'Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech' wrote Benjamin Franklin in Silence Dogood letter No. 8, July 9, 1722. History and art are rife with examples of what happens when free speech is suppressed; look at George Orwell's 1984 or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
It is the ability to speak one's mind, regardless of accuracy or truth, that makes a country free.
Which is why the Left despises free speech. Yesterday, Vice President J.D. Vance gave a barnburner of a speech in front of the 'petty tyrants' of Europe, and it triggered the Left hard. When Donald Trump won reelection in November, thanks in large part to Elon Musk and X, Leftists fled the platform.
This is not surprising to me.
When the Left held a stranglehold on media outlets and social media, they ruled with an iron fist.
I was suspended from then-Twitter for sharing screenshots of The New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story because it was 'fake news' that violated Twitter's 'hacked materials' policies. Except it wasn't, and it didn't.
After Twitter banned the Babylon Bee for correctly calling former HHS Assistant Secretary Richard Levin a man, Elon Musk was driven to purchase the platform. While Musk hasn't been perfect in allowing free speech, the vibe shift on X is palpable.
But the current ideological makeup of X is far more balanced and reflective of the nation now than it was two years ago. In 2022, 65% of X users were Democrats compared to 31% who identified as Republicans. In November, that split was 48-47, still favoring the Democrats.
The Left doesn't see this because they don't want to.
For a very long time, the Left has advocated for speech codes because they can't engage in good faith arguments and their ideology is ultimately indefensible and unsustainable. That's why communist nations always enforce their will at the point of a bayonet.
The so-called 'oversight' censorship of social media (read: free speech) was part of Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign platform, and her running mate was on record saying 'hate speech' and 'misinformation' are not protected by the First Amendment.
By shutting down the debate before it even begins, they hope to keep the reins of power firmly in their grasp.
'Hate speech' and 'misinformation' are, of course, protected because a) such concepts don't exist and b) the First Amendment is meant to protect precisely unpopular speech.
'Hate speech' and 'misinformation' are just code words for 'things the Left doesn't like.'
(Conveniently, the Left also believes they are the sole arbiters of what is and isn't 'hate speech' and 'misinformation.')
Tim Walz's proposed 'hate speech' registry would have punished support for author J.K. Rowling as 'hate speech', for example, because Rowling doesn't support radical transgender ideology.
The goal of such laws and registries is to quash free speech so that the only acceptable narrative is the one the Leftists create and spread.
You need look no further than the U.K. to see what happens when you don't have a Constitutional right to free speech, and you don't adhere to progressive ideology: you go to prison. For a long time.
(Those who rape children, on the other hand, get much lighter sentences).
The European Union even accused me of 'illegal speech' for calling out the roving rape gangs terrorizing girls in the U.K. I still find that to be a badge of honor.
Part of the reason why the Left is so hellbent on restricting free speech is because they, themselves, are unable to articulate and defend their beliefs in the public sphere and their ideas don't last when applied to reality. Rather than forming coherent arguments that articulate and defend their positions, or embracing ideologies that actually work, they accuse the Right of 'hate speech' and 'misinformation' and attempt to silence their opponents.
When that doesn't work, they flee to echo chambers. Where they'll talk to like-minded people in deep blue enclaves and never once consider that there are 75 million Americans who voted against Kamala Harris for very valid reasons (and, no, 'misogyny' and 'racism' are not those valid reasons).
And then they wonder why they lost -- twice -- to Donald Trump.
