When President Trump indulges in real time witness tampering, attacking the former ambassador to Ukraine as she is giving evidence before the House impeachment panel, we are, most of us, aghast.
This though is not how he sees it. He was just exercising his right to free speech, he whinges. It’s the scowl of the teenager. But the immaturity of his response is a sign of the times we live in – when it comes to free speech, we are all behaving like children.
Part of the problem has been the fetishisation of free speech – a point Professor Mary Beard picked up on at a recent Independent debate in Cambridge on internet trolls. There is now an absolutist approach to the topic: free speech is good and anything that limits it is bad.
That is troubling. I am in favour of free speech. But I also believe there need to be limits – mostly where speech starts to have real world consequences.
Online, as a trans person, I’ve watched a ragbag assortment of self-identified feminists and reactionaries rail against any limit to their “right” to come onto an individual’s timeline and misgender them or use their “deadname”.
1/20 The Beatles
“Brexit is like Liverpool trashing all its links to The Beatles and spending all its time and energy building Esther McVey World.”
Shutterstock / terry bouch
2/20 The number seven
“Trying to understand Brexit is like trying to figure out what colour the letter seven smells like.”
Shutterstock / jgl247
3/20 Pilots
“Brexit is like being in a plane hurtling towards the ground with the pilot and co-pilot arguing over who would crash it better.”
Shutterstock / View Apart
4/20 Operation
“Brexit is like going to the doctor, being told you need an operation, agreeing to it, then finding out they are going to cut off your cock & sew it to your forhead…
…but refusing to get a 2nd opinion.”
Shutterstock / Dmytro Zinkevych
5/20 Wall
“My mentions have taught me that Brexit is like Trump’s wall. For its devoted fans it has a symbolic value totally unrelated to its workability, its true cost or the glaring self-interest of its proposers, whereas non-believers see nothing but a deranged and costly vanity project.”
Shutterstock / Tony Craddock
6/20 Skydive
“brexit is like a sitcom where at the start of the episode the main character tells a casual lie about being able to skydive to impress someone and now they’re at the end of the episode in a plane about to jump”
Shutterstock / Mauricio Graiki
7/20 Crumble
“Brexit is like if Farage & Johnson said “May we make you an *amazing* apple crumble?” & then 18 months later handed you a leaking bag of maggots & offal. You shouldn’t have to eat it.”
Shutterstock / CKP1001
8/20 Punch
“‘Asking me to support Brexit is like asking me to punch my constituents in the face,’ said Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, which voted 66:34 to leave. ‘It doesn’t make it easier if you tell me my constituents want to be punched.’”
Shutterstock / ZoneCreative
9/20 Fire
“Watching this government deal with Brexit is like being locked outside your house while you can see people inside setting fire to the furniture as the law’s telling you you can’t go in and stop them.”
Shutterstock / Gorb Andrii
10/20 Villains
“Brexit is like living in a superhero movie that has no heroes, just loads of incompetent villains fighting over who is more evil.”
Shutterstock / Aisyaqilumaranas
11/20 Book
“Brexit is like a bad novel. You are so far into it you just want to skip to the end to see if it ended as badly as it had begun.
(You throw the book at the wall when you realise it is the first book in a trilogy).”
Shutterstock / Stokkete
12/20 Cricket
“Watching Brexit is like trying to reverse engineer the rules of cricket by listening to the radio. I have absolutely no idea what is going on.”
Shutterstock / ChrisVanLennepPhoto
13/20 Car
“Brexit is like the UK took a motorway exit, then found the road turning into a rutted grassy track, and now the car’s stuck in a muddy field, there’s no help in sight, it’s getting dark, everyone’s shouting at the driver, and the passengers are beginning to worry about food.”
Shutterstock / Kolbakova Olga
14/20 Cable
“Watching Brexit is like watching someone try and plug a coaxial aerial cable into a HDMI port. There is a lot of anger, a lot of swearing, and a lot of remarks about how this used to work before.”
