Free Speech In Crisis
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The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on us all
Given that this is the first post from our Substack newsletter, there is really only one theme we could be kicking off with: Free Speech. Free speech is central to everything we do at the Academy of Ideas, and has been a constant throughout my political life. Free Speech is the bedrock freedom: without it we cannot exercise, or be secure in, any of our other freedoms. It is also the lifeblood of democracy: without free debate and discussion, democracy is meaningless.
The barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie not only exposes all of those who have tried to tell us that the free speech crisis is a ‘myth’ – it also shows us that free speech is something we have to be prepared to defend, even at some cost. As my brilliant colleague Ella Whelan pointed out, from the examples of the Charlie Hebdo Massacre to the Batley Grammar School teacher, all too many people in the West refuse to stand up forthrightly for the right to offend, blaspheme, mock and judge. In other words, they avoid defending free speech at all. Ella called this ‘appeasement’ of the idea that some ideas are beyond the pale. She is quite right to use that word: every time we fail to stand up for Free Speech, we embolden those who want less debate, fewer questions, and a worldwide ‘safe space’ – with ordinary people and their ideas locked out of politics.
Far from free speech resulting in an inevitable ‘punching down’, free speech is vital for the most oppressed in society. As Fredrick Douglass masterfully put it: ‘Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the first right which they first of all strike down … Slavery cannot tolerate free speech. Five years of its exercise would banish the auction block and break every chain in the South.’ We should be very wary of all mealy-mouthed statements which feign a concern for the marginalised in society but ultimately use them instrumentally as a reason to say, ‘Free speech … BUT’.
The attach on Rushdie also reminds us that the free-speech crisis has deep roots – not least in the failure of Western societies to stand up for Rushdie in the aftermath of the fatwa in response to his book The Satanic Verses. As Kenan Malik - author of the definitive book on the Rushdie Affair which I recommend to everyone - pointed out in recent days, the boundaries of free speech have become much tighter since the event. The novel might continue to be published, Malik notes, but Rushdie’s critics succeeded in mainstreaming the idea that ‘it is wrong to give offence to certain groups”. They have, in Malik’s phrase, ‘internalised the fatwa’.
The effects of this internalised fatwa are easy to see. From threats to JK Rowling to the cancellation of comedian Jerry Sadowitz, the instinctive reaction by many today is to say: You can’t say that! This shows us what a fight we have on our hands to overturn the fatwa and restore free speech to a prime position in Western societies.
This is something we try and do every year at our Battle of Ideas festival. It is, as far as I know, the only festival with the motto ‘FREE SPEECH ALLOWED’. We’ll have dozens of debates, hundreds of speakers, and thousands of members of the public to come together and debate the future of society, how we can expand the territory of freedom, and how we should respond to attacks like that on Rushdie. Get a ticket and we’ll see you there!
But until then, please do share our work with everyone you know who might be interested - every tweet, email and conversation helps us make the case for freedom.
Claire
Stay up to date
Select events and media appearances from the Academy of Ideas and our friends
From Don’t Divide Us
Conspicuous Silence - How Identity Politics caused the grooming gangs scandal
18:00 on Thursday 1 September
Venue: Accent Global London, 12 Bedford Square, London, WCB 3JA
Chair: Rakib Ehsan
Speakers: Khadija Khan and Hardeep Singh
In the news:
Ella Whelan on the battle to save free speech after the attack on Salman Rushdie - watch now on facebook
Claire Fox talks to Simon Calvert from the Christian Institute about faith, morality and free speech - watch now on YouTube (via twitter)
Ella Whelan in Spiked on why we need to win the argument for choice - read now on Spiked