What Were the Main Threats to Free Speech in 2022 and What Will They Be in 2023?
I recorded an episode of the Brendan O’Neill Show just before Christmas which has just appeared. Brendan and I looked back at the main threats to free speech this year and looked ahead to what they’re likely to be in 2023 – such as a the emergence of a Chinese-style social credit system in the West. You can watch the podcast on YouTube here.
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I have a huge, huge problem with Spiked. These are the same people that pretended to stand for free speech and opinion, but violently turned on the unvaxxed. Of course they did it in a way that allowed them to put their “free speech” badge on it all, but be under no illusion these people hated us. They mocked us, they ridiculed us. These people are not our friends. These people are the real snakes.
I now have the same problem with Guido Fawkes. Used to enjoy reading that website, but Paul Staines (Guido) was extremely nasty getting very personal about lockdown sceptics and those questioning the vaccines. Rarely read it now. It left such a bad taste. I actually now think he’s a pretty nasty bit of work.
This is the thing, the thing I can’t quite get my head around – there are people who stood for me before, but then suddenly didn’t. Family, friends, turned out to be people I didn’t know. They wanted to discriminate, they wanted to hate. Wanted. Enjoyed. Don’t think you ever know who someone really is.
In 2020 I cancelled my subscription to The Spectator, which I had enjoyed for many years, along with my daily newspaper and TV licence. There’s a lot I miss but there’s no going back. They were all willing attack dogs for the government.
I cancelled my subscription to Spiked after reading Brendan O’Neill’s very nasty article telling why Care Home workers HAD TO take the injections. Now I couldn’t care less if it lives or fails. Evil damned hypocrite.
And the Speccie? FFS I took out a trial subscription and ditched it after 3-4 months. Terrible rag and clearly of the establishment. Not leading journalism, just follow the herd nonsense.
Spiked and Speccie – pseudo anti- establishment posh comics.
From the Antipodes, I had also been a paid subscriber to Spiked, but cancelled this after their reaction to “antivaxxers” was everything they had spoken out against.
Sky News in Australia had been strongly anti- lockdown, then became passionately pro-vaxx, ridiculing sceptics.
Have not watched since.
Indeed. Ditto for their American counterparts at Reason Magazine as well. Pseudo-glibertarian sellout snakes in the grass.
Much like their post-bubble economic doldrums since the early 1990s, once again Japan seems to be stuck in the dreaded “to be continued…” mode once again. This time, it is as a living time capsule of 2020-2021.
I used to read Guido before covid & I subscribed to Spiked before DS but ditched them both , I didn’t catch ONeil’s take on care home workers but how could he go so far off kilter ! If I know stuff, he should have known ! Also Dave Grohl , Rod Stewart & even Macca + others we’re at it ! Narrow minded tossers & they were hero’s of mine 😵💫
Dave Grohl managed to get one of his own band members killed and God knows how many of the bands fans, by insisting on the injections.
Sanctimonious pr##k. Never liked him.
Will we ever know what nailed Taylor Hawkins ?? Grohl was from the anti establishment music scene as were Neil Young & Joni Mitchell well before him + the biggest “Fops” Rage against the Machine !!.. WTF 😳 How the worms turned !
Talking of free speech no mention of Covid “vaccine “ harms and death. I cancelled my subscription to Spiked because of their vindictive attitude towards us Pure Bloods. No listening to our side of the argument. They just ignore or ridicule us. O’Neill et al are no better than the anti free speech lot.
Free Speech will mostly be targeted in 5 areas. Race Gender Equality Diversity and Climate. ——No one cares about someone’s free speech on black holes or whether Ronaldo was better than Maradona. But on the 5 main issues there is no tolerance of opinions that do not fall in line with what the liberal progressive narrative is. So, in the name of “tolerance”, we get “intolerance”. Liberals and leftists don’t like you having your own opinion because you might not choose their one. The social justice warriors demand moral compliance. Ultimately this is tyranny. But the two main things to remember about Free Speech are (1) It is free (2) It is only SPEECH. If you disagree with someone then the answer is more SPEECH not less. The answer is not to dismiss and cancel, using a toolbox that includes calling alternative points of view “Deeply Offensive”. or this new packet of phobias that people must be suffering from should they not wish to comply with far-left dogma.