Brussels book event on rise of Islamism in schools cancelled after threats
A public conference on Islamism in schools, scheduled to take place at a Brussels bookstore, has been cancelled after organisers received threats apparently from…
Free speech
Latest reporting and analysis on free speech.
German police raid man’s home over tweet mocking Greens’ politician
A man in Bavaria had his house raided by police after retweeting a meme mocking German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens party.
Israel in shock after ‘anti-Semitic football violence’ in Amsterdam
Reported anti-Semitic violence following a football match in Amsterdam between Dutch team Ajax and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv has caused shock in Israel and across…
Swedish Quran burner jailed over racial hatred conviction
Rasmus Paludan, a Danish anti-Islam activist and politician who made world headlines by publicly burning Qurans in Scandinavia, has been jailed for hate crimes.
Trump’s victory means more ‘transparency’ for EU, says Republicans Overseas member
As Donald Trump is elected 47th President of the United States, Brussels-based Republicans Overseas member Aleksander Pruitt said the victory would mean more "transparency"…
EU X ban prospect raised during Rule-of-Law Commissioner hearing
Michael McGrath, the Irish politician hoping to become the next EU Rule of Law Commissioner, has been pressed on whether he would support a ban on Elon Musk's X…
Big Brother in Paris? French Government plans to monitor civilians’ online activity to identify protest plans
The French Government has said it planned to monitor what citizens search for on platforms such as Google, TikTok and Instagram.
Berlin-funded music show censors anti-Communist song
A well-known anti-Communist song has been censored by a show co-funded by the German Government, local media have reported.
Ireland’s new hate-crime law gives legal status to 72 genders
Ireland has brought a new Hate Crime Bill into law but leading Irish gay and feminist advocates have said the new legislation was sloppily drafted and "threatens…
Polish radio station U-turns on AI journalists replacing live presenters
Publicly owned Off Radio Kraków has stopped using AI journalists in place of human presenters after protests from reporters and the State media regulator.
French RN chief Bardella cries ‘censorship’ as train network SNCF bans his book ads
France's National Rally (RN) president Jordan Bardella has claimed he is the target of “censorship” after adverts for his new book, Ce que je cherche (What I'm…
An accused cop or soldier, his human rights vanish like a lizard down a crack
Two years ago, Chris Kaba, a black Londoner, professional criminal and violent gang-member was shot dead by a member of the London Metropolitan Police while driving…
Notre-Dame entry-fee plan angers Catholic Church
French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati has proposed a €5 entry fee for visitors to the medieval Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris sparking strong opposition from…
Labour party-linked UK anti-hate speech NGO ‘tried to kill Musk’s Twitter’
Responding to the news of the scheme, Musk stated: "This is war".
Any more of this human ‘progress’ and we will hit species extinction
A former British soldier, Adam Smith-Connor, was last week convicted of silently praying for the soul of his aborted child outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth…
Ireland announces EU-wide online speech controls
Unveiled on October 21, the Online Safety Code - a document drawn up by the country's Coimisiún na Meán media regulator - applies across the EU for platforms that…
French feminists cancel event in Brussels amid death threats from trans activists
French journalist and author Dora Moutot and feminist activist Marguerite Stern have had to cancel a scheduled conference at Café Laïque in Brussels following…
French Communist senators call on government to put down Christian protests
"These fundamentalist practices raise concerns for us as they challenge the foundations of our republican principles."
Azeri’s Aliyev: brutal, murderous but the West says, ‘Look at all his luscious oil’
In principle, we do not like autocrats. We also clearly condemn ethnic cleansing practices.
Turkey blocks instant messaging platform Discord
Turkey has blocked access to the instant messaging platform Discord following a court decision after the platform refused to share information demanded by the…
European Commission refers Hungary to EU Court of Justice over ‘sovereignty law’
Hungary claimed that it did not infringe EU law and that the concerns raised were unfounded.
Assange was ‘political prisoner’, says Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
A few months after his release from prison, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has recognised Julian Assange as a political prisoner.
Berlin police raid homes of five men on suspicion of ‘pro-Palestinian’ crimes
German authorities have raided the homes of five men suspected of involvement in "pro-Palestinian-motivated crimes" as part of a broader effort to crack down on…
‘Free Speech absolutist’ X suspended over 5 million accounts in first half of 2024
The first transparency report X published since its takeover by Elon Musk shows the platform still moderates its users heavily.
Brussels bookshop axes conservatives to protect ‘inclusive space’
A Brussels bookshop has reversed its decision to host a Conservative event, in the hope of preserving its status as an "inclusive space", organisers of the gathering…
Ireland drops controversial new ‘hate-speech’ laws
The Irish Government has announced it will drop its highly controversial plans to introduce new prohibitions on so-called "hate speech".
Telegram update to let authorities access users’ data
Messaging app Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy, indicating that the application is set to provide users' data to authorities.
Kyiv bans the use of Telegram for Ukraine officials, citing security concerns
Ukraine's National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCC) has decided to ban the use of social media platform Telegram for officials, citing security concerns.
German police try to strong-arm US media company’s freedom of speech
Political correctness in its original sense is a notion used in the early 20th century by totalitarian regimes in order to describe what was in tune with the party…
Estonian professor stripped of ‘Emeritus’ status for attending Russian conference
Estonia's Tallinn University has revoked the Emeritus status of Rein Müllerson, an internationally recognised expert in international law, following his participation…