3 policies from the Labour government that could impact free speech

An op-ed by Silkie Carlo, director of the digital rights group Big Brother Watch (BBW) in City A.M., highlights three policies from the Labour government, which she warns are charting a dangerous course on free speech. The policies include a proposed expansion of the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA), plans to broaden the recording of 'non-crime hate incidents' by the police, and the revival of the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU), now known as the National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT). In the article, Carlo outlines her concerns about the dangers of excessive censorship and its potential negative impact on the public.

In a related article, Private Wires highlights the emerging industry of companies focused on combating misinformation, disinformation and narrative attacks, with Western governments and global brands as their main clients. In comments given to the article, Mark Johnson, BBW advocacy manager, said: "I do think there's a massive boom in the proliferation of these fact checking companies or counter disinformation, AI-based companies. They are tapping into a wider kind of trend, which is essentially censoring — the platforms and other big players will say 'moderating' — but really censoring speech based on its perceived veracity and accuracy. This is a trend that's happening across the western world at the moment."