A quarter of the public hold back on expressing views on religious topics because of “concerns for their safety”, new research has found.
A report from the Commission for Countering Extremism says concerns about safety are “heightened” for those who feel they have to hold back their views on religious topics, with 25% saying this compared to 17% for expressing political views.
The research, based on a survey of 2,000 people in England and Wales, aimed to provide “a temperature check” on how the public view and experience free speech “across a range of social, political and religious topics”.
Islam is the only religion people are more likely to think gets too much protection
Most people “believe in the principle of free speech” regardless of the religion in question, the report said.
However, the research found a “clear pattern of increased sensitivity” around Islam.
When asked about expressing their personal views on Christian, Islamic and Jewish topics, people “feel most like they have to hold back on expressing their views about Islamic topics”, with 38% expressing this. In comparison, 25% hold back on expressing views about Judaism, and 17% on Christianity.
Muslims are more likely than average to think people should be careful not to offend when talking about Islamic topics (71% compared with 31% overall), Christian topics (64% versus 26% overall) or Jewish topics (60% versus 28% overall).
Overall, 30% feel they need to hold back expressing their opinions on religion in general, and 32% on religious extremism.
While people are more likely to think religious freedom has “about the right amount” of protection in Britain (49%), a “notable” proportion (29%) think it is protected too much. Islam is the only religion asked about where a larger proportion of the public think the religion is protected too much (39% compared with 18% who think it receives too little). In comparison, around half of people or more think Christianity (48%), Sikhism (53%), Hinduism (55%) and Buddhism (58%) have the right amount of protection.
But 40% Muslims think religious freedom is protected too little, compared to those of other religions (17%) or no religion (15%).
Overall, the survey found “strong support” for free speech, but that a “notable” segment of the population believes it is not adequately protected (33%).
There have been several recent high profile cases in the UK of violence or threats of violence against those perceived to have offended religious sentiments. They include the assault on Hamit Coskun this year for burning a Quran in protest; a moderate imam facing death threats from an extremist preacher since 2022; the cancellation of screenings of a film about Islamic history over safety concerns in 2022; and a teacher forced into hiding in 2021 after showing a picture of Muhammad in class.
The National Secular Society and many other free speech campaigners have warned the Government’s plan to adopt an official definition of ‘Islamophobia’ may increase censorship around Islam and ‘blasphemy’-related threats.
NSS: Research highlights why ‘Islamophobia’ definition would be “the wrong move”
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: “There is clear discomfort around talking about religion among the British population – and it’s particularly worrying that one in four feels the need to self-censor out of fear for their safety.
“The concerns around free speech about religion, and Islam in particular, highlight why adopting an ‘Islamophobia’ definition would be the wrong move. It would reduce free speech about Islam while increasing community divisions by fuelling the perception of ‘two tier’ protections for certain communities.
“A far better strategy is to focus on equally upholding everyone’s human rights, whatever their religion or belief, and emphasising that while all individuals deserve protection, ideas – including religious ones – do not.”