I have long been critical of the erosion of free speech in Italy and other Western European countries, including the use of criminal libel laws against critics of the police or government. This week a Milan court has ordered a journalist to pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of 5,000 euros ($5,465) for making fun of her in a social media post. Giulia Cortese was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros for a joke on X. It is the latest absurd example of the expanding crackdown on free speech.
Category: International
McKenna Geer, who is a competitive rifle shooter on Team USA for the Paralympics, is the latest person to be censored on social media. In her case, the offense was merely posting pictures with the guns that she uses in competitions. While possessing a gun is a protected individual right, Instagram will flag your posts and bar you from some sites if you post a picture with a gun . . . even if it is part of your sport at the Olympics or Paralympics. Continue reading “Instagram Censors Paralympian Because of Photo with Competition Gun”
France’s Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, has announced that French Muslim athletes will be barred from wearing hijabs at the Olympics. The decision is a gross violation of the religious freedom of Muslim athletes and should be condemned throughout the world.
Continue reading “France Bans Muslim Hijabs from the Olympics for French Athletes”
For many years, I have testified and written about Antifa and its growing anti-free speech philosophy. Some Democratic leaders have embraced this violent movement, which continues to gain strength on campuses and its cities across the nation. It is also a global movement. That is reflected in the alarming election of Antifa candidates to the French National Assembly as well as the European Parliament. That is quite an accomplishment for a movement that President Joe Biden dismissed as “just an idea.”
Continue reading “Antifa Radicals Elected to the French and European Parliaments”
Will Rogers once said that “if you ever injected truth into politics, you’d have no politics.” In Wales, it appears that the government is challenging that assessment. However, if the new legislation criminalizing political lies is successful, the Welsh are likely to find themselves with the same abundance of lies but little free speech.
Continue reading “Wales Moves Forward With Plan to Punish Politicians for Telling Lies”
Now this could truly be educational. Students protesting on our campuses have been offered free scholarships at Shiraz University in Fars. So, while Northwestern has reached a settlement with protesters to give scholarships to Palestinian students and positions to Palestinian faculty, U.S. protesters can now go to Iran for their education.
The London police are under fire this week for threatening to arrest a man wearing a kippah near a pro-Palestinian march. Officers inform Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism watchdog, that he was “antagonizing” the protesters by being “openly Jewish” near such a march. He was told that, if he tried to cross the street while being “openly Jewish,” he would be arrested for breach of the peace. Continue reading ““You Are Quite Openly Jewish”: London Police Under Fire for Confrontation With Man Near Anti-Israeli March”
There is global criticism of the new anti-free speech law in Scotland, including a dare from author J.K. Rowling to arrest her for her criticism of transgender policies. The law is so bad that even the British Prime Minister, in a country previously denounced for attacks on free speech, has demurred from supporting the Scottish law. Now Humza Yousaf, first minister of Scotland, has doubled down in supporting the draconian law while misrepresenting its language. Continue reading “Scottish Minister Doubles Down on Anti-Free Speech Law” 
We have previously discussed the unrelenting attacks by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his allies on free speech. There has been a steady criminalization of speech, including even jokes and religious speech, in Canada. Now, the Canadian parliament is moving toward a new change that would allow the imposition of life imprisonment on those who post views deemed supportive of genocide. With a growing movement calling Israel’s war in Gaza “genocide,” the potential scope of such a law is readily apparent. That appears to be its very draw for anti-free speech advocates in the country. Continue reading “Oh Canada: The Parliament Moves to Impose Potential Life Imprisonment for Speech Crimes”
There is a disturbing report published on Michael Shellenberger’s Public Substack detailing how the U.S. intelligence community called upon foreign governments to target associates of Donald Trump before the 2016 election. The request to the “Five Eyes” agencies (the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) appears to have come from Obama’s CIA Director, John Brennan. Continue reading “The Eyes Have It: U.S. Intelligence Allegedly Asked Foreign Countries to Surveil Trump Associates”
Below is my column in the New York Post on the testimony of Biden associate Rob Walker, who confirmed details on President Joe Biden meeting with Chinese figures as well as the use of the Biden name to generate millions in foreign payments. Yesterday, the House heard from Tony Bobulinski who confirmed that Biden was the “Big Guy” who was referenced as receiving ten percent from a Chinese deal. He also confirmed that, despite the President’s denials, he met with Joe Biden to discuss these dealings.
Here is the column: Continue reading ““An Interesting Name”: Biden Associates Testify on the Influence Peddling of the President and his Family”
Below is my column in The Hill on the legal and legislative actions taken with regard to increasing numbers of robotic “companions” around the world. The resulting debate is testing the limits of privacy and sexual freedom.
Here is the column:
Two years ago, I wrote a column denouncing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of a counter-terrorism law to shut down the Freedom Convoy trucker protests as an authoritarian attack on free speech. Now, a Canadian court has agreed and ruled that the use of the Emergencies Act was unlawful and “unreasonable.” Despite Trudeau’s attacks on civil liberties, he remains a favorite of the media as an iconic figure on the left. Continue reading “Trudeau and the Trucker Terrorists: Court Declares Trudeau’s Crackdown on the Truckers to be Unlawful”
Senior Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen has been acquitted twice after the Finnish government prosecuted her for quoting the Bible. Now, however, the Finish Public Prosecutor is seeking to appeal the November 2023 decision supporting her faith and free speech. Even with the widespread attacks on free speech across Europe, Finland is now a standout for its intolerance and extremism in defining opposing views “hate speech.” Continue reading “Finnish Politician Räsänen Again Facing Demands for Prosecution Over Quoting Bible”
The World Economic Forum has surveyed the world’s experts and issued its 2024 “Global Risks Report.” The international elite of experts have declared that the number one threat to humanity is not terrorism or pandemic or even climate change (which is second), but “misinformation and disinformation.” Of course, that means that the only hope for humanity is censorship and speech controls. The report shows just how engrained this anti-free speech movement has become among the world elite from media to business to politics. Continue reading “World Economic Forum Declares “Disinformation” to be the World’s Greatest Threat”