Petition Repeal laws that restrict the right to free speech in the UK
Repeal these laws where they create speech based offences:
- Public Order Act 1986
- Malicious Communications Act 1988
- Terrorism Act 2000
- Communications Act 2003
- Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
- Terrorism Act 2006
- Criminal Justice & Immigration Act 2008
- Online Safety Act 2023
More details
We believe these laws have been misused to prosecute supporters of legitimate political movements like criticism of the Israeli war in Gaza or republicanism. In our view words and ideas can't cause physical harm, harmful actions do. So, harmful actions should be prosecuted, not speech.
Britons have the least freedom of expression in Western Europe according to the 2025 Global Expression Report. If governments want to maintain that the UK is a free country then they should repeal these authoritarian laws.
139 signatures
Show on a map the geographical breakdown of signatures by constituency
10,000 signatures required to get a government response
At 10,000 signatures...
At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition
At 100,000 signatures...
At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament