A 15-year-old schoolboy was arrested by four West Midlands Police officers after a Conservative councillor complained about being mocked online. Fraser, a 15-year-old Reform UK activist, was woken by police and arrested in front of his neighbours. His mugshot and DNA were taken. Even his shoes were confiscated as he was left in a cell. What had he done? He had criticised a Conservative councillor on Facebook for wearing shorts and a T-shirt to a council meeting. When the councillor later attended a meeting in a suit, Fraser remarked that he was thankfully not dressed like a “rent boy”. The story has become a global embarrassment. It has even reached the New York Post, where our American friends have expressed gratitude for the free-speech protections of the First Amendment. Politicians must not use the police as their personal force to silence criticism or mockery. Fraser is still, two months on, waiting to hear if he’ll be charged with a crime. If a 15-year-old can be arrested for a jokey comment online, anyone can. Watch the BlackBelt Barrister below and join the Free Speech Union 👇 youtu.be/2aqHmqce4h4?is=0r0s…

📣🚨 FSU MEMBER TESTIMONIAL “The Free Speech Union has just helped me secure a public apology from disability charity Scope after my choir was dropped from this year’s London Marathon because of my gender-critical views.” Janet Murray is a journalist and founder of the Singing Striders, a choir that performs at running events and helps runners raise money for good causes. For the past two years, the choir had been part of Scope’s “cheer squad” without incident. But a few days before this year’s marathon, Scope dropped the choir after receiving two anonymous complaints about Janet’s public expression of her gender-critical views. Gender-critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010. They are lawful and were reaffirmed by last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling, which confirmed that “sex” refers to biological sex. Janet is clear that these are her personal views; she does not know what the other choir members thought. Janet tried to resolve the matter privately with Scope before informing her fellow choir members. After the Free Speech Union intervened, Scope reinstated the choir — but only the night before the marathon. Janet put together a small group at short notice, which performed elsewhere along the route, separately from Scope. Scope has now apologised and publicly acknowledged that its decision was wrong. But the ordeal caused considerable upset to Janet and the choir, who did not deserve to be treated this way. Women should be able to speak freely about their sex-based rights without being punished for doing so. Janet said that when she first joined the Free Speech Union, she never thought she would need us. She’s grateful she did. We’re delighted we could help @jan_murray. Watch Janet’s story below, and join the FSU 👇

Andy Burnham faces a rebellion in the House of Lords over his plans to cut thousands of jury trials. The controversial reforms are expected to reduce the annual number of jury trials by a third, to 10,000, in an attempt to tackle the record backlog of cases that is delaying justice for victims. The Prime Minister has moved an inch on David Lammy’s sinister plans by ditching judge-only trials, but the core of Lammy’s reforms remains very much alive and kicking. The Government now faces a rebellion from Labour peers when the Bill goes before the House of Lords on Tuesday. One senior Labour peer told The Telegraph: “I am still very much concerned about [the loss of the right to elect]. It’s a restriction on the right to a jury trial which, call me old-fashioned, I think is so important.” The Free Speech Union is deeply concerned that these reforms will undermine public trust in the criminal justice system and see more people banged up for exercising their right to free speech. FSU research has shown that those charged with speech-related offences are almost twice as likely to be acquitted in a Crown Court with a jury than in a magistrates’ court without one. Read more below 👇

Ofcom, the media regulator responsible for enforcing the Orwellian Online Safety Act, has launched an investigation into Meta in the same week that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is challenging the Act’s “burdensome” requirements in the High Court. This is Ofcom’s first investigation into Meta under the Online Safety Act, which was passed under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Government but implemented under Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government last year. The investigation comes as some of the world’s biggest social media platforms are fighting back against the sweeping powers granted to Ofcom under the legislation. Three of the biggest platforms — Meta, X and TikTok — are challenging Ofcom’s intrusive information-gathering powers in the High Court, arguing that the regulator’s demands for data are excessive and burdensome. The legal challenge is also the first brought by Meta against Ofcom’s use of its powers under the Online Safety Act. Meanwhile, Ofcom’s latest investigation concerns Instagram Instants, a new feature that allows users to share photographs that disappear once they have been viewed. The Online Safety Act has handed Ofcom unprecedented powers to regulate online speech and demand information from social media companies. Now, some of the world’s biggest technology firms are challenging how those powers are being exercised. Read more below 👇

“IF YOU GET INTO TROUBLE FOR SOMETHING YOU’VE SAID, WE’LL RESPOND FASTER THAN AN AMBULANCE WILL IF YOU’RE ILL.” At the Free Speech Union, our founding principles are to defend our members’ right to free speech and to campaign for free speech more widely. @BenBarryJones, our Director of Case Management, explains our approach: to cause more trouble for your university, business, department or institution than the other side will if they try to silence or punish you for exercising your right to lawful free speech. We’re successfully changing the balance of terror. It’s now harder to punish people for exercising their right to free speech, because we’ll back them to the hilt. Only around 1% of the cases the Free Speech Union handles ever make it into the press. As of last week, we’ve fought more than 7,000 cases defending our members’ right to free speech. Watch the FSU Podcast on our YouTube channel 👇

Scope has apologised to the Singing Striders after dropping the choir from this year’s London Marathon because of its founder’s gender-critical beliefs. The choir was due to perform at the event but was dropped by the disability charity two days beforehand, following two anonymous complaints about its founder, Janet Murray. Janet rallied a group of singers and went to the sidelines anyway, where they sang to encourage the runners. With the support of the Free Speech Union, Janet and three fellow choir members subsequently took legal action against Scope, arguing they had been discriminated against because of their protected gender-critical beliefs. The FSU’s General Secretary, Lord Young of Acton, said: “I’m glad we were able to help Janet secure an apology. Organisations need to get better at balancing competing rights, not just prioritising the rights of those who shout the loudest.” Ms Murray said: “I am grateful to the Free Speech Union, my solicitors at Sharpe Pritchard and the fellow singers who stood beside me to secure the apology we deserved. We stood up for a principle that matters to women and girls everywhere: being able to speak openly about our rights without fear of exclusion.” Read more below 👇