Free Speech at Risk of Extinction in Europe
As Europe edges closer to the precipice of authoritarianism, the cornerstone of Western philosophy, the freedom to speak freely, is in grave danger.
When America’s Founding Fathers drafted documents consolidating 13 disparate colonies into a single country, they recognized certain rights would need to be explicitly enumerated in order to guard them from future tyrannical governments. Among these, the very first was freedom of speech to ensure unpopular rhetoric or rhetoric critical of the government would be protected.
No such enumerated rights exist in Europe and the consequences are beginning to rear their ugly heads.
Concerned Americans have watched in horror as Labour PM Keir Starmer has failed to unify his country in the face of multiple days of rioting, and instead opted to tamp down on free speech rights.
The U.K. has long served as the example par excellence of a nanny state, with “you got a license for that?” jokes proliferating online. Brits hoping to sit down with some bangers and mash to watch the big game will need to pay the BBC a license fee or risk someone trying to climb in their window.
However, the intensity with which Starmer’s government has attempted to suppress speech has amplified as Britain’s social fabric continues to further fray.
Starmer stammered and stumbled through the initial riot response, attempting to paint the perpetrators as far-right goons worthy of the deepest scorn.
He said at the time that “Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities. The full force of the law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part in these activities.”
Starmer made good on his word, and began arresting people for wrongthink in earnest. 28-year-old Jordan Parlour received a nearly two year jail sentence for posting that “every man and his dog should smash the fuck out of Britannia hotel” where migrants were being held. Meanwhile, the wife of a Tory MP was arrested for posting “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”
Some argue the posts go further than free speech and dive fully into threats of violence. That argument would have slightly more teeth if actual violence was treated with any seriousness in the U.K.
As the BBC reports, a Muslim convicted of repeatedly raping and grooming a 13-year-old girl was spared jail and got a two year suspended jail sentence and 180 hours of unpaid work.
So posting about violence is grounds to be thrown in jail, while rape gets you a slap on the wrist and some fines.
Is it any wonder the U.K. is falling apart?
Not content to jail just their own citizenry, the British government is looking across the Atlantic to try and stifle American speech.
In comments to Sky News, London police chief Sir Mark Rowley said “We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you.”
Rowley’s been having a bit of a rough time recently. The commissioner was caught on camera angrily grabbing a reporter’s mic following a question about “two-tier policing.” Maybe if he did his job and ensured Muslim rape gangs weren’t able to roam with impunity, he wouldn’t be getting those questions so I guess that’s kind of on him.
A look across the Channel reveals the attacks on free speech aren’t exclusive to Britain and are perhaps more severe on the continent.
In an absolutely gobsmacking example of government meddling, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton preemptively threatened X chief Elon Musk over a planned interview with President Donald Trump.
“As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in the EU in connection with events with major audiences around the world, I sent this letter to Elon Musk,” Thierry posted. “We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political – or societal – events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.”
By this logic, the EU could claim to have jurisdiction to police speech on any online content that could conceivably be viewed by a European from anywhere in the world. Seems a little too CCP for my tastes. The blowback was so severe, that even European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen was forced to publicly rebuke Breton.
But this is a growing trend in Europe. As the dam of public sentiment begins to break, European governments have tried to plug the holes with increasingly draconian measures. If people can’t talk about the problems, maybe they’ll just go away!
But they won’t. And as Europe edges closer to the precipice of authoritarianism, the cornerstone of Western philosophy, the freedom to speak freely, is in grave danger. If the Old World continues to silence dissent under the guise of preventing harm, the extinction of free speech on the continent is inevitable.