I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom for years, including in my book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage. One of the most critical components of the British censorship system is Ofcom, the Office of Communications, which regulates the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications, and postal industries. The most recent controversy is detailed in the Telegraph, with Ofcom investigating GB News over the simple replaying of a Trump interview in which he called climate change a “hoax.” Continue reading “British Ofcom Investigates Airing of Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax””
Category: International
In the global anti-free speech movement, Maria Ressa stands apart. The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Columbia professor has used her celebrated position to call for censorship in the name of tolerance and diversity. She is showered with accolades as she calls for curtailing speech with a highly sophisticated, though at times Orwellian, pitch. In the cause of tolerance, she calls for viewpoint intolerance, particularly in the regulation of speech on the Internet.
That was evident this week as she spoke at Dartmouth’s Division of Institutional Diversity and Equity Social Justice Awards. The most insidious aspect of this campaign is how academic and other groups regularly portray Ressa as a free speech advocate.
When hundreds of thousands of Britons joined the recent Unite the Kingdom rally, the government of Keir Starmer wanted them to know that they were being watched for possible arrest. By deploying facial recognition systems and invoking the United Kingdom’s anti-free speech laws, Starmer’s government made it clear that it would not tolerate anything it considered hateful or xenophobic, on the heels of its losses to Reform UK in council elections. Continue reading “Starmer Government Doubles Down on Anti-Free Speech Policies”
Cultural appropriation and microaggressions are common complaints on campuses across the country, including most recently an allegation of cultural appropriation raised after a drum line formed at an event at UC Davis. Now, Miami law professor J. Janewa Osei-Tutu has suggested codifying cultural appropriation claims as copyright violations. It is the type of incredible proposal that is eagerly embraced inside, and largely ignored outside, of higher education.
Northern Ireland is finally safe. Clive Johnston has been convicted and can no longer menace the public.
Johnson, 78, is a retired pastor who committed the heinous offense of preaching near the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. That was considered within the “safe access zone” under Northern Ireland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act. Continue reading “Northern Ireland Convicts 78-Year-Old Minister for Preaching Near Abortion Clinic”
In “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about how censorship often becomes an insatiable appetite once countries go down the road of speech regulation. There is no better example than the Dutch and their recent ban on public ads for meat and fossil fuels. Activists have imposed similar limitations on advertising for products in the United States, from alcohol to tobacco. However, the Dutch law reflects how this tendency can metastasize into shielding citizens from unhealthy choices or influences. Continue reading “Carbon Neutral, Speech Negative: Amsterdam Bans Advertisements Featuring Meat and Fossil Fuels”
Below is my column in The Hill on the defeat of Viktor Orban. There was good-faith criticism of Orban as autocratic. However, the irony is that Hungary may have now cleared the way for the final stage of the European Union in overruling individual nations and their citizens on core policies.
Here is the column: Continue reading ““Use the Momentum”: The EU Moves to Destroy the Last Vestiges of National Sovereignty”
The recent convention of the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) became a microcosm of the inanity of identity politics found in forums ranging from politics to higher education. Participants were given familiar “equity cards” as literal card-carrying members of groups demanding preferred treatment. The problem is when one identity group demands preference over another. The result, as seen in Winnipeg, was calamity and quickly became comedy.Continue reading “House of Cards: How Equity Cards Collapsed at Canadian NDP Convention”
I previously wrote about Finland’s prosecution of Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen for raising objections to homosexuality. She has now been convicted with a decision this week from the Finnish Supreme Court. Free speech is now in a free fall in Finland. Continue reading “Finland Convicts Politician for Speaking Out Against Homosexuality”
In the Paris Olympics, media and pundits piled on any commentators expressing opposition to transgender athletes playing in women’s sports. From the opening ceremony to the coverage, these athletes were presented as demonstrably women who could not be barred from competition. Now, the International Olympic Committee has announced on Thursday that it would restrict women’s sports to biological females and establish a genetic test for eligibility. The only question is who is going to apologize to JK Rowling and countless others called bigots for their calling for a biological rule to protect women’s sports. Continue reading “International Olympic Committee Imposes Biological Test on Athletes”
In Hamlet, William Shakespeare famously wrote, “To thine own self be true.” The problem is when others want to present a different “truth” long after you are gone. Shakespeare is under an unrelenting attack in the United Kingdom from trigger warnings to censoring his prose. Now, Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust has announced that it will “de-colonise” the Bard. Continue reading ““Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!” Shakespeare’s Birthplace to be “Decolonized””
We just discussed the horrifying story of a Christian family in Sweden who have been unable to regain custody of their daughters after the government declared them religious extremists. In Iceland, a father has been stripped of his parental rights after speaking out against his 11-year-old autistic son‘s sex change. Alexandre Rocha, a French national who has lived in Iceland for 25 years, lost custody of the child to the child’s mother in December after questioning the long-term impacts of puberty blockers and hormone therapies. Continue reading “Iceland Strips Father of Custody After Questioning Gender Transitioning of his Minor Child”
We have been discussing the erosion of free speech rights across Europe, particularly within the European Union. The crackdowns on free speech in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France are often the focus of these columns. However, a recent case shows how smaller countries like Malta have joined this effort with a repressive vigor. Fortunately, the prosecution of Matthew Grech, 33, ended in acquittal this month, but not for a lack of effort by the government. The case should shock the conscience of anyone who values this “indispensable right.” Continue reading “Prosecution of Maltese Man for Discussing Transition from Homosexuality Ends in Acquittal”
We now have a glimpse of the War Powers Resolution promised by Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.), which is reportedly scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday. The resolution purportedly ends all combat operations against Iran … until you reach the very end where there is a hole that you could drive a combat task force through. Continue reading “More Bark Than Bite: Kaine’s War Powers Resolution is an “Imminent” Failure”
Below is my column on Fox.com on the legal authority for Operation Epic Fury. There are good-faith arguments that such attacks should require declarations of war. However, President Donald Trump can rely on his predecessors, including Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden for the authority to carry out these attacks.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Epic Fury: Trump Can Rely on Past Democratic Presidents for the Authority to Attack Iran”