US Constitution 1st Amendment states freedom of speech. Canada’s Charter of Rights section 2 also does the same. That’s as far as my civics schooling goes. How does it work in the UK? I recently saw a post here on LH claiming there was no freedom of speech on the LH message boards. In most areas, that would be correct. Freedom of speech doesn’t apply to privately held newspapers, TV, or message boards but it made me wonder. What are the laws about speech in the UK because I don’t know?
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Go by the Rules on LH forum then you can speak freely. It’s the same as Fetlife Groups. And every other forum.
Everywhere has rules no swearing no dive bombing in the swimming pool lol
@be3169 Might be good to read up on the rules in here then you will know you are doing everything right.
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Doesn’t answer my question…
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights is the relevant UK law. (At least for now)
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Thank you @Calie . I am kind of surprised UK doesn’t have this in their own legislation given both US and Canada were colonies. Of course, US went to war and Canada was just polite about the whole issue but still, both ended up with a free speech guarantee.
The point of the ECHR was to have a supranational European law protecting citizens after the horrors of World War II and to hopefully stop it from happening again. The UK were one of the states that drafted it and at a time when unity was really important so the UK having its own law would have been unnecessary and counter productive
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Interesting. So this was a European agreement prior to the whole EU thing and how free was speech actually protected?
Yes it was pre dates the EU by about 40 years
Appreciated @Calie . Will do some reading on European Convention on Human Rights to learn me up a bit.
In London there is a place labelled ‘Speaker’s Corner’ where any Tom, Dick or Harry (or Harriet) can sprout their views.
If anything the rights to free speech in the UK have been reduced by EU legislation.
Certainly over the past few years it would seem ‘Cancel Culture’ in all ‘free’ countries has had more to do with censorship than anything else.
As for the US they also have in their constitution that all men are created equal which seems to ignore the people enslaved and women.
As has already been said, LH is a private site, sets its own rules (which frequently change) and you either accept them or walk.
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Great post @Private_member. Last comment you made is absolutely correct. A private message board is not liable to free speech legislation.
Dont hate me for this post…
Isnt the america bill of rights based on the 1215 magna carter and is still worded close with the same dated language?
You are testing my history knowledge here @Bigiain . Magna Carter is a set of personal rights but determined by the King of England at the time. The US had their war of independence and wrote their constitution as they set up government. Since then, there have been 10 amendments to that constitution, one of which was freedom of speech and another that allows everyone to have an assault rifle (but I digress).
I was just curious as to how voicing an opinion was protected in the UK because I don’t know how that works in England.
Doesnt it say “the right to bare arms?” Which giving the dayes it was written means a knife/sword not a gun? 
Im jooking if course, i dont want someone getting all precious about this as this is a joke.
I myself have terrible historical knowledge, i decided not to retain that information in life.
I also am unsure of how it works in england…im scottish we just tell it like it is
That is the farthest thing from free speech I have ever heard.
There is no free speech on this forum. Whoever said that was correct.
I disagree with that comment. Put any type of kink or other interest into the search box and you will get multiple threads on any topic you choose. I personally disagree with a couple of moderation rules but Love Honey owns the boards and can dictate as such. I have the choice of abiding by the rules or participating somewhere else. What do you define as “free speech” btw?
Now you are telling me you are Scottish? Maybe an Aussie will jump in and sort us both out. LOL
Thought it was just based on a bunch of rich white guys who decided they didn’t want to pay taxes.
There have been a number of updates to the original Magna Carta and supposedly most of it is now not valid/legal.
LH introduced their own rules when they started the forum, they change often, sometimes being more restrictive, sometimes less but in more recent years seem to allow some members to arbitrarily change or delete posts.
At the end of the day they are just trying to sell things not be a platform so not about freedom of speech. Try accessing the site in Dubai and you will find you are blocked, not by LH but by the State.
Cancel culture is a much debated topic. Some see it as censorship, others point out it can also be used as a kind of war-cry to inspire outrage, and in so doing, to capitalise on a state of perceived victimhood.
This is an example of reflexive control.
I feel the cancel culture issue is actually more about ‘freedom of reach’, than ‘freedom of speech’.
‘Cancelling’ someone is typically taking away or limiting their social media, or traditional media outlets to promote their ideas (their ‘reach’)
People are still entitled to their ideas, and to speak them freely within the laws of the land, but if they transgress the rules or otherwise upset the stakeholders of the platforms or publishers, then being asked to move on is often a natural consequence of their actions.
These are private entities that own the platforms, and access is not typically a public right, protected by law.
We all have varying amounts of freedom of speech, depending on the laws of the land and other social contexts, these have been thrashed out over centuries. But we don’t have similar rights to free reach. They may develop over time as legislatures grapple with the consequences of social media, etc.
This is why I personally feel the ‘free speech’ argument is often used incorrectly, or even disingenuously. It’s a conflation of separate and distinct ideas.
I am free to speak my opinions within the law, but that doesn’t automatically grant me permission to give my opinions on it on this forum. That permission is also bounded by forum rules.
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Reminder that “free speech” is about the GOVERNMENT restricting your speech. A private entity can restrict you all they want. If Lovehoney chooses to have any rule restricting what you can say on Lovehoney forums, that is not a restriction of free speech. You can say it all you want, you just cant use a Lovehoney owned and operated forum. Build your own and spew anything you want. BTW, this applies to Twitter, Facebook and any other privately run system.
Many people massively misunderstand “freedom of speech” because they have never lived anywhere where the government actual restricts you. Few who live in western democracies have any concept of being beaten, jailed or killed simply for saying the wrong thing. That leads to them calling a mere inconvenience a violation of “free speech”. It isnt.
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