The resignation of Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister has presented an important opportunity for renewed debate over a dangerous bill which would squash free speech in the United Kingdom, GETTR Chief Executive Officer Jason Miller warned in a Express op-ed published Wednesday.
 
Under the Online Safety Bill, Ofcom, the state broadcast regulator, will gain the power to push media companies and social media sites like GETTR to remove “offensive” and “legal but harmful” content, and issue fines if they fail to do so – essentially gagging political free speech, satire and debate.
 
“Suddenly, a chance has presented itself to consign to the wastebasket the anti-democratic ideas the OSB espouses - ideas which sadly emanated from a so-called “conservative” administration. The opportunity to kill this Bill in its current form must be seized with both hands, otherwise, Britain (and even the world) may live to regret it,” Miller wrote.
 
“The principal problem of the OSB is that it places one of the cornerstones of a healthy democracy - free speech - in danger. This peril comes via provisions in the Bill concerning what has been described as “legal but harmful” content.”
 
“Under the Bill, an unelected government minister would have the ability to label certain kinds of speech as “harmful” even if they were not “illegal,” just because they (or somebody else with a vested interest) did not like them.”
 
Mr. Miller added: “This entire exercise amounts to a power grab by the state, in plain sight, leading to political debate being quickly erased. In my opinion this is not happening by accident and is an intentional move to exert control over any form of dissent – with the unintended consequences being extraordinary.”
 
Read the full op-ed here
 
Today, GETTR has nearly 6 million registered users in every continent except Antarctica, and is the fastest-growing social media platform in history, having marked its first million users less than three days after its formal launch on July 4, 2021. By comparison, Twitter took 24 months to attract one million users while Facebook took 10 months.
 
Big names on GETTR include Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, podcasters Joe Rogan and Russell Brand, GB News presenters Neil Oliver, Dan Wootton, Nana Akua and Calvin Robinson, Mark Dolan, radio host and political commentator Maajid Nawaz, journalist Andy Ngo, football legend Matthew Le Tissier, singers Right Said Fred, rapper and author Zuby, publican Adam Brooks, presenter and restaurateur Tonia Buxton, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, Free Speech Union founder Toby Young, writer James Delingpole, singer Gareth Icke, businessman Alan D Miller and ex-boxing champion Jamie Moore, plus many more.