NewsForBC / International / Free Expression · 2026-10-06

Atkinson’s free-speech address resurfaces—but the “insulting” law changed in 2014

An international source review for B.C. readers: a 2012 speech, later commentary and the distinctions missing from a viral compilation.

The speech is real. Its date matters.

A Facebook video from Off The Kirb Ministries brings Rowan Atkinson’s defence of free expression back into circulation. The supplied recording combines edited excerpts from his 16 October 2012 Reform Section 5 address with other clips and a Christian commentator’s arguments about speech, religion and contemporary Britain. It is not a new Atkinson speech, and the later commentary should not be attributed to him. [1] [2]

Atkinson’s central argument was that tolerating offensive opinions protects ordinary people as well as prominent performers. He called for “more speech” rather than suppression and challenged the use of criminal law against merely insulting expression. Those arguments remain available for debate; the particular law he targeted did not stand still. [2]

The reform he sought took effect in 2014

Parliament removed “insulting” from the relevant wording of section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 through section 57 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. The change took effect on 1 February 2014. This concerns England and Wales, not Canadian law or one uniform rule throughout the United Kingdom. [3] [4] [5]

Section 5 was not repealed. Its current wording still covers threatening or abusive words or behaviour, disorderly behaviour, and threatening or abusive visible representations in the circumstances specified by the statute. It includes defences, including reasonable conduct. The reform therefore cannot be summarized as either “insult alone is still the same offence” or “all offensive conduct is now lawful.” [5]

Two historical anecdotes need correction

The original address uses the word “arrested” when discussing a teenager’s Scientology protest placard and a Christian café’s Bible display. Contemporary reports do not support describing both incidents as arrests:

• Scientology placard, 2008: the teenager faced a summons; the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute. [7]
• Blackpool café, 2011: BBC reporting described a police warning. Lancashire Police apologized for misinterpreting the Public Order Act, while disputing that officers had ordered material removed. It was not reported as the café owner’s arrest. [6]

These distinctions do not settle the argument about chilling effects. They do matter when a historical speech is republished as news. The source audio is retained unchanged; these are separate editorial corrections, also noted in the archived speech transcript. [2]

The university headline needs its current context

The compilation displays a headline about students being excluded from a university free-speech complaints system. Students are excluded from England’s particular Office for Students free-speech complaints route in their capacity as students; that does not mean every student has no complaints remedy. [8] [13]

The OfS scheme opened on 1 September 2026 for eligible staff, visiting speakers and other specified non-student categories at relevant English institutions. Students can take unresolved complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, subject to its remit. The two systems are not identical. [8] [9] [13]

The OIA can consider issues such as whether a provider followed reasonable procedures, considered its legal and regulatory responsibilities, and reached a reasonable decision. It does not act as a court or substitute its own view of whether particular speech was acceptable, and academic judgment is outside its remit. [9]

Later claims are commentary, not findings from this review

The presenter moves beyond Atkinson’s address to claims about online arrests, religious expression, employment disputes and an alleged future restriction on Christian preaching. The clip does not supply enough case identifiers or legal documents to verify each of those examples. General claims about a person being investigated “simply” for a repost or viewing a video need the actual facts and legal basis, not just a short clip. [1]

At approximately 14 minutes, the presenter mentions 30,000 arrests for social-media posts without specifying a time period or dataset. We have not verified that total or the implication that it represents arrests solely for lawful opinions. Arrests, charges and convictions are different measures, and an aggregate communications-offence count would not establish the circumstances of each case. The parliamentary debate on online-speech penalties illustrates the dispute, but is not itself proof of the video’s number. [1] [11]

The presenter also predicts possible arrest for declaring Christian beliefs, but does not identify the bill or provision on which that prediction rests. A relevant current official document—the government’s March 2026 definition of anti-Muslim hostility—is expressly non-statutory, says it does not change what is a crime, and explicitly safeguards criticism, ridicule and insult of religions, including Islam. It is not evidence of a new criminal prohibition on Christian doctrine. That does not resolve every concern about how guidance might be applied; those concerns should be tested against a specific policy or case rather than treated as an enacted ban. [10]

The remainder includes Christian teaching, personal testimony and appeals to faith. Those are the source presenter’s religious views, not independent legal or scientific findings, and not an endorsement by Atkinson. [1]

A Canadian discussion—not a Canadian case

For readers in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada, the useful comparison is the tension between free expression and justified limits—not a claim that these English rules apply here. Canada’s Charter protects thought, belief, opinion and expression under section 2(b), while section 1 permits reasonable limits prescribed by law that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. This review does not decide any Canadian case. [12]

Bottom line: Atkinson’s historical appeal for tolerance is authentic, the specific “insulting” provision was subsequently changed, and the compilation’s later assertions require separate scrutiny. The complete supplied video is preserved for readers to assess alongside the dated law and source record.

Source review checked 6 October 2026. No implication of source endorsement or co-production. General reporting, not legal advice.

Sources and reporting method

1. Off The Kirb Ministries: supplied Facebook compilation — Source video and attribution; not independent corroboration of its claims.
2. Rowan Atkinson: Reform Section 5 address, 16 October 2012 — American Rhetoric transcript and editorial corrections, as archived 29 July 2026.
3. Crime and Courts Act 2013, section 57 — Primary law removing “insulting” from the relevant provisions.
4. Commencement Order 2013, article 3 — Primary law: change effective 1 February 2014.
5. Public Order Act 1986, section 5 — Current England/Wales offence and defences.
6. BBC: Christian cafe warned over Bible verses, 27 September 2011 — Contemporary report: warning, police apology and disputed account; not an arrest.
7. Guardian: Schoolboy avoids prosecution for Scientology placard, 23 May 2008 — Contemporary report: summons and decision not to prosecute.
8. OfS: Changes to regulation — Official status of England’s complaints scheme, updated 17 September 2026.
9. OIA: Free speech and student complaints — Student complaint route, review approach and limits.
10. Government definition of anti-Muslim hostility, 9 March 2026 — Non-statutory definition, explicit freedom-of-expression safeguards and legal limits.
11. Hansard: Social Media Posts — Penalties for Offences, 17 November 2025 — Parliamentary debate documenting competing claims; not a verified count of arrests for lawful opinions.
12. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — Sections 1 and 2(b); Canadian comparison only.
13. OfS: Free speech complaints scheme rules — Eligibility, England jurisdiction and the complaints scheme’s temporal scope.

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