‘Read the Bill’. That was the response I got from Nadine Dorries, the Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when I warned of the danger her beloved Online Safety Bill poses to free speech. Dorries, a firm supporter of Liz Truss’s bid for the Tory leadership, indicated on Thursday that Truss backs the Bill in its unamended state.
Numerous civil liberties organisations have campaigned against elements of the Bill from day one. And yet Dorries argues that the Bill will make free speech more secure, because somehow, she sees something they do not.
Granted, the Bill does not impose outright, sweeping bans on speech. But what the department and, evidently, the Secretary of State do not seem to understand is that the real danger lies with the subtle pressures on free speech that the Bill will impose.