LONDON — The British government is appealing a High Court ruling that found its ban on the activist group Palestine Action unlawful on grounds of free speech. The ban, imposed in July 2025, remains in force pending the outcome of the appeal.

Since the ban was introduced, about 3,000 people have been arrested, mostly for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action, and several hundred people have been charged. The appeal was filed as Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, published an annual report examining the use of Britain's terrorism laws during 2024.

Hall's report described a growing reliance on counterterrorism laws to police online propaganda and political expression. The 2024 banning of the group Hizb ut-Tahrir and the online Terrorgram network were described in the report as cases where organisations were banned primarily for online rhetoric rather than operational violence.

"The British government risks stretching 'counterterrorism' laws beyond their original purpose by using such powers against activist groups," Hall said. He wrote that the definition of serious damage to property could extend beyond violent attacks to acts such as criminal damage depending on how courts interpret the threshold.

"There is no legal authority on what 'serious damage to property' means," Hall wrote. He suggested that lawmakers could narrow the test for terrorism by requiring a risk to life, including a national security dimension, or excluding non-violent protest.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said in a statement that she would review Hall's recommendations before responding. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said using "counterterrorism" legislation to implement the ban on Palestine Action risked "hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK."

Palestine Action, founded in 2020, focuses mainly on weapons factories, particularly those owned by Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems. The group says its goal is to end "global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime."