The veteran comedian Jack Dee has been applauded and condemned for announcing that he is cancelling his PayPal account. As he tweeted yesterday: ‘Big Tech companies that feel they can bully people for questioning mainstream groupthink don’t deserve anyone’s business.’
PayPal has been in the news for cancelling the account of the Free Speech Union, who it says violated its ‘Acceptable Use Policy’, although it has not explained on what exact charge. The Free Speech Union has in recent years defended those who have been censured, or lost their job, for expressing unfashionable opinions, whether they be on lockdown or the trans issue, so it could be on many contentious topic.
The union’s founder, Toby Young, has been politely bemused. Many members of the public have been less restrained, also vowing to close their PayPal account. But Jack Dee’s intervention has been the first of its kind by a celebrity.
Predictably, Twitter went beserk, with many up in arms, accusing Dee – without a hint of irony – of being a fascist in siding with the Free Speech Union. Oh yes, the fascists, those well-known martyrs to free speech.
This situation represents a grim truth of our times: that untrammelled free speech is now the preserve of the rich
While it’s tempting to view Dee’s public stance in a positive light – as evidence that he has reached that stage of life where he doesn’t care what the mob thinks – it represents a grim truth of our times: that untrammelled free speech is now the preserve of the rich.
Like J. K. Rowling or Ricky Gervais, Jack Dee has got to that stage of financial security where fear of being cancelled or publicly shamed doesn’t matter. Sure, like Rowling, he may lose some work. He will face the scornful opprobrium of fans who feel betrayed. He may lose friends. But in material terms, little is at stake.
The same can’t be said for the rest of us. For most people, the wrong opinion still carries the tacit risk of public censure or losing one’s job. And it was precisely these people that Free Speech Union has been speaking up for: the casualties in our culture wars, those who have lost their livelihoods for expressing views that PayPal would presumably also find beyond the pale.
The case of Enoch Burke in Ireland, the teacher who refused to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns, is the most recent example. His failure to comply, ultimately (and after a contempt of court ruling) landed him in prison earlier this month (he’s still there). Here is the most severe warning to the little people as to the perils of speaking your mind. J.K. Rowling can be as gender-critical as she likes. Had she been in his position, she probably would have just resigned before the matter spiralled out of control. Because she wouldn’t need a teacher’s salary.
Many ordinary people this side of the Irish Sea have also felt the strong arm of the state, merely for expressing counter-cultural opinions (and yes, to be a conservative, to believe in biology, really is ‘counter-cultural’ these days.) The most prominent cases include Marion Millar in Scotland, who was taken to court and threatened with prison after she tweeted a picture of a ribbon in Suffragette colours, which the most affronted police trans activists took to be a hate crime. Then there was Jennifer Swayne in Wales, whose house was raided by the police after she placed gender-critical stickers on lamp-posts.
In July, Hampshire Constabulary deployed officers to the residence of an Aldershot man who had posted online Progress Pride flags in the shape of a swastika. That event came to public awareness when the actor-turned-campaigner Laurence Fox posted a video of the event online. This is significant. While the Aldershot man had put himself in jeopardy, Fox is a vociferous counter-cultural public persona and thus enjoys immunity as a result. He now features on GB News. Again – as the cliche goes – it’s one rule for them, and another for the rest of us.
In this climate, no wonder most ordinary people are now afraid to speak their minds. Censorship in Western culture is indeed a problem, but so is self-censorship. A study in August 2020 by Washington University in St. Louis found that more Americans than ever – 40 per cent -– were now choosing to keep their mouths shut than express their opinions.
We live in a culture of fear, of self-imposed silence, as well as silence imposed from above. The only relatively normal people who dare speak out freely on these matters are journalists such as Young, as it is part of our livelihood.
In general, however, most of us Morlocks just seek the quiet life, to keep out of trouble. Except some celebrity Eloi, who have the luxury of saying as they please. So who would have ever thought it: thank heavens for celebrities expressing their political opinions.
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