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"
00:34:02 - The Career Cost Of This Fight
00:36:55 - Death Threats From UK IPs
00:37:33 - The Libertarian Case For Using The Courts
00:40:00 - Why Age Verification Isn't The Answer
00:45:00 - The VPN Problem Australia Created
00:46:28 - "The System Is Designed To Produce Violations"
00:49:16 - Where The First Amendment Actually Stops
00:52:45 - The Marmot Liberation Front
00:54:52 - Mr Whiskers Vs Ofcom
01:00:00 - Holding The Perimeter For 30 Million Users
01:04:00 - Why No Big Law Firm Will Touch This
01:09:05 - Defending Clients You Personally Find Difficult
01:20:00 - 197 Notices Sent Into America
01:22:18 - The GRANITE Act, Explained
01:25:00 - "£46 Billion Sitting At The Federal Reserve"
01:26:10 - Wyoming First, Then Delaware, Then Federal
01:30:17 - "Are We A Free Country Anymore? No."
01:33:06 - Still The Only Lawyer On The Field
01:36:32 - What British Listeners Can Actually Do
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CONTACT PETE
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CONNECT WITH PRESTON BRYNE
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LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE
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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/
EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04
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The Peter McCormack Show 