Eli Lake and David Rose: The UK Censorship Machine Eats Itself

Eli Lake and David Rose: The UK Censorship Machine Eats Itself

From Breaking History by The Free Press

May 1, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

David Rose discusses the implications of a new report on UK censorship and the intersection of political advocacy and disinformation laws.

David Rose is the director of policy and research at the Free Speech Union (FSU), a UK-based nonpartisan organization that campaigns for freedom of speech. The FSU will publish a new report examining allegations tied to Labour Together, the political network linked to Keir Starmer. David joins Eli Lake to explain how his investigation describes a murky ecosystem involving claims of journalists labeled as Russian assets, the circulation of private intelligence-style dossiers, and the growing overlap between political advocacy and “disinformation” or “digital hate” laws in the UK. Our special episode on the UK being a “censor’s paradise” is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Eli Lake

Guest: David Rose

Topics covered

  • censorship
  • freedom of speech
  • political advocacy
  • disinformation
  • digital hate laws
  • journalism
  • UK politics

Keywords

  • censorship
  • freedom of speech
  • disinformation
  • UK politics
  • Labour Together
  • journalism
  • digital hate laws

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Free Speech Union, Labour Together

Places: UK, Russia

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