Watch: Comedy Writer Testifies Before US Congress on UK’s Chilling Free Speech Crackdown
Arrested for gender-critical tweets, he's now sounding the alarm on the trans ideology’s war against dissent.
This article originally appeared on m o d e r n i t y and was republished with permission.
Guest post by @ModernityNews
Graham Linehan, the Irish comedy writer, testified before the US House Judiciary Committee, detailing how Britain’s authorities hounded him over online posts challenging trans ideology—exposing the chilling grip of censorship under Keir Starmer’s government.
His appearance underscores America’s growing scrutiny of Europe’s speech-stifling laws, with Linehan urging lawmakers to push back against policies that silence women and crush free expression.
The hearing, titled “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation,” examined how regulations like the EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act enable government overreach, forcing platforms to censor content globally and punishing dissenters. Chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, it highlighted arrests for online speech, including Linehan’s own ordeal, as threats spilling over to US shores.
Linehan opened his testimony by recounting his shift from comedy to activism. “I spent 30 years writing comedy for British television. It was a career that I loved but it ended when I began noticing that women were losing their livelihoods, their social circles and even their freedom for defending rights won over 100 years ago by the suffragette movement,” he said.
He explained his views aligned with those facing backlash: “They believed as I do that single sex spaces are essential for women’s privacy, dignity and safety. They believed that children should not undergo experimental medical treatment that ravages their health and shortens their lives. They believe women have a right to fair sport.”
These stances, Linehan testified, made him a target. “For holding them I became the target of a series of harassment campaigns that cost me my career, my marriage and eventually drawn from my homeland.”
He detailed police involvement: “For a decade the British police have harassed me for expressing views that I don’t think in ten years not one person—not the police who arrested me and not the colleagues who condemned me or friends who turned away—has told any of us what we did wrong.”
Linehan stressed the ideological clash: “I want everyone to understand that gender ideology and free speech cannot coexist. You can hear the lie in the very language: trans woman meaning man, man meaning woman, health care opposite of health care. Men’s demands, ideology that tells lesbians they are bigoted for not accepting male partners is not progressive—it is homophobic.”
Bringing it stateside, he cited a US case: “Right now a man named Hobby Bingham who calls himself Princess Zoe Andromeda Love is a registered sex offender in this country. He raped a 12 year old girl, was transferred to the Washington Corrections centre where he raped a developmentally disabled female inmate. This is not happening in Britain—it’s here.”
Linehan called for action: “First, use every diplomatic lever you have to pressure the British government to implement its own Supreme Court ruling… Women just won a landmark case confirming that sex means biological sex… Please make sure to make it clear that America is watching.”
He continued, “Second, put pressure on the Irish government to reopen the conversation it never had in 2015… The Gender Recognition Act was quietly passed—no public consultation, referendum, no women’s rights organizations consulted.
“Third, recognize free speech is not preserved simply by declining to arrest people,” Linehan urged, adding “We need new whistleblower protections for the digital age. If government will not defend dissenters from institutional retaliation and mob rule then what is the First Amendment for?”
This testimony stems from Linehan’s September 2025 arrest at Heathrow, where five armed officers detained him over three gender-critical tweets posted from the US.
The incident spiked his blood pressure to stroke levels, landing him in hospital amid what he called a “persistent harassment campaign” by trans activists and police.
The testimony arrives amid escalating revelations about Britain’s free speech erosion. As we previously highlighted, some 10,000 arrests were made in 2024 for “grossly offensive” social media posts—30 per day—under vague communications laws, outpacing even Russia’s crackdown while real crimes like knife attacks and burglaries fester unsolved.
As we have also detailed, the Trump administration has offered asylum to UK “thought criminals,” including gender-critical activists.
Sources indicated the White House eyed protections for those prosecuted over silent protests or online dissent, influenced by Elon Musk’s highlighting of such cases.
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On very similar topic, it's worth mentioning that the UK has strict laws against "inciting racial hatred" or similar. Thousands of people have fallen foul of such laws. Aside from the usual social damage (loss of friends, job, even career, etc.) there are legal penalties ranging from fines to months or years in jail. I suppose it’d be one thing to lead a riot and advocate violence against another group. Heck, you could get in trouble even in US for doing so. But nearly three years in prison for relatively mild postings on social media? That’s not a democracy – that’s a dictatorship.