Ep. 13 spiked’s Brendan O’Neill on the Fight for Free Speech Overseas

“How do you make the case for freedom of speech these days?,”
asks Brendan O’Neill in the latest episode of “So to Speak.”


The question is a serious one for O’Neill. As the editor of the
online British current-affairs magazine “spiked,” he is on the
front lines every day fighting to preserve free speech and a free
press in a legal environment that doesn’t have a First Amendment.


In a part of the world that just last year imprisoned a man for
four months for singing a controversial song before a soccer
match, O’Neill says that there are many laws that can land people
in hot water for speaking their minds in the United Kingdom. For
example, he says that England has among the worst libel laws in
Europe.


In England, unlike the United States, the libel laws are greatly
weighted in favor of the person who sues, says O’Neill, who notes
that about 80 percent of libel actions go in favor of the person
suing. As a result, he regularly considers the libel laws when
editing content for “spiked.”


“It’s a rich man’s law, which is used to silence criticism, and
political views, and difficult, awkward views that people don’t
like,” he says.


“spiked” counts as part of its mission the defense of “freedom of
speech with no ifs and buts” because, as O’Neill says, “as soon
as you give an inch on freedom of speech, they will take a mile.”


But, despite the United Kingdom’s countervailing laws, O’Neill
says that the argument in favor of freedom of speech “still has
real purchase and real power.” And until those censorship laws
are struck down and threats to free speech are extinguished,
O’Neill says “spiked” will keep making those arguments.


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