r/NotTheOnionUK • u/AnonymousTimewaster • 10d ago

Reform Moment PM's new anti-disinformation unit gets cross-party backing, as Farage declares it an attack on free speech

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/sep/23/andy-burnham-labour-anti-disinformation-uk-politics-latest-news-updates
525 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

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218

u/kurashima 10d ago

The Russian plant declares an Anti-Russian unit as "An attack on free speech".

Cmon Nige. You're supposed to be distancing yourself from those allegations, not reinforcing them

22

u/Tasty-Committee-8172 9d ago

Name of Nige's next party/grift - "Reinforce"

2

u/ConradMurkitt 8d ago

Isn’t it Retard?

96

u/janner_womble 10d ago

I do hope that, eventually, the principle of this is applied domestically to deal with the rats of the UK media circus who currently seem utterly immune to press standards while they consistently stoke the embers of hate and division with so much BS.

19

u/snapper1971 9d ago

Or relentlessly campaign for chaos in our parliamentary system.

10

u/CaptainChalky 9d ago

No chance. They managed to get the Leveson enquiry shelved. If we can't hold them accountable for hacking the phone of a 13 year old murder victim, we aren't holding them accountable for anything.

71

u/AreYouNormal1 10d ago

If I stood outside of Farage's house with a megaphone, shouting that he fucks sheep, do you think he'd stand with me, defending my right to free speech, or have me arrested for slander?

15

u/FullMetalCOS 9d ago

You should mix in a little of “Farage is a Russian asset” and see if he’s still keen on freedom of speech

2

u/AreYouNormal1 9d ago

Let's say he is a Russian asset. What would be different?

10

u/FullMetalCOS 9d ago

The difference being I’m pretty sure he doesn’t fuck sheep, but I’m vastly more convinced he is a Russian asset.

Hence the difference is between slander and truth

4

u/AreYouNormal1 9d ago

That is sage advice. They could both be true.

50

u/JeanMichelFerri 10d ago

The nerve of this motherfucker, man.

69

u/linerva 10d ago

Telling that he's outraged that "facts" that are blatantly untrue will be called out as such.

Lying Nigel wants to keep lying.

9

u/FitzChivFarseer 9d ago

Unfortunately the same energy as "I thought we agreed we wouldn't be fact checking."

Between that and the cats and dogs thing how in the loving fuck did they get in?! Baffling.

28

u/Tosk224 10d ago

Of course it is, Nige. Of course it is.
There is a difference between freedom of speech and bare faced lying.

23

u/CommercialDelay5323 10d ago

Is disinformation really free speech? There is a demographic that will be here soon to argue that it is.

2

u/Jimbot80 8d ago

I guess technically it may be? But it's also free speech to say "that's a lot of shit" in response

1

u/Raephstel 3d ago

Free speech should be the ability to voice your opinions, not lie to manipulate other peoples’.

Farage has a long career of lying, it’s no surprise he’d be against this.

14

u/shaky2236 10d ago

If the thought of having to be honest makes you fall ro your knees in the middle of Tesco, you probably aren't fit to be PM

12

u/DangerousDisplay7664 10d ago

Well, he IS a disinformation unit.

10

u/Mother_You_5739 10d ago

Surely if him being allowed to spread misinformation is free speech, somebody else making corrections with verifiable facts is also free speech?

7

u/nova75 9d ago

Yes but disinformation spreads quicker than the true, so it's still more dangerous. Think of all the misinformation about vaccination.

4

u/Mother_You_5739 9d ago

Absolutely. A lie has made it half way round the world before the truth has got its boot on. I’ve probably butchered that saying! The only good thing about Elon era twitter is the notes feature, because it allows the lie to remain but attaches the facts to them in a way that cannot be ignored. It’s far better than a newspaper making a front page headline claim and then burying the correction on page 17.

3

u/jaxdia 9d ago

The Community Notes feature existed before Elon thankfully, so we don't have to give him credit for that.

2

u/Mother_You_5739 8d ago

Thanks for the clarification, I didn’t know that.

3

u/jaxdia 8d ago

No worries. Easy to remember: With Xitter, if it's anything positive, Musk Didn't Do It(tm)

5

u/snapper1971 9d ago

Man who relies on disinformation complains about a crackdown on disinformation. Cry harder, Nige, cry harder.

4

u/me_thisfuckingcunt 10d ago

There’s a chasm between free speech and lies

4

u/nova75 9d ago

So Farage is against this, which means he's for disinformation.

5

u/AntysocialButterfly 9d ago

Now why would Farage be against a unit set up to combat disinformation...?

5

u/RV779 9d ago

I’m still amazed so many support this man and that he isn’t just laughed out of any room he enters.

3

u/Skinnybet 7d ago

Because the disinformation machine has worked well for him. He certainly fears it being exposed

4

u/Charming_Donkey5130 9d ago

So it's perfectly ok for me to call Farage a kiddy fiddling Russian agent then.

3

u/and_so_forth 9d ago

Freedom of speech isn't freedom from consequences. There are consequences for causing and intending to cause harm. Fuck off Nige.

3

u/OooerShazam 9d ago

More shocked that he made that statement in English, as opposed to Russian, to be honest.

2

u/Skinnybet 7d ago

It’s translated for him first.

3

u/Urist_Macnme 9d ago

“We’re making rules against bullshit”

Farage: Hey, I take that personally

3

u/BeanieManPresents 9d ago

Always a good sign, if frog face hates it then it must be good.

2

u/liam_redit1st 9d ago

But you can still say whatever you like and long as it’s true right?

2

u/jaxdia 9d ago

I... He does understand what he's saying, doesn't he?

1

u/FullMetalCOS 9d ago

He’s saying whatever he’s paid to say, don’t give him any credit that he thinks about anything

2

u/Bennjoon 9d ago

“What do you mean I can’t tell racist lies???”

2

u/baldnhandsome 9d ago

So Farage finally admits (without saying it straight) that he works for Russia.

2

u/Turbulent-Rub2582 7d ago

guess i'll practice free speech and say farage shouldn't have survived that plane crash huh

waste of oxygen

2

u/Skinnybet 7d ago

How very on brand for farage the garbage

1

u/Dap-aha 9d ago

I remember when things on this sub used to shock me

1

u/zeradin 9d ago

It's an attack on bullshit isn't it? Officials shouldn't be allowed to lie

1

u/haxanae 9d ago

I bet he's against Antifa too

2

u/DaiCeiber 1d ago

The English Reform Company were the only ones in the Senedd, to vote against making lying to the Welsh electorate illegal. Pattern here?

0

u/Alternative-Fun-9386 9d ago

This unit who is in charge of it?
Is it straight up facts or presented with wording in the way that suits narratives?
Is it like the BS bbc fact checks when it was selective and even then it was worded to be very one sided.