New polling highlights UK’s “censorship crisis” as free speech billboards are plastered across London Underground

New polling highlights UK’s “censorship crisis” as free speech billboards are plastered across London Underground

• Giant “Free speech makes Britain great” billboard seen at Oxford Circus (sample photos attached, high res available below)

• Polls show the British public wants fewer speech restrictions

• NEW survey found a majority of MPs think the Online Safety Act should be repealed or reformed

• Former Minister turned Reform member Nadine Dorries backs calls for review of “dogs dinner” online safety laws her government led, in Big Brother Watch’s latest report

Civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has launched a major public advertising campaign on London’s transport network, following its campaign calling on the Prime Minister to review laws affecting free speech in the UK.

Public and MPs want speech reforms

Polling by YouGov, commissioned by Big Brother Watch, reveals that the most popular point of view among the public is that the UK should have fewer restrictions on free speech, with significantly more people favouring fewer restrictions than those who favour tougher limits on speech.

New polling also found that the majority of MPs who expressed an opinion on the Online Safety Act believe it should be reformed or replaced (67%). Big Brother Watch, which monitors the closure of forums and take-downs on posts online arising from the Act, says the legislation has fallen short of its promise to keep children safe online and is a “deeply flawed censors’ charter that has failed in every respect”.

“Free speech makes Britain great” billboards

A giant billboard reading “Free speech makes Britain great” has been seen at Oxford Circus tube station, alongside posters with campaign slogans “Unmute yourself” and “Say what you really think”. The posters have also been spotted at Clapham Common tube station.

Below the giant slogans, the billboards say, “Free speech is the right to say what you really think and hear what you don’t. We don’t always agree.”

“That’s the point. That’s freedom. That’s Britain.”

The posters further read, “Defend the right to speak, post, protest, and publish — online and in public” and call on people to “Defend free speech – even if you disagree with it.”

Burnham urged to review speech laws

Earlier this week, Big Brother Watch wrote to the Prime Minister to urge him to commission an independent national review of laws affecting freedom of speech in the UK, warning of a “censorship crisis” arising from “draconian” anti-protest laws, “excessively broad” speech offences, “poorly drafted” online safety laws, and inadequate police training.

Big Brother Watch’s call comes with the publication of its latest, damning report: Britain’s Free Speech Problem.

KEY POLLING FINDINGS

• New polling by YouGov, commissioned by Big Brother Watch, found:

  • the most popular point of view is that the UK should have fewer restrictions on free speech, with significantly more people favouring fewer restrictions than those who favour tougher limits on speech

  • a majority of MPs think the Online Safety Act should be repealed or reformed

KEY REPORT FINDINGS

• Videos from mainstream political parties, forums for single dads and social media discussions about BBC News articles have either been taken down, restricted or placed behind ID demands due to the Online Safety Act.

• More than 62,000 people in the UK were arrested for communications offences over 5 years, with at least 18,500 being charged and 12,292 convicted.

• There is a “postcode lottery” of speech policing, with drastically varying rates of arrests across police forces, reflecting the elasticity of vaguely defined speech offences in UK law – Cumbria Constabulary arrested 25.7 people per 10,000 over 5 years – around 2 ½ times the national average and the highest in the country – while neighbouring Northumbria arrested just 1.9 people per 10,000.

• Flags of posts to social media companies from Whitehall ‘counter disinformation’ teams are rising again after a post-pandemic fall.

COMMENTS

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said

“Our bold billboards are a direct pushback to the chilling effect of these censorial laws and policing. We want the Government to restore Britain’s long and proud tradition of upholding freedom of speech. That must start with a close look at how our laws are working in practice and a willingness to reform.”.

ENDS

NOTES

• Spokespeople are available for interview. Please direct enquiries or requests for interviews to[email protected] or 07730439257

• Photos are available for use with attribution to Big Brother Watch. High Res photos available here.

• Our full report is available here: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Britains-Free-Speech-Problem-070926.pdf

• Previous release regarding our report here

• MP polling data available here

• Public polling data available here

• A launch event for the report is taking place in the House of Commons Committee room 8, 18:00-19:30 tomorrow, Wednesday 9th September. Room sponsored by Tom Morrison MP with discussion including David Davis MP, Kim Johnson MP, Baroness Fox, Sonia Sodha, Annekva Svenska and David Rose (Free Speech Union). Journalists can RSVP here.

• More information about the campaign is available at https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/

• Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group of campaigners and researchers, who work to roll back the surveillance state.

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Source: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-coverage/freespeech/new-polling-highlights-uks-censorship-crisis-as-free-speech-billboards-are-plastered-across-london-underground/