Research shows a broad retreat from free speech across democracies, legally and culturally.

In the United States, the administration of President Donald Trump has rightly condemned censorship by its predecessor, Joe Biden’s administration, and foreign governments. But then, it threatened the media through the Federal Communications Commission, pressured tech companies to remove apps and posts that frustrated immigration enforcement, arrested immigrants over pro-Palestinian speech, targeted universities, and more. Even as the First Amendment protects Americans from blatant censorship, they increasingly accept punishing speech they dislike, including even violence, left-wing cancel culture, or right-wing calls for cancellation after the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

Abroad, the picture is worse. Hate speech laws have punished Finnish parliamentarians for past comments about homosexuality, threatened author J.K. Rowling and comedy writer Graham Linehan over posts about gender, and sent German police on pre-dawn raids over offensive memes. Blasphemy, sacrilege, and public-order laws silence nonviolent criticism of religion. The EU’s Digital Services Act pressures platforms to moderate lawful speech deemed disinformation or harmful. Australia has banned children under sixteen from social media, and other democracies are following suit with similar restrictions that threaten everyone’s privacy and expression.

Free expression is essential to self-government, individual rights, truth-seeking, pluralism, countering hate, and preventing violence. Democracies need stronger protections for speech—online and offline—if their citizens are to thrive.