Trump sends free-speech team to interview UK pro life campiagners

[IwantToRetire]

Donald Trump sent US officials to meet British pro-life activists over concerns their freedom of speech has been threatened.

A team from the US state department spent days in the country and interviewed campaigners to feed back to the White House.
The five-person team met with five activists who had been arrested for silently protesting outside abortion clinics across Britain.

Washington launched the fact-finding mission after becoming <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.is/o/raXKb/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/01/cases-convinced-trump-white-house-uk-has-no-free-speech/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">concerned about the erosion of free speech in the UK.

The visit is the latest sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs.

The diplomats from the US bureau of democracy, human rights and labor (DRL) travelled to London in March in an effort to “affirm the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe”.

Led by Samuel Samson, a senior adviser in the state department, they met with officials from the Foreign Office and challenged Ofcom on the online Safety Act, which is thought to be a point of contention in the White House.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and an adviser to Donald Trump, is among those inside the administration said to be concerned about online regulation in the UK.
At the same time, the delegation quietly met with a handful of anti-abortion campaigners at an event held at a “nondescript” office block.

article in full at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/05/24/trump-free-speech-team-interview-uk-activists/

And also at https://archive.is/raXKb

I hate lowering the tone of your thread, @IwantToRetire, but I do wish Trump would fuck off and leave the UK alone.

I find it fascinating the US are using the issue of free speech as a tariff bargaining-tool. They have done this in other countries as well. The very fact they feel they can have a say in the policies of other nations is pure hubris.

The problem is so many countries (including the UK) have gone out of the way to pander to him as though some spoilt child they shouldn't upset.

So basically he has no boundaries, and from reports in the US has turned the Presidency into an autocratic ruler.

Which is bad enough, but as he seems to have no idea about politics and seems to think every day is just another episode of a tv reality show.

And he's got another 4½ of his manbaby term in office to go.

Most of this is coming from Musk because he doesnt want any of his online technologies to be answerable in any way to any one other than himself.

Similarly his opinions IRL eg telling Trump he needs to provide White Afrikaners with refugee status in the US.

And no doubt with his committment to repopulate the work with his multiple off spring thinks women should be allowed to have abortions.

Isn’t it ‘interesting’ that the peg on which Trump is letting Musk hang his supposed free speech hat is opposition to legal abortions?

I don't agree with this, and I'm not someone who's come here to scold.

But if you do believe in absolute free speech (as some here say they do), surely these zones are an affront to that belief?

I hate Trump and Musk but there is a logic to this.

I disagree. You have the right to say what ever you want but that doesn't include forcing me to listen which is what the exclusion zones do. It gives me a space to not have to listen while going about my lawful business.

I agree with this disagreement.

In a general sense, despite the complaints of many, we enjoy a comparatively high level of free speech in this country; but that does not - and should not - mean our speech is free from consequences.

In a specific sense, I think the fact we have legislated to introduce exclusion zones around abortion clinics is absolutely right and reasonable. No woman, especially those who are already stressed and possibly traumatised by events, should have to risk being harassed when using these vital services.

In that specific purpose, stating your free speech is being curtailed is exactly equal to stating "The law has taken away my right to be a vile human being towards women".

I agree with the Lucy Connelly case, it's totally insane that she should have been charged with a crime, let a lone sentenced.

As for the other's if the were praying silently, it can't be a free speech issue surely, don't you have to speak to make it a free speech issue. I don't have a problem with them being arrested, it's an exclusion zone, they know they not suppose to be doing that in it, they chose to ignore that, and they paid the price. As the say on the YouTube they FAFO.

These cases may have been brought up during trade deal negotiations, but the the West has been bring up human rights with China in negotiations for years and it didn't stop deals being made, I don't think these cases will stop a deal being made with the UK either.

I’m not sure that that many do believe in absolute free speech.

But even if you do, and even if you disagree with exclusion zones, they’re not such a danger to freedom that they warrant another country getting involved.

Should the UK gov send officials to interview women in the US due to concerns we have around their safety given their restrictive abortion laws, and to “affirm the importance of women’s health across America”? Or would Trump maybe view that as unreasonable involvement of a foreign government in his national and state laws?

Trump can fuck off. Especially as he gives not a single shit about actual free speech for everyone.

Last time I looked, I wasn't a free speech absolutist, nor would I ever be. However, harassing women as they go into medical facilities isn't free speech and never was, any more than it's free speech to send 2,000 texts in a week to your ex asking her to take you back, or the old classic of shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre. Those who want to restrict abortion rights even further in the UK can meet freely with their peers to discuss campaigns, can go and 'silently pray' outside Parliament, whatever else they like. But they can stay away from clinics. Oh and the ones who tell us all to go and burn hotels down can fuck off* as well.

*Just a reminder that we used to get the occasional American on Mumsnet telling us off for swearing. It's a profoundly different culture.

He should try the middle east next.

He already has. He loved it.

I used to think we shouldn't protest when that man comes here as he loves attention so much but seeing him enjoy all the wankers funnelling money into his pockets in countries where free speech means being able to slaughter journalists, fuck him, get the airhorns out.

I don’t believe in absolute free speech.

And, more to the point, neither does virtually anyone else. Trump certainly doesn’t, his hatred of Harvard is largely about liberal teaching. It is always worth remembering that whatever his administration does in the name of “free speech” is absolutely about something else. So in this case, access to abortion and right wing Christianity.

