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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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
Quebec ‘hate speech’ law will target “people who would write against … the Islamic religion”
Posted: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 10:38
The Quebec National Assembly is considering a bill that would be used to criminalise criticism of Islam under the aegis of banning "hate speech".
Bill 59, introduced in the National Assembly by Minister of Justice Stéphanie Vallée, is ostensibly designed to crackdown on hate speech, but the head of the Quebec Human Rights Commission (QHRC), Jacques Frémont, has been quoted saying that he would use the new powers to target "people who would write against … the Islamic religion … on a website or on a Facebook page."
The law would allow the QHRC to "apply for a court order requiring [alleged hate speech] to cease" and would further impose a fine up to $10,000 if "a person has engaged in or disseminated such speech". The exact monetary value of the fine would be determined by the Human Rights Tribunal.
The act states that the purpose of the various prohibitions is not to limit speech which "legitimately" informs the public but it casts an extraordinarily broad net, stating not only that hate speech will be punished by law but that "a person [who] has acted in such a manner as to cause such speech to be engaged in" will also face penalties.
Under the proposed law, the QHRC would keep a list – available online – of all those who have been engaged in 'hate speech', as determined by the Tribunal. This measure has been compared with the registration of sex offenders, to which only police have access.
In another particularly troubling detail, the Commission would not need to wait for a complainant to come forward and it could initiate an investigation itself.
The legislation would also allow the Commission to apply to a court for "any emergency measure" if the Commission has "reason to believe" that a threat to "health or safety" exists. This will allow the Commission to "put an end to the threat."
An NSS spokesperson commented: "It is very worrying to see a democratic legislature using tricks taken straight from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) playbook to effectively ban blasphemy and criticism of religion.
"It is an Orwellian nightmare that the proposed law in Quebec would leave a human rights body tasked with determining the monetary fine for criticising religion, and that the QHRC is seemingly boasting about its potential role in using this legislation as a de facto blasphemy law.
"Nor is this a problem limited to Quebec. In Northern Ireland a Christian preacher, James McConnell, is currently being prosecuted for what authorities call a 'grossly offensive' sermon in which he criticised Islam. We haven't seen any evidence of incitement to violence in his remarks.
"None of these events are isolated. They all take place in the broader context of a relentless assault on free speech being pursued though any number of means. Aside from violence and terror, this agenda is being advanced at the UN by the OIC, and in legislatures such as this case in Quebec, or in the UAE, which recently made it illegal to 'offend God'.
"The OIC desperately wants to see criticism of Islam criminalised globally, and too many 'useful idiots' in the West buy into their perversion of 'human rights' language to achieve this sinister aim. In August a senior Saudi official said that free expression was an 'abuse of religious rights'. The West must not be lazy in resisting this; or worse, compliant, as this piece of legislation is. Religions shouldn't have rights, and religious believers have no 'right' to remain unoffended by satire, criticism or ridicule."
Petition calls for Bangladeshi police chief to resign after he warned secularists not to insult religion
Posted: Tue, 18 Aug 2015 13:53
A petition has been started calling for the head of Bangladesh's police to resign after he told secularists not to 'cross the line' by insulting religious feelings, days after Niloy Neel was killed.
A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque, the Inspector General of Police in Bangladesh, said that secularists and atheists would be "punished by the law" for "hurting someone's religious sentiment" two days after Niloy Neel, the secular blogger, was murdered by Islamists.
Hoque's remarks sparked uproar when he first made them, and now the Bangladesh Liberal Forum has started a petition calling on the national police chief to resign.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain urged supporters to sign the petition, blasting Hoque's "abhorrent statement" that threatened anyone "who criticizes religion in the spirit of free speech" with 14 years in jail.
According to the petition "Mr. Hoque also encouraged people to notify police and file a case if they come across any writings that hurt religious feelings."
The Bangladesh Liberal Forum write that his response was "entirely inappropriate" victim-blaming, and that it sent a "disastrous message to both writers and Islamist extremists in Bangladesh."
They added: "The nonchalant attitude displayed by Bangladesh Police in the face of the continuing series of acts of violence against freethinkers directly contributes to the rise of religious extremism in Bangladesh."
Meanwhile police investigating the killings of secular bloggers in Bangladesh have announced that one of three people arrested for the murders of Avijit Roy, killed in February 2015, and Ananta Bijoy Das, "hacked to death" in May 2015, include a UK citizen.
Touhidur Rahman, a British-Bangladeshi, reportedly planned the murders. He has been described as the "mastermind" behind the brutal killings, and also a financier of a banned Islamist organisation.
Maajid Nawaz of counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, said it was "totally unsurprising" that a British Muslim was "suspected to be behind machete murders of secular free thinkers in Bangladesh."
Mr Nawaz recently warned that "theocratic aspirations" have become a "normalised part of life among too many British Muslims."
The National Secular Society has reiterated its call for the UK Government to recognise global discrimination against atheists, humanists and secularists.
See also: "You can never kill ideas: an anonymous blogger on the deaths of secularists in Bangladesh."
