Climate of harassment and censorship threatens free speech, warns Government advisor

Mar 26, 2024 by Jill

by Charles Hymas, Telegraph:

Dame Sara Khan says politicians and individuals are being subjected to abuse and rape and death threats to stop them expressing their views.

Free speech is being threatened by a “dangerous climate of harassment and censorship,” a senior Government adviser has warned.

Dame Sara Khan identified the rise of “freedom-restricting harassment” in a report highlighting threats to the UK’s social cohesion, saying that not just politicians but also individuals were being subjected to rape and death threats, abuse and hatred to silence them and prevent them from expressing their views.

Writing in The Telegraph, the independent social cohesion adviser said those targeted included teachers, police officers, local councillors, civil society activists, journalists and those working in the arts.

Her findings come amid growing concerns for politicians’ safety amid rising abuse over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with MPs being given bodyguards for protection.

She also cited cases such as a civil society chief working against hate crime facing death threats, an imam given 18 months of police protection from Islamist extremists for his beliefs and a teacher in Batley, West Yorkshire, forced into hiding after being accused of blasphemy for using a cartoon of the prophet Muhammed in an RE lesson. New laws to create buffer zones outside schools are among 15 recommendations she has made to the government.

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