Reframing UK Speech Debate Systemically

Preston urges Brits to zoom out from piecemeal fixes and ask whether the state should police nonviolent opinion.

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Episode notes

Preston Byrne is the only American lawyer fighting the UK's attempt to censor US companies under the Online Safety Act. He's representing 4chan, Kiwi Farms, Gab and Sanctioned Suicide - pro bono - because no other firm would take the cases.

In this interview, Preston explains why Britain isn't a free country anymore, what Ofcom actually claims the power to do to American websites and why he says the UK is trying to enforce British censorship law on American soil. We get into the moment that started him down this path - a 16-year-old getting a criminal summons from the City of London Police for holding a sign - and why two decades later he believes the rest of the country is finally catching up to what he saw then.

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 - The Cases No One Else Would Take

00:03:06 - From Banking Lawyer To Free Speech Fight

00:05:00 - "I Didn't Know How Important It Was Until It Was Taken Away"

00:06:49 - The Sign That Started Everything

00:13:50 - What Ofcom Actually Is

00:17:09 - The Question Britain Has Never Asked

00:21:11 - Why Reform And The Greens Both Get It Wrong

00:24:23 - Drafting A British First Amendment

00:28:21 - What The Bill Keeps, What It Repeals

00:31:56 - "I'm Not Setting Foot In The UK"