everyone in the United Kingdom.

 

Ofsite Comment: Ofcom's contempt for GB News viewers

21st May 2024. See article from spiked-online.com by Andrew Tettenborn

How, you might ask, could a show featuring independently selected, non-aligned voters directly quizzing an embattled PM breach impartiality rules? The Ofcom ruling makes no sense, at least if you look at it from the perspective of the average, level-headed man or woman in the street. But then, the apparatchiks who run Ofcom are neither particularly level-headed nor remotely reflective of the average voter.

See article from spiked-online.com

 

Ofsite Comment: The real reason Ofcom has gone after GB News

27th May 2024. See article from spectator.co.uk by Toby Young

Police Scotland is grappling with potential budgetary pressures and service reductions. David Threadgold of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has raised concerns about the financial impact of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. According to him, the legislation has already led to an overload of calls, with over 6,000 logged since its enactment.

Threadgold's worry centers on the unforeseen costs of handling these cases, particularly the overtime payments for control room staff. He believes these expenses will reverberate throughout the year, affecting other police services. Calum Steele, former general secretary of the SPF, echoes these concerns. As reported by The Scotsman, Steele criticized Police Scotland's preparation for the Act, calling it negligently unprepared and pointing out that the additional costs were predictable.

The legislation's impact extends beyond financial strains. The Act has resulted in a notable rise in the logging of non-crime hate incidents, incidents perceived as hateful but not necessarily criminal. This increase has prompted concerns about a potential inundation of trivial or malicious complaints, especially in the context of highly charged events like football matches. Tory MSP Murdo Fraser has already lodged a complaint over a tweet he posted being logged as a hate incident.