Recent developments in the United Kingdom, however, have set a worrying precedent for the future of the freedom to protest. This is particularly exemplified in recent suppressions of peaceful animal rights protesting. An amendment to the Public Order Act 2023 proposes to endow police with new powers to suppress protests at ‘life sciences’ sites, including animal-testing centers and animal-breeding facilities. Prosecution as a consequence of such protesting may result in hefty fines and prison sentences. It is paramount for free speech campaigners to stand alongside animal rights campaigners, regardless of their own personal opinions on animal testing, in order to create a united front against all attacks on freedom of speech.
KCL FREE SPEECH SOCIETY: Animal rights activism has never been shy of controversy. The movement’s extensive history of pushing uncomfortable ideas and questioning the boundaries of societally acceptable conduct has frequently wavered on the line of transgressing from civil protest into militant criminal activity. The extremist group the Animal Liberation Front has employed tactics including trespassing, arson attacks and bombing…
While the extremist factions of the animal rights movement have always been dealt with by appropriate legal measures, the legal – albeit controversial – activism which has pushed the boundaries of free speech has generally been given a wide berth by the authorities. Protests have been allowed to take place, no matter how unpleasant, due to the rights to protest enshrined in the ECHR and the precedents of freedom of speech and assembly that have been long upheld in the United Kingdom.
Recent developments in the United Kingdom, however, have set a worrying precedent for the future of the freedom to protest. Fears of encroaching censorship are reflected in the rising sentiment which appears to be uniting citizens across the political spectrum, that the country is creeping towards a state of authoritarian governmental overreach – a fear no doubt substantiated by the sheer number of arrests for speech-related offences in the UK… Protestors, activists and content creators across the political divide, including those who campaign on issues unrelated to the traditional political system, are facing increased censorship and the ever-present threat of arrest…
This is particularly exemplified in recent suppressions of peaceful animal rights protesting. A statutory instrument (SI) which makes an amendment to the Public Order Act 2023, put forward by Minister of State for Policing and Crime Sarah Jones, proposes to endow police with new powers to suppress protests at ‘life sciences’ sites, including animal-testing centres and animal-breeding facilities. Prosecution as a consequence of such protesting may result in hefty fines and prison sentences, and the amendment passed a vote in the House of Commons on the 14th of January with a majority of 191 votes.
The government justifies these new measures which focus on targeting those disrupting ‘key national infrastructure’ with the claim that animal testing is apparently crucial to development of vaccines and other essential medical interventions, despite its own commitment to phasing out the use of animal testing with alternative, more ethical procedures available…
For the sake of defending the principles that are integral to societal functioning, we must combat all attacks on freedom of speech and protest wherever they appear, irrespective of our own individual opinions on the speech in question.
It is paramount for free speech campaigners to stand alongside animal rights campaigners, regardless of their own personal opinions on animal testing, in order to create a united front against all attacks on freedom of speech such that the message begins to resonate with those in power – there is, as the old adage goes, ‘strength in numbers’. SOURCE
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