Join me on Twitter to help save free speech

SOME of you may have noticed that I advertise my Twitter handle @clarkemicah at the top of this column. I suspect many of you wonder what it has to do with me, or with you.

Well, the handle would take ages to explain. It’s based on the name of a favourite book, and I use it because someone else had already taken my actual name. But may I invite more of you to join Twitter and perhaps take an interest in what I do there?

I used to despise Twitter, especially its silly name. I said (and still think) that it is a Leftwing electronic mob, and like all mobs it can turn very nasty and rude. But for anyone trying to get ideas across in the modern world, it’s now essential.

This is why there is so much discussion of Elon Musk’s purchase of the site. There is nothing like it. What he does to it will make a huge difference to debate and free speech.

For me, it is like the broadcasting the BBC increasingly will not let me do. I can respond instantly to major events. I can reply directly to people who want to criticise me or (less often) agree with me. I can tell people about my books, YouTube appearances, public meetings and debates. And this is why I’m in favour of the loosest possible restrictions on it.

My opinions, which 50 years ago would have been considered quite normal, are rapidly becoming widely disliked by the generation coming out of our propagandised schools and universities. Unless speech is free on Twitter, it won’t take long for people who claim to have been offended by one of my opinions to find a way to close me down.

It’s not clear which way this will go, but it would be good for free speech if more conservative-minded people would join it.