Adopting the American obsession with ‘free-speech’ is not helpful imo.
For one, the term itself has become a right-wing dog-whistle that essentially means that billionaires can publicly say fucked up stuff without pushback by civil society, courts, etc. Their freedom of speech entails complete freedom from consequences for that speech.
Also, there is no such thing as free speech in a society of such structurally unequal footing. There are many, many reasonable and kind people all over the world speaking freely in daily life. But their reach is naturally limited to their local community.
They are being drowned out, however, by individuals such as Musk and Trump who have immense reach on both linear and social media and both actually own their own social media platforms. If they exercise their free speech, they sway international politics, the stock market, and slowly derode our shared sense of moral decency.
There is no free speech without independent and pluralistic media, rule of law and a liberal civil society.
So if you’re concerned about free speech, you should rage against centralized social media, consolidated media conglomerates, overexerted courts and public bureaucracies, and the general sense of despair and hopelessness that causes the public to become apolitical - and certainly don’t put your hope in the help of subversive far-right tinktanks financed by American fascists.
Also, on that note, you can be sure that those right-wing think tanks will not only promote ‘free speech’, whatever that means. They will fight European integration and the EU, social security, liberal democracy, LGBTQ rights, etc.
Adopting the American obsession with ‘free-speech’ is not helpful imo.
For one, the term itself has become a right-wing dog-whistle that essentially means that billionaires can publicly say fucked up stuff without pushback by civil society, courts, etc. Their freedom of speech entails complete freedom from consequences for that speech.
Also, there is no such thing as free speech in a society of such structurally unequal footing. There are many, many reasonable and kind people all over the world speaking freely in daily life. But their reach is naturally limited to their local community.
They are being drowned out, however, by individuals such as Musk and Trump who have immense reach on both linear and social media and both actually own their own social media platforms. If they exercise their free speech, they sway international politics, the stock market, and slowly derode our shared sense of moral decency.
There is no free speech without independent and pluralistic media, rule of law and a liberal civil society.
So if you’re concerned about free speech, you should rage against centralized social media, consolidated media conglomerates, overexerted courts and public bureaucracies, and the general sense of despair and hopelessness that causes the public to become apolitical - and certainly don’t put your hope in the help of subversive far-right tinktanks financed by American fascists.
Also, on that note, you can be sure that those right-wing think tanks will not only promote ‘free speech’, whatever that means. They will fight European integration and the EU, social security, liberal democracy, LGBTQ rights, etc.