It’s conference season, and we’re drowning in a flurry of fresh announcements, from Andy Burnham’s new deal on social care to the Tories’ conception of an Iron Dome, dubbed the ‘Britannia Shield’. Yet at Living Freedom, we were particularly perturbed by comments from the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, Lisa Nandy, on online safety.
The Labour government’s proposed children’s social-media ban is contentious enough for those advocating for freedom. Will the ban require adults to adopt digital IDs? Will VPNs be banned, putting the UK on a worrying list of nations, such as Russia and North Korea? And what will children consume instead? We’ve already heard that the government would like to reprogram algorithms to promote the BBC.
Yet Nandy let slip that this move is only the start in a broader online-safety drive: ‘This is a staging post to what must be a very active interventionist state, policing and regulating the online space so that people are safe.’
What does it mean to be ‘safe’ online? Are attempts to control the digital space the inevitable endpoint of a governing class that always seeks ‘safety’, rather than trusting the demos to consume information and judge its validity for themselves? We’ve already experienced a ‘very active interventionist state’, and for those arrested over comments made online, those interventions can seem deeply hostile to the values of free speech and individual liberty.
One thing is clear: the need to understand what’s coming, and how we can push back against a number of measures designed to constrain freedom, is greater than ever. We’ll be at the Battle of Ideas to do just that. Check out our sessions below, and if you haven’t already, use the LIVING26 discount code to buy your tickets here.
ALUMNI WATCH
EMMA GILLAND ON SOCIAL MEDIA & YOUNG PEOPLE
Living Freedom alumna Emma Gilland joined Matilda Gosling, Gabrielle Grant and Ruth Wareham at the Academy of Ideas Education Forum to debate whether banning social media for under-16s will give children greater freedom to grow up – or restrict their independence, social lives and access to ideas. Watch the discussion here.
LAVINIA ROSSETTI IS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY FREE-SPEECH SOCIETY
Find out more and support them here.
ALASTAIR DONALD ON THE RED LINES OF FREE SPEECH
Living Freedom’s Alastair Donald looks ahead to the Battle of Ideas keynote session: Free Speech For Me And Not For Thee: The Red Lines In Free Expression?
EMMA GILLAND ON THE FUTURE OF REPRODUCTION
Towards Individualised Reproduction: Why Are We Choosing to Change How We Have Children?
JACK KELSALL ON FREE SPEECH FOR FOOTBALL FANS
Read Free speech for football fans, too here
PODCAST BETWEEN MAEVE HALLIGAN AND CONNIE SHAW, WHO MET AT LIVING FREEDOM
Maeve Halligan on trans activism, free speech and campus censorship
EVENT WATCH
BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL: 11 DAYS TO GO
The festival is fast approaching. We have the following LIVING FREEDOM panels:
Assisted death to sexual freedom: autonomy and its discontents
Quiet quitting to #LazyGirlJobs: Workshy Britain?
One of the speakers, Joanna Williams, has written about this session – see her article on Substack.
Tickets are on sale now with big discounts for students and concessions - plus an extra 20% off if you buy here.
HOW CAN WE DEFEND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS – KCL FREE-SPEECH SOCIETY
TONIGHT – Tuesday 6 October, 7pm-9pm, Bush House
With Serena Worley, Michelle Shipworth, Brodie Mitchell and Living Freedom alumnus Omar Loubak Mohamed. Register here.
THE NEXT GENERATION WITH CLAIRE FOX – ADAM SMITH INSTITUTE
Tuesday 13 October, 6pm · Adam Smith Institute, Westminster
Baroness Fox discusses Why Free Speech Matters, followed by drinks and networking
For under-35s only · Refreshments provided
Find out more and register here
IAN PACE: ALBÉNIZ’S IBERIA & MORE
Tuesday 13 October, 6.30pm · City St George’s, London
Pianist and Living Freedom speaker Ian Pace performs Albéniz’s complete Iberia, alongside works by Mompou, Stravinsky/Lourié and Busoni
Find out more and book here
CONFLICT ON CAMPUS – EDINBURGH
Wednesday 21 October · Edinburgh
A full-day event with speakers including Arif Ahmed, Jo Phoenix, Tommy Curry, Lindsay Paterson, Michael Spence & Alice Sullivan
Tickets £55, including lunch and refreshments
Find out more and book here
TOGETHER 5TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS FOR 18–30s
Saturday 7 November · London
Speakers include Katharine Birbalsingh, Maajid Nawaz, Professor Norman Fenton, Mike Graham, Bernie Spofforth & more. Aged 18–30? Book up to two complimentary General Admission tickets with code LF1830. See the Together tickets page.
WANNA KEEP UP WITH WESTMINSTER EVENTS? – EVENTS DEAR BOY
Join the WhatsApp group run by political communications experts Alex Gunter and Blaise Baquiche for updates on Westminster’s hottest events
Join the group here