New laws to ban ‘harmful’ words from the internet are unworkable and will ‘stifle’ freedom of speech, an influential report has found. The report has raised concerns about plans to create a new category of speech that is ‘legal but harmful’. ‘We need nuance, we need consistency, we need education and, most importantly, we need a serious debate about our digital lives. We cannot have a situation that legislates for “legal but harmful” speech – this would be a clear attack on our rights to free speech and expression.’A ‘clear distinction’ must be made between speech that is illegal and speech that is legal but ‘harmful’, the report said. The Government has insisted its regulation is not designed to force online companies to remove legal content viewed by adults.

Source: Daily Mail September 26, 2020 21:03 UTC