Among the biggest takeaways from the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was the proclamation by a European Union official that the United States would soon be surrendering its First Amendment in the interest of global appeasement.

“For hate speech, we need the people who understand the language and the case law in the country,” declared Vera Jourova, the vice president of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, “because what qualifies as hate speech, illegal hate speech, which you will soon have in the U.S., we have a strong reason why we have this in the criminal law.”

The WEF panel was speaking more specifically about the danger of what many of the globalists view as “disinformation” and “information pollution.” Jourova explained to the panel and audience that not all speech is protect free speech, referring to the oft-cited “fire in a crowded theater” example, because such language may put the public in danger.

Likewise, the EU executive explained, spreading hateful or incorrect speech in public venues or online forums should not be protected speech.

We at Citizens for Free Speech (CFFS) are only moderately amused that a non-American would presume what our own Constitution says about protected speech. What is not amusing is the participation of American diplomats and representatives at the forum who did not, to our knowledge, refute the notion that the U.S. would one day soon change our free speech laws to prohibit language that some global elites might find troublesome and contrary to their own narrative.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to free speech, and it makes no mention of disagreeable, hateful, or even incorrect speech. CFFS believes it is not the job of the speaker to consider how their speech may be received by those who may be listening. Rather, it is the job of the recipient to determine how they choose to respond to speech they may not care for, either due to perceived offense or debatable accuracy of the statements.

At CFFS, we will continue to defend the God-given rights of all Americans to speak freely, no matter how upsetting globalists in the European Union might find those rights. And though it may seem counterintuitive, our best bet for defending free speech is at the local level. Our mission at CFFS is to teach our members how to get involved. 

Our spring 2023 session of The Citizen Ninja Way -- a method of activism that uses effective strategies, tactics, and tools resulting in positive change at the local level -- kicks off on Feb. 15. Join us for this free training series to learn how to exercise your First Amendment rights with confidence! Learn more