The Future of Free Speech

📣🇪🇺 A win for free speech in Europe.

The European Commission intends to drop its plan to make hate speech an "EU crime," a proposal we have long opposed in our writings and in conversations with decision-makers.

But the victory is under threat. The Commission says it is "considering proposing a Directive on combating online incitement to violence and hatred." ⬇️

🔗 commission.europa.eu/document/downl…

How did a leaderless student movement overcome a government that had spent years making dissent too dangerous for ordinary citizens?

Guest contributor @NikolaIlic7 highlights the important power of free speech in defeating the Aleksandar Vučić regime.

🎉 Congratulations to Phong Truong, winner of our raffle for a trip to Nashville to attend the Global Free Speech Summit in 2027! His name was randomly selected from our newsletter subscribers.

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💬 @JMchangama: “We still have the mechanisms for accountability.

We focus myopically on the dark sides of free speech, but we take the benefits for granted, because we haven’t really fought for it.”

Support for free speech has been declining for years.

At @TheFIREorg’s Soapbox 2026, our Executive Director, @JMchangama, will discuss what it takes to reverse this with @glukianoff, @CaseyMattox_, and @berkitron.