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
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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
NSS urges government to aid Ahmadi Muslim prosecuted for blasphemy
Posted: Thu, 10 Feb 2022 09:32
The National Secular Society has urged the UK government to intervene in the case of an Ahmadi Muslim woman prosecuted for 'blasphemy' in Pakistan.
According to the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), 65 year old Kaneez Bibi was arrested on 2 February after being accused of destroying an anti-Ahmadi propaganda poster that allegedly had verses from the Quran on it.
Pakistan's penal code makes it an offence to "outrage religious feelings" by "insulting" religion.
IHRC says Kaneez Bibi was reported by Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right Islamist political party, for 'committing an act of contempt' against the Quran by destroying the poster.
IHRC says there were no verses from the Quran on the poster and that TLP fabricated this detail to incite public anger against Ahmadi Muslims.
TLP dedicates itself to punishing perceived 'blasphemy'. In 2018 it held disruptive protests across Pakistan after the Supreme Court ordered Asia Bibi, a Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy, to be freed.
Pakistan prohibits Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims because their beliefs differ from those of the Sunni majority. Ahmadi Muslims experience regular persecution and discrimination in Pakistan and around the world.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws are routinely used to target minority groups, including Ahmadi Muslims. In 2020 former Ahmadi Muslim Tahir Naseem was shot dead in court while standing trial for blasphemy.
IHRC also reported that last week police desecrated 45 Ahmadi Muslim graves in Hafizabad, Punjab.
NSS letter: Blasphemy laws "incompatible with a genuine commitment to human rights"
In a letter to the FCO, NSS chief executive Stephen Evans urged the government to "make representations on this matter" and "to impress upon counterparts in Pakistan the importance of providing effective protection and freedom of religious belief and practice to Ahmadis and other religious minorities."
He added: "Blasphemy laws and religious restrictions on speech are incompatible with a genuine commitment to human rights.
"We therefore hope the government will continue to not only speak out about the 'misuse' of blasphemy laws, but also the existence of such laws at all."
Image: Chickenonline from Pixabay
NSS welcomes free speech assurances in proposed hate crime reforms
Posted: Tue, 7 Dec 2021 14:43
The National Secular Society has welcomed proposals to protect the freedom to criticise harmful cultural practices.
The Law Commission has concluded that the current protections applying to criticism of religious practices in hate crime legislation should be extended to cover 'cultural' practices.
The recommendation, made in its report on hate crime law published today, follows concerns expressed by the NSS that criticising certain religious practices may inadvertently be caught by 'stirring up' racial hatred laws.
The Law Commission's recommendations also addressed the NSS's concerns regarding 'blasphemous' imagery and inconsistencies over which groups should be protected by hate crime law.
Cultural practices and 'stirring up' offences
Laws criminalising 'stirring up' of religious hatred currently include a clause that protects "discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse" of religions or religious practices from being prosecuted as hate crime.
However, this clause does not apply to stirring up racial hatred. As a result, criticising the practices of a group considered both a race and a religion, such as Jews and Sikhs, could inadvertently fall foul of hate crime laws.
In its response to the Law Commission's consultation last year, the NSS said "robust criticism" of certain religious or cultural practices, including infant genital cutting and the wearing of swords in public, could potentially be charged under racial hatred offences due to this discrepancy.
The NSS gave the example of non-stun slaughter, and said the law "potentially results in the absurdity of being able to criticise non-stun slaughter for halal meat, but not for kosher meat, without fear of prosecution", because unlike Jews, Muslims are not widely considered to be an ethnic group.
The Law Commission agreed that criticism of cultural practices "might result in an accusation of racism" and concluded "current protections applying to discussion and criticism of religious practices should be extended to cover cultural practices".
'Blasphemous' images
In its consultation, the Law Commission proposed to extend 'stirring up offences' which currently relate to "written" material, so they cover "all material".
The NSS warned this could lead to the criminalisation of those sharing images considered 'blasphemous', including cartoons of Islam's prophet Muhammad.
The Law Commission said it understood the NSS's concerns but was "satisfied that the offences of stirring up hatred involve a much higher threshold than whether material is considered blasphemous or offensive".
It cited examples of European jurisdictions with similar hate crime laws where cartoons of Muhammad had not been found to break the law.
Protected groups
The NSS expressed concerns about inconsistencies in proposals to protect goths, punks and sex workers in hate crime law, but not those considered 'low' caste (Dalits).
While the commission concluded none of these groups should be classified as protected, it said if the government were to include explicit reference to caste in the Equality Act 2010, it would recommend that an equivalent change is also made to hate crime laws.
In 2018 the government announced it would not include caste as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010 – a decision widely criticised by human rights groups including the NSS.
The NSS, together with the Welsh Government and Humanists UK, also recommended that the category of 'religion' in hate crime law be widened to 'religion or belief', to make it explicit that non-religious beliefs are covered by the law. This would bring hate crime law in line with the Equality Act 2010, which recognises "religion or belief" as a protected characteristic.
NSS comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "We welcome the proposed new protections for expression regarding cultural practices. Harmful religious and cultural practices, such as genital cutting, forced marriage and non-stun slaughter, deserve serious scrutiny. Discussion and debate around such matters should not be chilled by the prospect of being prosecuted.
"We also welcome the commission's clarification that sharing images that may be considered 'blasphemous' or offensive, including cartoons of Muhammad, would not be within the scope of the law and will not be criminalised."
Notes
- The Law Commission is a statutory independent body, tasked with keeping the law in England and Wales under review and recommending reform where it considers it necessary.
- The NSS previously urged the commission to protect free speech in its review on hate crime, in a meeting with its representatives.
