is anyone worried over freedom of speech in the uk?

[Mr_R_Swipe]

Despite the common citing of a 'freedom of speech'... no such thing exists in UK law, and it never has done. It is a political slogan that has been used for centuries... but it never had any legal meaning at all... until 1998 that is. When the UK adopted the Human Rights Act, it adopted the article of the right to freedom of expression. This is not the same as the 'notion' of free speech, as it is a qualified right.

It is 'qualified' because it does not protect anything unlawful, and it does not immunise anything from legal challenge under the common law or civil law. This means that a site like this can keep posting whatever it likes as long as no one bothers to collate evidence against it, and mount a challenge in the courts to its contents... but... that doesn't make it legal. The only reason that people can still post hate messages about race, religion, political belief etc... is because Yahoo hasn't come under the spotlight... yet.

It is absolutely nothing to do with 'freedom of speech'... because it doesn't exist.