#UK #FreeSpeech

"Free speech activists condemn UK entry ban for Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur

Two leftwing US commentators, who have both been accused of propagating antisemitism, barred from visiting for event

The bans prompted Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of the Index on Censorship, to claim the government had overseen a 'worrying escalation'. Akiko Hart, the director of Liberty, called on the government to be transparent about its rationale for issuing bans.

Steinfeld said she was not downplaying the harmful effects of some of the people recently banned from entering the UK, noting that the Jewish community was feeling particularly besieged. But she expressed concern that banning people who had been invited to speak 'makes access to the UK a taste-test based on the current government’s determination of what is in the public good'.

She said: 'It’s paternalistic and assumes we are just passive consumers of views rather than people who can think, judge and challenge. It confers an underdog status to the people not allowed to enter, it could embolden other countries to follow suit and it feels fairly meaningless in the internet age where people can simply go online to hear what they have to say.

'Free speech is tested by hard cases and, in this instance, the UK is failing.'

Hart said: 'In recent months, we have seen the government preventing people from entering the UK where their speech is deemed to have crossed the line. It is important that any government decisions that restrict speech adhere to the very high standards set out in UK law – and that the government is transparent about why and how decisions have been made.

Free speech can only exist when we defend it for those we disagree with, as uncomfortable as it may feel.'"

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/01/us-political-commentators-say-banned-entering-uk-cenk-uygur-hasan-piker