Brendan O'Neill is editor of spiked in London.
In Europe and in Pakistan, Two Women Are Condemned for Insulting Muhammad
Anti-hate speech laws have gone too far.
Brendan O'Neill
Latest from Brendan O'Neill
Britain Turns Offensive Speech Into a Police Matter
The nation that gave the world John Milton and his cry for the "liberty to utter" is now at the forefront of shutting speech down.
Why You're All Wrong To Be Raging Against Lena Dunham
Indulge in the bloodsport, entrench the new cult of sexual assault accusation she helped create
Katy Perry Is Very Sorry She Once Wore Her Hair in Cornrows
The cultural appropriation hysteria reaches a fever pitch.
Outlandish Trump Hysteria Mirrors Obamaphobia
The thin line between reason and delirium.
Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four Describes the Authoritarian Left Better Than It Does Trump
Trump haters rush to buy the famous dystopian novel.
Frederick Douglass Would Have Ardently Supported Milo Yiannopoulos's Free Speech Rights
Frederick Douglass was an ardent defender of free speech, a principle dismissed by Berkeley protesters and rioters and their apologists.
Let's Avoid Fake Outrage over Madonna's Violent White House Fantasy
Safe spaces for me, but not for thee.
Facebook Live Torture Suspects Shouldn't Be Charged With Hate Crime
Hate crime is thought crime.
America Called Bullshit on the Cult of Clinton
The one good thing about Trump's win? It shows a willingness among Americans to blaspheme against saints and reject the religion of hollow progressiveness.
Elitist Rage With the Pro-Brexit Masses Echoes Longstanding British Suspicion of Democracy
Reptiles, insects, shit flowing from the busted sewer of bad ideas-this is how the media elite views the minds and actions of Brexit voters.
Charlie Hebdo, Terrorism, and the Culture of 'You Can't Say That'
The strangling of free, open commentary on Islam in Europe has had an impact that is as predictable as it is dire.
Free Speech for Pro-Lifers
The ideals of freedom and autonomy must be put back at the heart of the pro-choice agenda. Let's start by defending the right of the pro-life side to say whatever it wants.
How Feminist Attacks on Porn Enable Rapists
Smut critics give ammunition to attackers who blame porn for their actions.
A New Sexual Revolt Is Underway at British Universities
Could this be the start of an uprising?
Baby Boomers Share Blame for Today's Censorship-Happy Students
The students of today aren't super-coddled, they're just following the logic of censorship that earlier liberals either helped to set in motion or shrugged their shoulders at.
'Je Suis Charlie' Now? Of Course
To those of us who have a genuine commitment to freedom of speech, it's not only nice stuff that should be publishable.
College Codes Make 'Color Blindness' a Microaggression
The worst thing about college speech codes is how they incite hyper racial consciousness.
College Students Adopt ISIS School of Art Criticism
The attempt to airbrush historical stuff from the present is the height of authoritarianism.
Defending Rihanna From the New Culture Police
Her "Bitch Better Have My Money" video is a slick, seven-minute slice of all of Rihanna's glorious pop toxicity-and that's "problematic."
Pope Francis Embraces Green Theology to Demonize the Modern World
The pontiff adopts the gospel according to Greenpeace
The Illiberal Persecution of Tim Hunt
An old guys tells a bad joke and academia descends into a frenzy
Europe Goes Down the Memory Hole With the 'Right to Be Forgotten'
Nothing says "freedom" like forcing people to alter the historical record
Academic Mob Chases 'Climate Change Contrarian' Bjorn Lomborg Off Campus
Want an independent thinker out of your university? Instigate a "passionate emotional reaction" against him.
Campus Nags Want to Change How Male Students Think
The moral policing and censure of frats and lads is a scandal.
U.K. Election: Whoever Wins, Freedom Loses
Pity us Brits-our only choice in today's election is between different shades of paternalism.
Meet the Vagina Voters
The women voting for Hillary because she's a woman are setting feminism back a hundred years.
The Slow Death of Free Speech in Britain (America, You're Next!)
From the Internet to the press to the public square, Brits' speech is being policed and punished
Conversion Therapy and Other 'For the Children' Measures As Efforts to Curtail Liberty
In the name of children's rights.
The Real Problem With Rolling Stone's Campus Rape Fiasco
The hysteria over "rape culture" is still alive and kicking.
Scotland: The Most Nannying of Europe's Nanny States
Forget a blue-painted Mel Gibson yelling "freedom!" Now it's all about the mandatory salad bar.
Elton John vs. Dolce & Gabbana: Should You Boycott Anti-Gay-Adoption Businesses?
The famous fashion designers are gay but oustpoken critics of gay parents and IVF children.
Stop Smearing Critics of Islam as Islamophobes
Branding everything a "phobia" stifles meaningful debate.
France Dishonors Charlie Hebdo By Policing Hate Speech
To grant the state the authority to police hatred is to open the door to the policing of thought, conscience, and morality.
In Defense of Drunk Sex
They warned us for years, "Don't drink and drive." Now it's, "Don't drink and fuck."
After Copenhagen: The Myth of Civilized Censorship
Hate speech laws legitimize violence against those who offend
How Political Correctness Aided and Abetted Sex Crimes in England
The troubling lesson of the Rotherham crimes.
Beyond The Interview: The Top 10 Cave-In Artists of the Year
Sony is far from the only institution to cave in to demands for self-censorship this year.
Rolling Stone and the Cult of Credulity
The mantra 'I believe' pathologizes skepticism and doesn't help victims.
Britain Poised to Muzzle 'Extremist' Speech
The country that gave us free expression may be backpedaling.
Could Therapy Culture Help Explain Elliot Rodger's Rampage?
One of the terrifying achievements of the modern cult of therapy has been to churn out a generation of people completely focused on the self and in constant need of validation from others.
The Totalitarian Crusade Against Second-Hand Smoke
There are few issues that are as riddled with outright claptrap as the scare about what smokers' puffing is doing to innocent non-smokers.
Is "Redskins" Really an Offensive Name for a Football Team?
If you want to know how unhinged and divorced from reality political correctness has become, look no further than the controversy over sports teams with offensive names.
British Students Ban "Blurred Lines" From Their Own Universities
Once upon a time, students' political leaders kicked against authoritarianism; now they enforce it.
Britain's High-Tech Thought Police
British authorities target bloggers, tweeters, and t-shirt wearers for speech crimes.
Caitlin Moran Knows How To Be a Woman and You Don't
Popular feminist yuk-fest is really a class-based etiquette book.
Why World Leaders Call On Celebrities to Do Their Dirty Work
The Falklands debate reveals the (Sean) Penn is mightier than the sword.
