The article reports that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have recently denounced American-style free speech in the context of efforts to regulate online platforms and combat “false information” or “hate speech.”

It notes that European governments have pursued speech restrictions for years, citing German arrests for online posts, a 2025 study finding British police made about 30 daily arrests for non-violent offensive messages, and the use of defamation and “disinformation” rules to limit criticism.

Drawing on Vilfredo Pareto’s 1916 writings, the piece argues that unrestricted freedom to challenge any claim is essential for discovering truth, and concludes that growing hostility to free speech reflects both the weakness of European regimes and risks to the First Amendment in the United States.

In recent weeks, German and French politicians have denounced free speech, and especially the concept of “freedom of speech” as long envisioned in the libertarian tradition of natural rights. French President Emmanuel Macron on September 29 stated that ”The so-called American ‘free speech’ today, which some people have promoted, is the opposite of free speech.” Macron compared speaking freely as comparable to walking down the street assaulting other people. 

A week earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared, ”Don’t anyone come to me with free speech!“ He asserted we must “still be able to protect citizens from false information.”

Both were speaking on issues related to online speech through social media and similar platforms. Both see a grave danger to the ruling class posed by the ability of unvetted or anonymous users to post opinions freely.  

In both cases, these attacks on freedom have been in the context of European regimes’ repeated efforts to impose new regulations on social media platforms to limit speech. 

This has been going on for several years. For example, back in February, Macron stated that “free speech is pure bullshit.” 

In Europe, the anonymity issue is no minor affair. In Germany, there are literal speech police who will arrest ordinary citizens merely for saying things online or reposting memes. It’s easy to see why anonymity could be an essential tool in posting ideas and facts the regime doesn’t like.

A European regime insisting on abolishing online anonymity is essentially tantamount to announcing that these regimes want the ability to make more arrests for wrongspeech.This is a growing problem across Europe, and a 2025 study concluded that British police were making 30 arrests per day for non-violent “offensive online messages.” Under British law, one can be prosecuted for hurting someone else’s feelings. That’s not how British apologists describe it, of course, but that is the essential reality. 

Euphemisms for Censorship

Whether we’re talking about France, the UK, or Germany—all places where the despotic enemies of free expression have seemingly free rein—the regimes’ forces do not, of course, come right out and say that they support censorship.

They couch their censorship in the soft language of Leftwing ideology. The claim is that speech........

© Eurasia Review