A ‘chilling’ attack on free speech by media regulator IPSO

The Spectator has defended the freedom of speech of one of its journalists, following a reprimand from the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

In an article, Gareth Roberts used the phrase “a man who claims to be a woman” when referring to transgender author and columnist Juno Dawson, who lodged a formal complaint to the media watchdog. It ruled the phrase to be “pejorative and prejudicial”.

The Spectator published the judgment, as required of the magazine by IPSO, but criticised the decision as an attack on free speech.

Free speech

Michael Gove, Editor of The Spectator, responded: “We publish what Ipso requires of us here. But I am in no doubt this is an outrageous decision, offensive to the principle of free speech and chilling in its effect on free expression.”

He continued: “When Gareth Roberts wrote that Juno Dawson is a man who claims to be a woman, he was exercising his right to free speech and indeed expressing a view that many would consider a straightforward truth.”

“For The Spectator, free speech is not a cause among many others which we may champion – it is the essence of our existence.”

Gove added: “Dawson may have a Gender Recognition Certificate but no piece of paper, whatever it may say, can alter biological reality.

“Parliament may pass laws, but they cannot abolish Dawson’s Y chromosome.”

Pursuing truth

Toby Young, Director of the Free Speech Union, said IPSO “has censured The Spectator for publishing an article that is in no way inaccurate or intrusive but which it disapproves of for political reasons. If a press regulator penalises a newspaper or magazine just because it doesn’t like its politics, it is no longer fit for purpose.”

Helen Joyce, the Director of Advocacy at women’s rights group Sex Matters, commented: “Ipso’s guidance is biased and illogical. Journalists and editors feel under pressure to accept the fringe belief that people can change sex as settled fact.”

The Christian Institute’s James Kennedy stated: “Journalists are right to say what everyone knows – that a man cannot become a woman, no matter what a piece of paper from the government says.”

He added: “Courtesy should of course be shown to our trans friends and family, but no one should be punished for stating the truth.”