Democracy cannot exist without the right to free speech.
Free speech should be robustly defended as a fundamental freedom.
The National Secular Society has defended free speech from religious threats since our founding. We played an instrumental role in abolishing "blasphemy" laws in Britain, but serious concerns remain. Blasphemy laws still exist in Northern Ireland. And throughout the UK, religious fundamentalists seek to impose their blasphemy taboos on others through violence and intimidation.
There are also increasing attempts to categorise offending religious sensibilities as 'hate speech', making criticism, mockery or perceived 'insult' of religion a criminal act akin to racial hatred or inciting violence – in other words, a 'blasphemy law by the back door'.
Without free speech no search for truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of truth is useful; without free speech progress is checked… Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech.
We are further concerned by a developing 'culture of offence' in which any speech or action deemed likely to offend religious sensibilities is considered taboo. Enforced by a toxic mix of terrorism and religious deference, this is chilling free speech through self-censorship.
We also campaign against blasphemy laws around the world, where they continue to be used to target religious and political minorities. These are sometimes described by UK politicians as 'misuse' of blasphemy laws, but we contend there are never any legitimate uses for blasphemy laws.
Being offended from time to time is the price we all pay for living in a free society. Rather than trying to silence those we disagree with, we believe the answer to speech we don't like is more speech – better speech.
We therefore campaign to protect and preserve freedom of expression, including offensive, critical and shocking speech.
What you can do
1. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
2. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Government defeated as peers vote to reform Clause 1
Posted: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 09:56
Peers in the House of Lords have voted down a government proposal to hand police new powers to clamp down on "annoying" behaviour.
The vote was welcomed by the Reform Clause 1 campaign group which has received cross-party parliamentary support and includes a coalition of religious, and secular civil liberty campaigners, including The Christian institute, Peter Tatchell Foundation, and the National Secular Society.
Ministers want to replace anti-social behaviour orders in England and Wales with injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance (Ipnas).
Under the Government proposals courts could impose injunctions on anyone engaging, or threatening to engage, in "conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to any person".
Campaigners argue that the law is drafted too broadly and poses a serious threat to free expression.
The Home Office has said the new injunctions would never be imposed in an unreasonable way, but peers voted by a significant majority of 128 votes, in favour of an amendment from crossbench peer Lord Dear to raise the threshold of what can be considered "annoying". Under the amendment, annoying behaviour would need to cause "harassment, alarm or distress" before an injunction could be imposed in anything other than a social housing context.
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "Clause 1 clearly failed to strike a reasonable balance between protecting the public from anti-social behaviour and protecting essential freedoms.
"We congratulate peers for amending this carelessly drafted legislation and hope MPs will now support these amendments when the legislation returns to the House of Commons".
NSS welcomes LSE apology over Jesus & Mo debacle
Posted: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 21:02
The London School of Economics (LSE) has apologised to two students who were forced to cover up t-shirts featuring pictures from the satirical comic strip Jesus and Mo.
Chris Moos and Abhishek Phadnis were running the Atheist Secularist and Humanist Society stall on 3 October when they were told they would be physically removed from the annual Freshers' Fair unless they covered up the 'offensive' t-shirts.
The incident sparked a national debate over free expression, and the extent to which universities are pandering to the sensibilities of Islamic extremists on campus.
After instructing solicitors, the two students lodged an official complaint to LSE on 12 November.
Director of the School, Professor Craig Calhoun, has now written to the students acknowledging that, with hindsight, the wearing of the t-shirts on this occasion did not amount to harassment or contravene the law or LSE policies.
A statement issued on the LSE website, said: "LSE takes its duty to promote free speech very seriously, and as such, will discuss and learn from the issues raised by recent events."
The apology has been welcomed by the National Secular Society, which has been actively supporting the students with their appeal.
Terry Sanderson, NSS president, said: "We congratulate students for their fearless defence of freedom of expression. This is a welcome apology from LSE, and it should be congratulated for making it publicly, whether or not the threat of legal action played any role.
"I hope that we will now see a more sensible approach to free expression that does not rest on protecting the sensibilities of any one particular group.
"We all have to learn that being offended is an inevitable part of life, having one's fondest beliefs challenged is part of a free society. Let's hope that lessons have been learned and we don't have any repeat of this. Then we can move on to a more mature and open debate about all kinds of things – including religion."
However, Mr Sanderson said LSE's letter to the students still needed further clarification.
Chris Moos and Abhishek Phadnis also welcomed what they described as the "half-apology" from the LSE.
"We welcome the LSE's admission that its staff misjudged the situation, and their acknowledgement that we were well within our rights to wear 'Jesus & Mo' t-shirts on campus and that this neither amounted to harassment nor contravened the law or LSE policies.
"Even though it caused us great distress to be publicly harassed and humiliated by LSE and LSE Students' Union (LSESU) staff, LSE's response vindicates our decision to stand up for our rights.
In a joint statement, Chris Moos and Abhishek Phadnis added: "Even as we welcome Professor Calhoun's apology, we are disappointed that it took the threat of legal action to elicit an acknowledgement of our grievances, and that no apology has been forthcoming from the LSESU, whose grave misconduct began this chain of harassment. We also believe that several other lingering concerns must be put on record."
Read the full statement from Chris Moos and Abhishek Phadnis (PDF)