The meeting, I don’t know, it doesn’t seem that extreme, within the context I put above. Our diplomats and officials abroad meet all sorts of people all the time. What we don’t do is make it part of trade negotiations (some would say we should). The US is simply much, much less of an ally than they used to be, and we should start treating them as a quasi (if not actual) hostile country.

they met with officials from the Foreign Office and challenged Ofcom on the online Safety Act, which is thought to be a point of contention in the White House.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and an adviser to Donald Trump, is among those inside the administration said to be concerned about online regulation in the UK

This was probably the actual reason for the trip and the headline about meeting with anti-abortion campaigners was click-bait. It worked though.

I worked near a clinic where there were campaigners/protesters present everyday. Their presence was organised by a nearby church. Whilst they were silent, and presented as though they were praying with rosary beads in hand, they had horrific posters and materials they used to adorn their ‘camp’ with. They used to get a lot of abuse from passersby, but this seemed to inspire them with a sense of martyrdom. There is now an exclusion zone and, apparently, they are still at it- but this doesn’t impact on the clinic users.

Chelsea Russell arrested and sentenced for posting the lyrics to a Snoop Dogg track that contained the n word:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-43816921.amp

Julian Foulkes, 71, from Gillingham, was arrested by Kent Police after he questioned a supporter of pro-Palestine demonstrations on X.

www.lbc.co.uk/crime/police-apologise-following-arrest-of-retired-special-constable-over-anti-jewish/

Couple arrested for posting unknown comments about their 9 year old daughter's school teacher :

30 people a day are arrested in the UK for "offensive online messages "

freespeechunion.org/police-make-30-arrests-a-day-for-offensive-online-messages/

Despite Starmer denying that the UK has a freedom of speech problem when JD Vance raised this with him, when even the Economist recognises it then you know that there is a problem:

www.economist.com/britain/2025/05/15/britains-police-are-restricting-speech-in-worrying-ways

Restricting speech is a difficult area of regulation. I think Ofcom and IPSO get it wrong on many occasions. But, at least the regulatory bodies are required to be transparent about requirements and there are processes for appealing, with open access to processes and findings.

What concerns me about unregulated online media is - fake news, propaganda and how easy it is to harass and bully people. I don’t think any publisher (and I count social media platforms as publishers) should be free from accountability for the content they publish. It is no surprise that the owner of X isn’t keen on the government’s commitment to regulation. I think his framing of the issue as a free speech one is disingenuous. He isn’t acknowledging or speaking about the issues arising from the Online Safety Bill, most of those who listen to him are likely to be oblivious to this.

To be a little bit fair to those doing tha pandering. He IS a spoilt child that we can’t afford to upset…

Critical theory and the idea that everything needs to be understood through the lens of power and oppression is highly problematic when applied to free speech. If/when this is recognised and addressed, incidents like these should stop arising.

I am not a free speech absolutist and I think the bar for limiting it should be high- but I think that attention needs to be placed on the social media platforms that are publishing and platforming unquestionably damaging and horrific content.

Whilst it is important that we are aware of these examples, I think it’s important to consider how they are being used as a smokescreen and to deflect accountability that platform owners should be taking for what is going on on their platforms. They can no longer claim that regulating content is impossible- they are now pivoting to curtailing of important freedoms.

Musk has been tweeting a lot about the cases in the UK where people were visited by the police, arrested even, for what seem to be cases where someone has taken exception to mild things they said online.

A lot of Americans seem to think we no longer have free speech as a result. I think they are genuinely perplexed by it.

Anti-women, anti-choice, anti-women surely?

A pro-life group is all about ensuring free healthcare and gun control and abolition of the death penalty, surely?

Americans don't understand that this isn’t a free speech issue. The point of exclusion zones around clinics is to stop women being harrassed for a medical decision.

Anyone is entitled to speak against the termination of pregnancy laws in this country and lobby politicians. I don't think anyone has been arrested for saying that they are against the law and want it changed?

The case of the women charged with praying near a clinic does seem insanely harsh at first glance. But she didn’t need to prayer there, it would make no difference to God if she was at the clinic or at home. Therefore, there's a good chance she wanted women to see her and let the women know they are been seen. That could be interpreted as harassment.

Foreign Governments do impose economic sanctions, so i dont understand why people find it so shocking that the US would do it to the UK, especially if they think it could effect their business and citizens.

I totally disagree with the zones. They’re an imported “solution” to an imported problem.

What we need is leadership. We need politicians to say “whatever your views, leave women alone”. The public discussion should be on that ground.

Instead we have somehow decided that stopping people from being silent in X location is Wrong. It isn’t.

These zones AND the push to decriminalise abortion WITHOUT interrogating the reasons why the police are reportedly investigating women who procure abortion outside the time limits are going to lead to a restriction on abortion because we all know that survival chances have changed since we set our limit.

@illinivich
Americans don't understand that this isn’t a free speech issue. The point of exclusion zones around clinics is to stop women being harrassed for a medical decision.

Some states and some local governments in the USA have buffer zone laws. Those require protesters to stay at least 35-100 feet away from abortion clinics. Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court refused to hear legal challenges to local buffer zone laws. I'm not sure Trump understands (he doesn't seem to have a clue about due process, the roles of states vs the federal government, or the roles of the three branches of government, for example, and his actions against Harvard, Columbia, and other universities show he doesn't care about free speech) but I doubt he cares. This gives him a cudgel against the UK in negotiations and plays to his base at home.

www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/politics/abortion-clinics-protest-zones-supreme-court