What are my free speech rights?
Posted: 9th July 2026
In recent months, we’ve seen protesters arrested over chants and signs, and some individuals barred from entering the UK because their speech was deemed to have crossed a line.
Liberty has responded in the media, calling on the Government to be transparent about how and why decisions like this are made. Free speech is a complex topic and any restrictions imposed by the Government must meet the high standards set out in UK law.
The line between lawful and unlawful speech can often feel unclear. To help, Liberty’s legal team has created a new advice and information page exploring the laws that govern free speech in England and Wales.
It covers questions such as:
What laws limit what we can post on social media?
Can the police access my phone and social media account?
What does the law say about holding up signs at protests?
One key takeaway is that context is key to separating lawful from unlawful speech.
Someone can be convicted of a criminal offence for saying the same thing as someone else who was acquitted, or never arrested in the first place. Without paying careful attention to context, we would risk banning entire phrases or particular words. This would be deeply restrictive.
Liberty is working to make sure that the way our laws govern speech are balanced, consistent and firmly grounded in our human rights frameworks.
Opposing camps will often defend speech rights for their own sides rather than the principle of free speech itself.
It’s easy to defend free speech when we agree with what’s being said. But free speech only truly exists if we also defend it for people expressing views we disagree with — even when this feels uncomfortable.
Yours,
Ruth Ehrlich
Director of External Relations
P.S. In case you missed it, Liberty’s Director Akiko Hart wrote a piece for openDemocracy about free speech last month.
Read it here
