The memory of that headline was triggered by this piece from Professor (Law, George Washington University), Jonathan Turley, March 9:
British Blasphemy? UK Government Moves Toward New Definition of “Islamophobia” for Speech Regulation
Recently, after the speech of Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich, various European leaders went public to express their shock and disbelief that they would be accused of rolling back on free speech. For many of us, it was a laughable display of denial, particularly from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In a country that has eviscerated free speech, Starmer told Bret Baier that the UK “guards” free speech and “we don’t believe in censoring speech.” Now, the government is continuing this month with its effort to regulate and criminalize speech. The effort to crack down on “Islamophobia” could create a type of blasphemy standard if it encompasses criticism of the faith or its practices.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced that the government will be further cracking down on hate speech with a new working group tasked with defining ‘Islamophobia’. The free speech community is raising the alarm that the effort is likely to further broaden the government controls over speech.
It was announced last week that Rayner’s working group would be chaired by former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve KC, who has himself admitted that defining Islamophobia while safeguarding free speech is ‘extremely difficult.’ Notably, Grieve wrote the foreword to the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report on Islamophobia, which advanced a definition that many critics argue is far too broad.
The APPG included criticism of Islamic beliefs and practices as examples of Islamophobia. It has been condemned for treating criticism of the faith as a type of hate speech.
For years, I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom and the steady stream of arrests, including in my book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage....
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The Land Acknowledgement headline was over a story at the Babylon Bee, March 5.
