Vance is right about free speech. That's what makes EU and US leftists so mad
At the Munich Security Conference, the U.S. vice president accused Eurocrats of abandoning some of the sacred principles that sustain democratic nations. He is correct; free speech is under attack in Europe and open elections are under threat.
Why? Because, like liberal governors and mayors in the U.S., establishment pols in Europe are in crisis. Their policies have driven down growth and built gigantic welfare states that are unsustainable. Their kowtowing to climate activists and labor unions has driven the cost of manufacturing, in Germany, for instance, through the roof, causing the basic engine of that country to stall. In addition, they have opened their borders to massive immigration which has driven up crime and infuriated their own citizens.
If this sounds familiar, it is because Democrats in the U.S. have followed a similar course. Allowing unchecked illegal immigration, adopting idiotic climate policies and hobbling businesses with cumbersome regulations may attract leftist supporters, but the damage done by those policies eventually pushes voters to demand change. That's what happened last year with the election of President Donald Trump, and that's what's taking place in Europe.
What is their response? As in the U.S., trying to limit blowback by reining in free speech and subverting the will of the people through manipulating elections. Remember how then-President Joe Biden's White House leaned on social media platforms to suppress dissent? Remember his Disinformation Governance Board, established in 2022 to crack down on "misinformation?" Outrage ensued, and the Orwellian agency soon disappeared. But … Biden brought us "that close" to official government censorship.
Biden also tried to lock up Trump, his principal political rival, while numerous states tried to take the former president off the ballot. Those are the kinds of tactics being employed in Europe to keep popular candidates from winning elections.
Right-wing candidates are pushing aside Europe's long-standing centrist parties, willing to challenge the liberal orthodoxies that have (mis)governed Europe for decades. The continent, simply, is in upheaval. How bad is it? Consider:
The UK, through Brexit, left the EU, but did not abandon their losing policies. A liberal government headed by Keir Starmer, was elected by a landslide vote last July; in just three months, the prime minister saw an historic drop of 49 points in his approval rating. The Times recently reported that their polling showed Starmer's net favorability rating "had fallen to its lowest ever level (again), at -41."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has an approval rating of 31%. On February 23 Germany will host elections; Scholz is almost certain to lose, beaten by both the center-right Christian Democrats and the far-right AFD. Driving the vote? Immigration, integration and the economy.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron's approval is hovering around 20%; a snap poll last fall and a vote of no confidence ushered in a new government, led by a prime minister with equally dismal approval. France is in political deadlock.
Panicking EU bureaucrats and politicians are trying to protect themselves from voters' wrath by reining in free speech on the pretext that people might be misled by "disinformation" campaigns. They have also in some cases, as in France last year, colluded against political parties or politicians that do not hew to their liberal orthodoxy.
As Vance noted, an election in Romania was recently canceled when the ruling politicians did not like the outcome; their excuse was that Russia had interfered with the election by posting ads online. As Vance noted, "You can believe it's wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do … But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with." Ouch.
Various EU countries have passed laws that threaten imprisonment for insulting remarks and even forbid silent prayer when close to an abortion clinic. Silent prayer! Vance did not mention it, but last year Scotland adopted one of the most controversial new laws, called the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act.' It expands on conventional "hate crime" regulations to include "stirring up hatred" against any number of protected groups, including "sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex." The prohibition extends to comments made online, so someone insulting another person's religion or gender in an online post, for instance, could be arrested.
J.K. Rowling, author of the hugely popular "Harry Potter" books, has become a pariah in some circles for referring to trans women as men; she took to social media to condemn Scotland's new law, writing, "freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal."
Scotland is not an outlier. "60 Minutes" broadcast a segment just recently showing German police cracking down on online "hate speech," raiding apartments and arresting perpetrators. Clarifying the law, the CBS reporter asks German prosecutors, "Is it a crime to insult someone?" The answer: yes. Also a crime: posting or even reposting malicious gossip.
In 2023, Swiss authorities sentenced a controversial writer to 60 days in jail for describing a journalist as a "fat lesbian," a violation of that country's hate speech regulations.
To Americans, these laws are repugnant, even though many would like to see hate speech disappear from the Internet. Historically, our country has celebrated our First Amendment right to free speech. Support for that fundamental right has waned, surveys show, especially with left-leaning young people who say they would support banning speakers with diverging viewpoints.
So, Americans can and should cheer Vance's brash denunciation of waning freedoms in Europe but beware: the U.S. is not far behind.
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