… when they contain the word faggot? Perhaps that sounds like it warrants an obvious “No” from such a keen subscriber to the Free Speech Fanclub as myself. But not really. To start with, it’s worth remembering that BBC Radio 1 is often heard by children, and denying children access to explicit lyrics is presumably [...]

Filed under: bbc, freespeech, jonathanbirch on December 18th, 2007 | No Comments »

One: 500 protesters have disrupted an Oxford Union debate because of the presence of two speakers invited for their controversial views: Nick Griffin and David Irving. This surprised me for two reasons. Firstly, it refutes my theory that all Oxbridge students really care about are absurdly expensive piss-ups. Secondly, it shows that the so-called-liberal ambivalence [...]

Filed under: freespeech, jonathanbirch on November 27th, 2007 | 3 Comments »

Given the vapid nature of much television, the recent Adam Curtis triptych on BBC2 Sunday evenings 9p.m, on socio-political thought has been exceptional. A review can be found here
To summarise briefly for those who haven’t seen it (there is still one more episode this Sunday night,) Adam Curtis looks at the macro-shifts across the [...]

Filed under: freespeech, identity, society, ukpolitics on March 22nd, 2007 | 1 Comment »

The coverage of this issue on many of the blogs which have picked it up needs a sense of perspective. Clareification is a magazine by Clare students, and aimed at Clare students. I am not a Clare student (and have no official ties with Clare College whatsoever) and have never even seen a copy of [...]

Filed under: clareification, freespeech, religion on February 14th, 2007 | 10 Comments »

Following Owen’s post, I think it is fair to say that we, the bloggers, have all been keen not to undermine the position of Clareification’s guest editor by posting on the issue and sparking wider international, as well as national, controversy. This would only lead to the college’s position vis-a-vis the editor being even more [...]

Filed under: clareification, freespeech, religion on February 14th, 2007 | 12 Comments »

Ok, I’ll lay something out in the open. I didn’t mean to imply that the debate about freedom of speech was over, merely that I’d discussed the cartoons many times with my peers, and it always goes in a circle around the ideas of freedom of speech, offensive material, and the practical safety of individuals [...]

Filed under: clareification, freespeech, religion on February 14th, 2007 | 14 Comments »

First, let me say it’s great to see so many of you from all over the world interested in our blog - we’re very grateful for the attention and hope you’ll continue to drop in now and then in the future.
However, I am afraid I will have to disappoint some of you now. Here are [...]

Filed under: clareification, clarepoliticsnews, freespeech, religion on February 14th, 2007 | 3 Comments »