Free speech, censorship, Pete North, Hassan Piker, Graham Linehan, and Guillaume Meurice are all central to this urgent conversation about the global clampdown on online expression. Irish Broadcaster Kevin Myers joins Justin Stares to explore how arrests, deplatforming, and cultural censorship are reshaping the way we speak, write, and debate in the West and beyond.
Recent high-profile cases underline this alarming trend: Linehan arrested in the UK, Pete North detained by police for criticising Hamas and Islam, Hassan Piker questioned at the US border after interviewing French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Guillaume Meurice sacked for mocking Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. These examples show how censorship transcends borders, language, and politics.
Kevin Myers argues that the real danger is not only heavy-handed policing but also the voluntary self-censorship of journalists and cultural institutions. Newspapers now replace common words with asterisks, fearing backlash. This shift, he says, represents a deeper cultural decline tied to political correctness, identity politics, and a new puritanism in public life.
The discussion tackles difficult questions:
Is censorship today a legacy of Marxist cultural influence from the 1960s?
Why are some groups “protected” from criticism while others, especially white heterosexual males, are not?
How do social media algorithms silently deplatform voices by restricting their reach?
Could rising right-wing parties in Europe restore free expression—or will they censor their opponents too?
For Myers, journalism must never shy away from difficult truths, even if it means interviewing dangerous or controversial figures. To censor is to fail the public. And with Silicon Valley platforms increasingly hostile to dissent, the question remains: will rebels turn back to print, underground media, or new platforms outside corporate control?
