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
Faith school cancels children’s author talk over ‘witchcraft’ fears
Posted: Mon, 23 May 2022 14:20
A faith school has reportedly cancelled a visit from a children's author because it feared his books would 'promote witchcraft'.
Andy Sagar said on Twitter on Friday that his first school event in London had been called off because the school "didn't want to be seen to be 'promoting witchcraft'".
Sagar's debut children's book 'Yesterday Crumb and the Storm in a Teacup' (pictured) was published in March and features a magical teashop run by a witch. Last month the Sunday Times named the novel Children's Book of the Week.
The Sun reported that the school in question is a faith school.
Sagar, who previously worked as a teaching assistant in a primary school, is pursuing a PhD on the role of law in historical witch-hunts, which inspired his fiction.
Just this March, Southwark Diocese forced two Catholic schools to cancel a talk by children's author Simon James Green because his books feature gay characters.
GP Taylor: 'The need for secularisation'
Several Twitter users responded to Sagar's tweet with their own experiences of books featuring witches being banned in UK schools.
Fellow children's author and ordained Anglican vicar GP Taylor said his books, which feature magic but are inspired by Christianity, had been locked in the safe of one school after an evangelical parent complained they were "evil".
He said: "As a Christian heavily influenced by paganism I was very shocked that a number of schools excluded my books from their libraries as they had pagan content".
He added that these schools were usually 'church schools' and said this indicated the need to secularise the school system.
Twitter user Jacqueline Harris said at her first teaching practice she experienced a similar issue when the school decided to ban all books with mention of witches.
She said: "They had trouble when they found the maths scheme had counting cauldrons and witches hats!"
NSS comments
NSS head of policy and research Megan Manson said: "Schools banning children's authors because of concerns their fantasy books promote witchcraft shows that deference to religious taboos is getting out of control in our education system.
"We are particularly concerned that the religious institutions behind faith schools may put school leaders under pressure to reject texts, however innocuous, that could be perceived to contravene the ethos of the school.
"The Department for Education needs to show some leadership and support schools to expose children to a wide variety of books without fear of religious censorship.
"These incidents also show increasingly incongruity of state-funded faith schools in modern British society."
Secularists at “serious” risk in Bangladesh, UK government says
Posted: Wed, 4 May 2022 15:13
Secularists and atheists in Bangladesh are at "serious" risk of persecution, new UK government guidance says.
Home Office guidance for assessing refugee, asylum and human rights claims says those who openly express atheist beliefs are likely to be subject to discrimination by the state or societal violence that amounts to "persecution or serious harm".
The guidance, published in March, says people who have expressed "atheistic or secularist beliefs", particularly in relation to Islam, have been arrested and detained on the grounds of "religious defamation".
Additionally, high profile atheist and secularist bloggers and activists deemed to have "defamed Islam" face "a high risk" of threats and violence by Islamist extremists.
Bangladesh's blasphemy laws
In Bangladesh it is a criminal offence to publish material "deemed to hurt religious sentiment".
Authorities have used legal provisions such as the Information and Communication Technology Act or the 2018 Digital Security Act (DSA) to harass, detain or prosecute online bloggers and activists. The United Nations has said the DSA is not in line with international human rights laws. The DSA can be applied to material published outside of Bangladesh.
Several atheist bloggers left Bangladesh following attacks, some fatal, by Islamists between 2013 and 2018. Whilst continuing to blog from abroad, they fear arrest or retaliation by Islamic fundamentalists if they return to their country.
Rationalist blogger Marufur Rahman Khan said Islamists "can freely publish books and air their opinion against atheism, secularism, feminism, and homosexuality". But atheists and secularists "are not allowed to express their beliefs," he said.
Atheists, secularists and others who have recently been arrested for comments about Islam include:
- An Islamist group called for the death of a Hindu man after accusing him of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad on Facebook in 2019. After the man was arrested under the DSA, it was revealed that his Facebook account had been hacked and he was being blackmailed for money under threat of more 'blasphemous' material being published in his name.
- Musician Rita Dewan was detained for criticising Islam on YouTube in 2020. She faces up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to £17,600 if convicted under the DSA.
- Sufi Muslim singer Shariat Sarker was imprisoned under the DSA in 2020 after an Islamic scholar filed charges that comments made by Sarker on YouTube hurt the "religious sentiments" of Muslims. The offending remarks included arguments that the Qur'an does not prohibit music, and criticisms of religion being used as a political tool.
- In 2021, 17 year old Hindu girl Dipti Rani Das was arrested for "hurting religious sentiment" for a Facebook post critical of Islam. She could be sentenced up to seven years in prison if convicted.
- This year, Bangladeshi author Shahriar Dipu was handed a four year jail sentence for "offending Islam" in two books.
The guidance says Bangladesh's laws including the DSA encourage extremists to target individuals suspected of blasphemy. Atheists and people who are accused of 'hurting religious sentiment' and are open about their beliefs are unlikely to be afforded effective protection by Bangladeshi authorities. Instead, the government has "tended to attribute blame" for militant attacks to the victims for criticising religion.
The guidance also highlights the risks faced by Ahmadi Muslims in Bangladesh. It says the government has "come under pressure" from Islamist groups to declare Ahmadis 'non Muslim'. There is also evidence that police have been instructed to place Ahmadi Muslims under nationwide surveillance.
NSS comment
National Secular Society Engagement Officer Buddha Halder said: "We welcome the UK government's acknowledgement that anyone who expresses secularist or atheist viewpoints, or anything deemed to insult Islam, is at high risk in Bangladesh.
"The Home Office must therefore take human rights claims from individuals who are accused of offending religion in this country very seriously.
"And the government must continue to put pressure on Bangladesh to reverse its trend towards Islamist authoritarianism. It must repeal its various blasphemy laws and uphold its constitutional commitments to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief."
