#169 - Preston Bryne - Britain Isn't A Free Country Anymore
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 26 April 2026
⏱️ 100 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Preston Byrne is the only American lawyer fighting the UK's attempt to censor US companies under the Online Safety Act. He's representing 4chan, Kiwi Farms, Gab and Sanctioned Suicide - pro bono - because no other firm would take the cases.
In this interview, Preston explains why Britain isn't a free country anymore, what Ofcom actually claims the power to do to American websites and why he says the UK is trying to enforce British censorship law on American soil. We get into the moment that started him down this path - a 16-year-old getting a criminal summons from the City of London Police for holding a sign - and why two decades later he believes the rest of the country is finally catching up to what he saw then.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - The Cases No One Else Would Take
00:03:06 - From Banking Lawyer To Free Speech Fight
00:05:00 - "I Didn't Know How Important It Was Until It Was Taken Away"
00:06:49 - The Sign That Started Everything
00:13:50 - What Ofcom Actually Is
00:17:09 - The Question Britain Has Never Asked
00:21:11 - Why Reform And The Greens Both Get It Wrong
00:24:23 - Drafting A British First Amendment
00:28:21 - What The Bill Keeps, What It Repeals
00:31:56 - "I'm Not Setting Foot In The UK"
00:34:02 - The Career Cost Of This Fight
00:36:55 - Death Threats From UK IPs
00:37:33 - The Libertarian Case For Using The Courts
00:40:00 - Why Age Verification Isn't The Answer
00:45:00 - The VPN Problem Australia Created
00:46:28 - "The System Is Designed To Produce Violations"
00:49:16 - Where The First Amendment Actually Stops
00:52:45 - The Marmot Liberation Front
00:54:52 - Mr Whiskers Vs Ofcom
01:00:00 - Holding The Perimeter For 30 Million Users
01:04:00 - Why No Big Law Firm Will Touch This
01:09:05 - Defending Clients You Personally Find Difficult
01:20:00 - 197 Notices Sent Into America
01:22:18 - The GRANITE Act, Explained
01:25:00 - "£46 Billion Sitting At The Federal Reserve"
01:26:10 - Wyoming First, Then Delaware, Then Federal
01:30:17 - "Are We A Free Country Anymore? No."
01:33:06 - Still The Only Lawyer On The Field
01:36:32 - What British Listeners Can Actually Do
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CONTACT PETE
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CONNECT WITH PRESTON BRYNE
› Twitter – https://x.com/prestonjbyrne
› Website – https://prestonbyrne.com/
SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com
› LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter
› Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack
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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The principle that the United Kingdom was trying to prove was that they could enforce British censorship law on American soil, |
| 0:07.0 | and I was not prepared to allow them to do that. |
| 0:09.5 | He wound up getting a summons, a criminal summons from the city of London police because he was holding a sign. |
| 0:15.2 | Right? He wasn't doing anything. He was standing there holding a sign and the sign said, |
| 0:18.6 | Scientology is a dangerous cult. |
| 0:25.0 | Seeing someone get caution for just holding a sign, I was stunned. I couldn't believe it. |
| 0:33.0 | Do you want the British state to have the power to police the nonviolent expression of opinion under any circumstances? |
| 0:36.6 | Throw us a bone for the UK. Are we a free country anymore? |
| 0:41.4 | No. No, period. It's you can't. You're not a free country until you get your rights back. This show is brought to you by my lead sponsor, Iron, |
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| 1:04.5 | check out iron.com to learn more, which is iran.com. |
| 1:09.3 | Preston, hi. |
| 1:10.5 | You have represented 4chan and you've represented Kiwi Farms. |
| 1:15.6 | You've represented Gab and also sanctioned suicide, |
| 1:20.2 | a forum where people have reportedly died after using the forum. |
| 1:26.1 | You're doing 4chan pro bono. Nobody forced you to take |
| 1:29.3 | any of these clients. Why are you taking them? It had to be done. It had to be done. These were |
| 1:34.8 | the first targets of the United Kingdom's censorship scheme, the Online Safety Act. No other law firm |
| 1:41.9 | or lawyer was willing to do it. These targets were unable to pay. |
... |
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