I'm a big believer in Free Speech, but this principle has taken a hammering in the UK in recent years often being trumped by the 'right' to not be offended.
The Historical Ideal
The ideal of Free Speech has a long history in the UK, traditionally regarded as a hallmark of liberal democracy - being able to say what you truly think even if it goes against the grain is key to protecting those many who are in the minority.
However 'free speech' has always been a qualified freedom. Britain's right to free expression was never absolute — it grew up subject to limits, always balanced against order and decency in public.
The Modern Dilemma: Online Speech and Offence
Today, a considerable amount of free speech anxiety is created by social media. The 2003 UK Communications Act and the new Online Safety Act have made it easy to prosecute someone for saying something on the web — especially if it is "grossly offensive" or "likely to cause harm.".
The problem is we've now got very broad definitions of what counts as likely to cause harm, with people cancelled for having legitimate opinions that critical of, for example, trans rights and the State of Israel.
And those imposing limits can be everything from the State to the moral mob.
Are the Classics Still Relevant...?
Classical liberal theory presumes that truth emerges from unfettered competition of ideas — the so-called "marketplace of ideas" formulated by John Stuart Mill. On this understanding, censorship is suicidal: the most effective response to bad speech is good speech.
But as false information spreads faster than ever, it now calls into question whether the digital marketplace can remain free. If some technology monopolies own the public square, algorithms — and not reason — determine what ideas survive. In the meantime, governments are compelled to intervene to police, threatening to overregulate.
Final Thoughts
Is free speech under threat? Not in the sense that Britain has given up on it — but the culture of it has become a lot more sensitive. The legal freedom to speak remains, but the social permission to do so seems weaker than ever.