19 October 2026 - 2:30pm
The UK’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has claimed that free speech absolutism undermines democracy.
Speaking at the Battle of Ideas festival in central London, Jonathan Hall KC told the audience that “I would be, these days, less tolerant of free speech than perhaps many of you, because some of our free speech is being sent to undermine our democracy in ways that lead to terrorism.” He added: “When the rudder comes off and you create a culture of violent language, actual violence, then society begins to decay.”
Hall, who has served in the watchdog role since 2019, appeared on a festival panel titled “Do we know our enemy?” that focused on terrorism and extremism. He cited the dangers posed by foreign actors such as Russia and Iran, saying that “people use our freedoms against us in order to undermine our society. Some of the things they are saying are not violent, but they are slow and they are patient and the intention is the same.”
The terrorism reviewer has previously criticised government extremism legislation for endangering free speech. In March last year, Hall claimed that then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plans to expand the definition of terrorism risked targeting individuals who “by no stretch of the imagination” met the criteria for being a terrorist. He has also warned Labour against tightening laws on “glorifying terrorism” in the wake of alleged extremism on pro-Palestine marches in Britain.
Hall has publicly characterised the Government’s proscription of Palestine Action as “novel but acceptable”, writing last year that the campaign group was made up of “serious saboteurs”. In his view, weaker legislation “would leave Islamic State supporters free to hoist their black flags on UK high streets. Hall expanded on this at the Battle of Ideas on Sunday, arguing: “Imagine if you were to say, ‘It’s ridiculous to arrest someone because they are supporting a proscribed organisation.’ Just imagine if you had tens of thousands of people saying ‘I support Islamic State.’”
On Sunday, Hall said: “If I hear another person say ‘free speech absolutism’ in the context of the internet, I’ll go completely mad.” He explained: ‘Of course we don’t want to have people looking at images of beheadings. Of course we don’t want to have extreme violent pornography against adults or indecent images of children.’” Last December, the terror watchdog criticised Labour’s national security strategy for underestimating online threats, comparing the resulting vulnerability to that caused by a depleted military.
According to Home Office statistics published in March, there were 3,034 arrests for terrorism-related activity in Britain in the year to 31 December 2025, compared with 248 arrests the previous year. The disparity reflected the fact that 92% of arrests in 2025 involved supporters of Palestine Action, following the group’s proscription that summer.
