Free speech: Opportunities and Challenges for British Muslims in the UK by Miqdaad Versi

The concept of unadulterated free speech is regularly vilified within many Muslim circles in the UK. Free speech is often perceived as a clarion call of apologists for racists defending the propagation of racism. The concurrent unwillingness of free speech advocates to acknowledge and reflect on their failure to win the hearts and minds of many sections of minority communities, provides a useful basis for this perception, and is rarely scrutinised.

This paper seeks to highlight contradictions in the UK public space on issues related to British Muslims, by considering free speech considerations across a series of case studies:

1. The government’s Prevent policy, which has become a duty for specified public institutions.

2. The response to the definition of Islamophobia and the definition of anti-Semitism.

3. The advocacy of conservative practices.

4. Racism and lack of diversity within mainstream media.

This paper will argue that a consistent approach to free speech, supporting and strengthening the speech of minority communities, is necessary for a healthy democracy, and a pre-requisite for more challenging free speech arguments to gain traction.