Shutterstock / Elnur
15/20 Windows
“#Brexit is like going back to Windows 3.1”
16/20 Liars
“I’m sure most people remember a kid at school who just lied constantly? Who refused to back down, however outlandish the lie, and however it was disproven?
Brexit is like all of those kids from every school have got together, and are now running the country.”
Shutterstock / chairavee laphom
17/20 Donors
“Trying to extricate ourselves from the EU, and Brexit, is like a multiple transplant patient attempting to give all the donated organs back.”
Shutterstock / Luuuusa
18/20 Electricity
“Paying my taxes to pay for Brexit is like asking a guy on death row if he has any change to put in the meter for the electric chair.”
Shutterstock / Fer Gregory
19/20 Bandersnatch
“Brexit is like watching Bandersnatch with your bae where bae is 70,000 Conservative party members hogging the PlayStation controller & choosing the most WTF option every time.!
Shutterstock / George Dolgikh
20/20 Constipation
“Brexit is like the shit that never comes. Total constitutional constipation. Ironically Brexit also sounds like a constipation relief medicine.”
Shutterstock / sasha2109
1/20 The Beatles
“Brexit is like Liverpool trashing all its links to The Beatles and spending all its time and energy building Esther McVey World.”
Shutterstock / terry bouch
2/20 The number seven
“Trying to understand Brexit is like trying to figure out what colour the letter seven smells like.”
Shutterstock / jgl247
3/20 Pilots
“Brexit is like being in a plane hurtling towards the ground with the pilot and co-pilot arguing over who would crash it better.”
Shutterstock / View Apart
4/20 Operation
“Brexit is like going to the doctor, being told you need an operation, agreeing to it, then finding out they are going to cut off your cock & sew it to your forhead…
…but refusing to get a 2nd opinion.”
Shutterstock / Dmytro Zinkevych
5/20 Wall
“My mentions have taught me that Brexit is like Trump’s wall. For its devoted fans it has a symbolic value totally unrelated to its workability, its true cost or the glaring self-interest of its proposers, whereas non-believers see nothing but a deranged and costly vanity project.”
Shutterstock / Tony Craddock
6/20 Skydive
“brexit is like a sitcom where at the start of the episode the main character tells a casual lie about being able to skydive to impress someone and now they’re at the end of the episode in a plane about to jump”
Shutterstock / Mauricio Graiki
7/20 Crumble
“Brexit is like if Farage & Johnson said “May we make you an *amazing* apple crumble?” & then 18 months later handed you a leaking bag of maggots & offal. You shouldn’t have to eat it.”
Shutterstock / CKP1001
8/20 Punch
“‘Asking me to support Brexit is like asking me to punch my constituents in the face,’ said Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, which voted 66:34 to leave. ‘It doesn’t make it easier if you tell me my constituents want to be punched.’”
Shutterstock / ZoneCreative
9/20 Fire
“Watching this government deal with Brexit is like being locked outside your house while you can see people inside setting fire to the furniture as the law’s telling you you can’t go in and stop them.”
Shutterstock / Gorb Andrii
10/20 Villains
“Brexit is like living in a superhero movie that has no heroes, just loads of incompetent villains fighting over who is more evil.”
Shutterstock / Aisyaqilumaranas
11/20 Book
“Brexit is like a bad novel. You are so far into it you just want to skip to the end to see if it ended as badly as it had begun.
(You throw the book at the wall when you realise it is the first book in a trilogy).”
Shutterstock / Stokkete
12/20 Cricket
“Watching Brexit is like trying to reverse engineer the rules of cricket by listening to the radio. I have absolutely no idea what is going on.”
Shutterstock / ChrisVanLennepPhoto
13/20 Car
“Brexit is like the UK took a motorway exit, then found the road turning into a rutted grassy track, and now the car’s stuck in a muddy field, there’s no help in sight, it’s getting dark, everyone’s shouting at the driver, and the passengers are beginning to worry about food.”
