Free Speech Union website down after alleged funders exposed by trans hackers

The website belonging to the Free Speech Union (FSU) is down after trans activism group BASH BACK hacked it and exposed its list of alleged donors.

The group, which vandalised offices belonging to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in London in October, published a list of names of people who have allegedly donated to the FSU’s various campaigns in amounts from £50 up to £25,000.

The sums include donations to crowdfunding campaigns for Father Ted creator Graham Linehan, who was recently found guilty of damaging a trans woman’s phone, Hamit Coskun, who was found guilty after burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London, and footballer Jamie Michael, who was found not guilty of stirring up racial hatred on Facebook.

Shortly after publication of PinkNews’ article, the BASH BACK website also went down, with a 404 error page visible instead.

The freedom of speech organisation, founded by Conservative peer and journalist Toby Young, was said – according to GB News – to be undertaking an “independent security briefing” into BASH BACK, inspired by an article in the Daily Mail which detailed future BASH BACK targets, including the offices of health secretary Wes Streeting and prime minister Keir Starmer.

At the time of that article’s publication, BASH BACK stated the information about its targets was publicly available information.

“The Free Speech Union commissioned a ‘security’ report on us,” BASH BACK wrote on BlueSky on Monday (5 January), “so we tested their security. Turns out – it sucks.

“We’ve now published the names of everyone who has donated to a FSU fundraiser, along with how much they gave and to which campaign.”

By Monday evening the FSU’s website was unavailable and stated “maintenance mode is on” but by Tuesday morning a 404 error code appears when attempting to access it.

PinkNews will not publish any of the names listed in the hacked list, and is also unable to verify its content.

A spokesperson for BASH BACK described the FSU in a statement as an “organisation for defending bigots”.

“Instead of fighting for the free speech of pro-Palestine activists, such as the prisoners currently on hunger strike, they move heaven and earth to defend every sexist, racist, and transphobe that crosses their path,” they wrote.

“The FSU has said nothing about the police banning the use of common Arabic phrases, the abuse of activists in prison, or the censorship imposed on the public around Britain’s involvement in genocide.

“Instead, their focus is on defending those who preach hatred. The public deserves to know who is funding the FSU’s activities, and we are glad to be able to reveal it.”

They went on to state the FSU “purports to be an advocacy group for freedom of expression” but instead “represent a security fund for attention-seeking reactionaries backed by the ultra-wealthy”.

“They use their funders’ deep pockets to repress ordinary people and impose a two-tier justice system where wealthy transphobes and racists can preach hate whilst those who oppose genocide are imprisoned and abused, or otherwise subject to police violence,” the spokesperson continued.

“In a time where free speech is under attack, not by ‘wokism’ or minorities, but by an increasingly authoritarian state, the so-called ‘Free Speech Union’ sets its sights instead on protecting powerful bigots from the consequences of their public tantrums.”