PETITIONOpenPetition · petition.parliament.uk
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
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
145
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 145/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 145/100,000
Background
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.