Shutterstock / Kolbakova Olga
14/20 Cable
“Watching Brexit is like watching someone try and plug a coaxial aerial cable into a HDMI port. There is a lot of anger, a lot of swearing, and a lot of remarks about how this used to work before.”
Shutterstock / Elnur
15/20 Windows
“#Brexit is like going back to Windows 3.1”
16/20 Liars
“I’m sure most people remember a kid at school who just lied constantly? Who refused to back down, however outlandish the lie, and however it was disproven?
Brexit is like all of those kids from every school have got together, and are now running the country.”
Shutterstock / chairavee laphom
17/20 Donors
“Trying to extricate ourselves from the EU, and Brexit, is like a multiple transplant patient attempting to give all the donated organs back.”
Shutterstock / Luuuusa
18/20 Electricity
“Paying my taxes to pay for Brexit is like asking a guy on death row if he has any change to put in the meter for the electric chair.”
Shutterstock / Fer Gregory
19/20 Bandersnatch
“Brexit is like watching Bandersnatch with your bae where bae is 70,000 Conservative party members hogging the PlayStation controller & choosing the most WTF option every time.!
Shutterstock / George Dolgikh
20/20 Constipation
“Brexit is like the shit that never comes. Total constitutional constipation. Ironically Brexit also sounds like a constipation relief medicine.”
Shutterstock / sasha2109
When challenged, they object that they are only telling the truth: that “only” is telling, the trademark of every teenage deflection. This overlooks that many true things are also deeply unpleasant, not to mention distressing. Are they really saying that feminism is now about the right to taunt strangers with anything from “you’re fat!” to “did you enjoy your miscarriage?” on the grounds that they are true? Sounds like a crude defence of bullying to me.
It’s not just the content of this speech that is the issue, but the way that some insist on their right to accost others with it. Personally, I do not much care what people say about me behind my back. But if they insist on injecting that hatred into my daily life on a regular and concerted basis, I will call it for what it is – hatred and harassment.
And there’s a law against that. Though not for much longer, if some of these free speechers get their way. Because surfing in on the back of this demand is a campaign to limit police rights to log hate incidents, the raw material of harassment everywhere.
Meanwhile hatred for any and every less privileged group, from bisexuals to women, is defended under the tagline of “just a joke”. It was a defence invoked by Boris Johnson last year when he compared veiled Muslim women to letter boxers and bank robbers.
It’s nasty, reactionary, and exclusionary – no matter what minority is targeted.
Earlier this year, I suggested that there should be legal consequences for those who mislead on climate change. The response was instant, vehement and outraged: a mix of “how dare you” and “lock her up”. It seems I had touched a nerve.
But there is more. Alongside the insistence that we have free speech at all costs is an equally resolute resistance to others being able to retaliate in kind. We can say what we like about you people, but you don’t get to say bad stuff about us.
Hence Trump, last year, after a particularly torrid time in the press, pledging to strengthen US libel laws.
The press love this. The Fourth Estate have long resisted any attempt to limit its freedom to publish, but even I was shocked when, giving evidence at a tribunal earlier this year, it was argued that there was no need for opinion pieces to be accurate or even true.
Is this all about high principle? It does not feel like it. From the sensitivities of the free speech brigade to the indignation of those who dislike the EU “telling us what to do”, I am not sure I am hearing anything more sophisticated than the petulance of the toddler, the eternal pubescent shriek of “you can’t make me” or “I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!”
It is something that has always infested the body politic, but now seems to be writ so much larger – Trump incensed by any attempt to limit his pussy-grabbing antics, Rees-Mogg “knowing better” than officials on what to do in case of fire or anti-vaxxers dismissing science because it limits their ability to take charge of their own destiny.
It is all of a par. It’s the apotheosis of boomerhood: our fate lies now in the hands of a generation of spoilt man childs (and women too) – their every whim indulged, every demand pandered to. They never learned that no means no or that the continuation of our civilisation comes at a price: empathy and compromise.
