Michael Marshall: When pseudoscience hides behind ‘free speech’

As skeptics and critical thinkers, free speech is a value we must strive to uphold, and to defend. Yet, the free speech argument has often been weaponised by opponents of skepticism, in order to promote pseudoscientific ideas – from creationism in classrooms, to intimidatory anti-abortion protests, to climate change denial. Most recently, prominent “race realists” have appealed to the concept of academic freedom in order to garner support for unscientific eugenicist arguments. Using real life cases from across the last decade, Michael Marshall will show how skeptics have seen our commitment to free speech hijacked and weaponised by the very pseudoscientists we seek to counter.