2 weeks Ago By Special to National Post
Article content The 2025 Canadian federal election is underway, and there is an issue that needs to become a campaign priority for all parties, politicians and voters: freedom of expression. Western civilization is at an inflection point when it comes to free speech and censorship. We need to consider the direction we are going as a free society, and whether we want to become another example of increased censorship, or an example to the world on the value of open discourse free from fear.
In Canada, we have seen a recent rise of censorship through the introduction of federal legislation including the Online Harms Act, the Digital Streaming Act, and the Online News Act. We have seen expanding claims of professional regulators over the private lives of doctors, nurses, accountants and lawyers who discipline members for heterodox political or cultural commentary. We have seen local governments making absurd claims about their power to restrict protests in public spaces, and the first ever invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to a non-violent domestic political protest in 2022.
The value of the right to free expression is core to the identity of free societies. It goes without saying that free speech is a non-starter in much of the world, from Russia to China to the Middle East. These are places from which to draw lessons, not inspiration.
But from where are we to draw inspiration today? Europe has been backsliding on free speech. In the United Kingdom, where the signing of the Magna Carta birthed some of the first written commitments to individual rights and the rule of law, a disturbing trend of censorship for wrongthink is underway. Last year, journalist Allison Pearson was visited by Essex police who told her they were opening a criminal investigation for a year-old post she had made on X, but wouldn’t even tell her what the post was.
Last month, Greater Manchester police visited a 54-year-old grandmother for criticizing Labour politicians on Facebook. And a former police officer was investigated by police when he posted a “gender critical” poem on X. His name was recorded in a police database for a “non-crime hate incident,” an Orwellian form of state surveillance and speech control unique to the UK.
In 2023 in Sweden, two men who participated in a Quran burning were criminally charged. One of the men was a Christian refugee from Iraq. But hours before the verdict was delivered, one of the men was shot dead during a TikTok livestream.
The other man was convicted, and the judge said “expressing one’s opinion about religion does not give one a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief.” Following these incidents, the Swedish government pledged to explore legal means of abolishing protests that involve burning religious texts in certain circumstances. It should go without saying that free societies do not have laws criminalizing religious blasphemy.
Germany too, has shockingly censorious laws. In a segment from 60 Minutes in February, German prosecutors discussed with casual disregard how it is a crime to insult someone in public, and how people charged with speech crimes are often shocked to have their phones taken away as a consequence. The US-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has drawn attention to the case of a 64-year-old German man is facing charges not just for alleged antisemitic posts, but also for calling a German politician a “professional idiot.
” Berlin police even cut off the power to a pro-Palestinian conference because of “the potential for hate speech.” The United States is no longer the bold protector of free speech it once was. We are currently witnessing the erosion of these principles, cheered on by supporters of the MAGA movement.
With seemingly no self-awareness, Vice President JD Vance scolded Europe for their rising censorship, while simultaneously the Trump administration has undertaken their own campaign to silence critics. Recently President Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting law firms who perform legal work that Trump disagrees with, including ending security clearances for lawyers at Paul Weiss , and barring lawyers from Perkins Coie from accessing government buildings. This was all done under the suspect claim that these large and established firms represent some sort of national security risk.
The Trump administration has also arrested and detained anti-Israel activist and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil for deportation. Khalil organized anti-Israel protests on Columbia university campus that disrupted campus and harassed Jewish students and also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda. But so far the Trump administration is not claiming they are deporting Khalil for any crime.
Instead, the administration has said his deportation is on the basis of a law that allows the secretary of state to personally deem individuals “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America.” While Khalil’s conduct is worthy of moral condemnation and frankly disgusting, Khalil’s conduct may be fully protected by the First Amendment in the United States. If he is indeed being targeted for the content of his reprehensible speech alone, this would violate the American constitution’s promise of free expression.
So, where are the champions of free speech? As the rest of the world regresses towards authoritarianism, this is an opportunity for Canada to become a beacon of light towards a freer future. Canada should aspire to being a vibrant nation with legal and cultural protections for expression, where every citizen can voice their wildest dreams and sharpest critiques without fear of censorship or retribution. We must become a nation that builds resilience through exposure to difficult concepts, sharpening out moral clarity through speech, not censorship.
Canada can become a place where the government stands not as a gatekeeper on ideas and speech, but as empowerer of our own citizens to act as guardians of the right. We could become that internationally-needed inspiration to other nations. Now is the time to make free speech a priority.
National Post.
