UK: Tony Blair Think-Tank Proposes End to Free Speech

by Judith Bergman • September 12, 2019 at 5:00 am

Disturbingly, the main concern of Blair's think-tank appears to be the online verbal "hatred" displayed by citizens in response to terrorist attacks -- not the actual physical expression of hatred shown in the mass murders of innocent people by terrorists. Terrorist attacks, it would appear, are now supposedly normal, unavoidable incidents that have become part and parcel of UK life.
Unlike proscribed groups that are banned for criminal actions such as violence or terrorism, the designation of "hate group" would mainly be prosecuting thought-crimes.
Democratic values, however, appear to be the think-tank's least concern. The proposed law would make the British government the arbiter of accepted speech, especially political speech. Such an extraordinary and radically authoritarian move would render freedom of speech an illusion in the UK.
The Home Office would be able to accuse any group it found politically inconvenient of "spreading intolerance" or "aligning with extremist ideologies" -- and designate it a "hate group".

A new law proposed by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change would make the British government the arbiter of accepted speech, especially political speech. Such an extraordinary and radically authoritarian move would render freedom of speech an illusion in the UK. (Images' source: iStock)

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has released a report, Designating Hate: New Policy Responses to Stop Hate Crime, which recommends radical initiatives to tackle "hate" groups, even if they have not committed any kind of violent activity.

The problem, as the think-tank defines it, is "the dangerous nature of hateful groups, including on the far right like Britain First and Generation Identity. But current laws are unable to stop groups that spread hate and division, but do not advocate violence". The think-tank defines what it sees as one of the main problems with hate crime the following way:

"A steady growth in hate crime has been driven by surges around major events. Often this begins online. Around the 2017 terror attacks in the UK, hate incidents online increased by almost 1,000 per cent, from 4,000 to over 37,500 daily. In the 48-hour period after an event, hate begins to flow offline".

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Turkey: Religious Backlash?

by Uzay Bulut • September 12, 2019 at 4:00 am

It is notable, however, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's efforts to create "devout generations" of Muslims, through the establishment of numerous state-funded Imam Hatip religious schools, may not be having the desired results.
"Since [last summer], seventeen students with headscarves who identify as atheists have come to my office and [told me that] the reason [for their atheism] is the actions of the people who say they represent religion." — Dr. İhsan Fazlıoğlu, Istanbul Medeniyet University, T24, March 19, 2018.
"The religion that the [Turkish] government is trying to 'impose' on society is emotionally unsatisfying: it is loveless." — Professor Murat Belge, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, Bilgi University, Istanbul, to Gatestone.
"Mosques or churches in your neighborhoods are no longer your only sources of information... Of course, societal pressures and the situation of the country are also [important] elements, but they are only elements that get the questioning started. This situation makes many people ask, 'Is this what my religion is about?' or they say, 'If this is religion, I am out.'" [Emphasis added] — Selin Özkohen, head of the Atheism Association, Euronews, March 19, 2019.

A 2018 survey reveals that, over the last decade, there has been a 4% decrease -- from 55% to 51% -- in the number of people in Turkey who define themselves as "religious" and that non-believers are becoming "more visible." (Image source: iStock)

In a radio interview on July 23, Temel Karamollaoğlu -- the head of Turkey's Islamist opposition party, Felicity -- accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of driving young people, particularly those from religious families, away from Islam and towards deism, a belief in a non-interventionist creator, or a god of nature.

According to a 2018 survey conducted by Turkey's leading polling company, KONDA, Karamollaoğlu appears to be correct, at least about the growing number of young Turks who no longer consider themselves "religious" Muslims.

The survey reveals that, over the last decade, there has been a 4% decrease -- from 55% to 51% -- in the number of those who define themselves as "religious" and that non-believers are becoming "more visible."

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