A newly founded British political party which says it wants to fight woke-culture is calling for Britain to follow Poland’s example by “outlawing censorship” online.
Reclaim, founded by actor Laurence Fox — who rose to prominence after he told a left-wing heckler on the BBC that “to call me a white, privileged male” and deny his right to an opinion on certain topics “is to be racist”, triggering a furious denouncement by an actors’ union — issued the call in a submission to the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee.
The parliamentary committee, chaired by Lord Gilbert of Panteg and currently charged with conducting an inquiry into freedom of expression online, was urged by Fox’s party to “explore the model adopted by Poland, forbidding social media platforms from censoring posts and banning users who do not break the law,” according to a statement seen by Breitbart London.
The Polish government has, in the wake of former U.S. leader Donald Trump’s abrupt purge from almost all major social media platforms and the removal of free speech oriented alternative platform Parler from the internet by Amazon, Apple, and Google, unveiled draft legislation creating a Free Speech Board which will be able to overturn bans and content removal, with big fines for tech firms which do not comply.
WATCH: Poland Unveils Draft Law to Guarantee Free Speech Online https://t.co/2mJnyWRjHy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 16, 2021
Arguing that the development of critical thinking in children, in particular, should be a key policy aspiration, Reclaim said in its submission that “Big Tech and governments can help by outlawing censorship so that children and adults of all political persuasions and religious beliefs can participate on social media without fear of being banned.”
The party said social media platforms should be “be free spaces where content was only removed if it broke the law” — and not just for going against the prevailing “liberal paradigm”.
It did add, however, that tech firms should redouble their efforts against unlawful posts, such as “those that legitimize objective physical violence”.
Hungary Govt to Stop ‘Shadowbanning’ of ‘Christian, Conservative, and Right-Wing’ Voices Online https://t.co/dvc6QWnRAV
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 19, 2021