The Free Speech Union

I am pleased to announce that wilmott.com has become a Founder Member of the Free Speech Union, freespeechunion.org.

Taken from their website: 

Free speech is the bedrock on which all our other freedoms rest, yet it is currently in greater peril than at any time since the Second World War. The Free Speech Union is a non-partisan, mass-membership organisation that stands up for the speech rights of its members. If you think there’s a risk you’ll be penalised for exercising your legal right to free speech, whether it’s in the workplace or the public square, you need the protection of the Free Speech Union.

You might wonder why wilmott.com and I are particularly interested in this organization. Well, we are a bit of a fan of free speech, we’re quaintly old fashioned like that. On the forum we are immensely relaxed about what is said. We have few rules. We rarely ban anyone. Just don’t say anything illegal, don’t violate anyone’s intellectual property. And don’t promote your software, book or bitcoin exchange without asking first. While we aren’t quite prepared to go to the lengths of dying for your right to voice your opinion we do not bow to demands to remove forum posts just because you can’t take criticism. 

And for me personally, well, anyone who has attended any of my lectures will know that I like to sail close to the wind. It’s a running joke, which happens to be true, that recordings of my lectures are shorter than they were live because of all the material that has to be removed in editing to make them politically correct.

The FSU has been set up by Toby Young. Toby has been the victim of offence archaeologists who hounded him from several public offences simply because he made some jokes they didn’t like. He is also the author of the excellent How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. Here he is discussing this new organization.

Details on membership can be found here.