Free Republic

Media across the ideological spectrum said they will not sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy by Tuesday’s afternoon deadline. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press and CNN said they wouldn’t sign, as did Newsmax and the Washington Times. Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said the policy runs counter to the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press. “The proposed restrictions undercut First Amendment protections by placing unnecessary constraints on gathering and publishing information,” he said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to vigorously and fairly report on the policies and positions of...

‘It is time to return to a world where we can say what we wish without fear of being censored, or deplatformed, or shot dead’. The following remarks were submitted as written testimony at a hearing in front of the Senate Commerce Committee titled, “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans” on Oct. 8, 2025.Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on behalf of First Amendment speech and press rights and against authoritarian censorship designed to shut down the free speech rights of American citizens....

“Hate speech.” The term calls to mind every sort of vile and disgusting insult and racial and ethnic slur. Who could possibly be in favor of allowing that? Large numbers of people instinctively assume that hateful statements, particularly those based on racial, religious or ethnic categories, must surely be illegal. But here in the U.S., such statements in general are not illegal, and not subject to criminal prosecution. A couple of weeks ago, our Attorney General Pam Bondi was recorded on a podcast saying that “We will absolutely . . . go after you, if you are targeting anyone with...

Charlie Kirk died for the same cause that David Horowitz was assaulted for, that Robert Spencer was banned for, and that Ben Shapiro faced bomb threats for: free speech on campus. In an academic environment where a respected 74-year-old scholar like Charles Murray could be physically assaulted at a college while the perpetrators walked away with a ‘mark’ on their permanent record, the willingness of conservatives to appear on campus was an act of courage. To do it the way that Charlie Kirk did was sheer heroism. There’s no question that he made an impact on a minority of students...

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) denied that President Donald Trump attacked free speech rights in a recent Oval Office question and answer session when he complained to the press about negative news stories.CNN's Dana Bash played video of Trump saying Friday, “When somebody is given, 97% of the stories are bad about a person that's no longer free speech, that's no longer anything, that's just cheating.”Clips of Harris, Hilary Clinton etc pushing hard for suppression of free speech for conservatives/banning conservatives from social media because they the Democrats didn't like what conservatives were saying. In fact Hilary and Harris threatened...

Charlie Kirk’s murder proves free speech absolutism cannot withstand lies turned lethal—America must confront hate and incitement with lawful strength, not naïve trust.The murdered Charlie Kirk was a martyr to free speech and the belief in the power of reasoned argument to overcome lies and evil. “Hate speech does not exist legally in America,” he wrote on X in May of 2024. “There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment.” There is much to admire in Charlie’s devotion to those principles, but his murder put those principles to...

The left doesn’t really care about Kimmel or free speech, it’s just about exploiting a convenient storyline to keep their narrative of Trump-is-authoritarian alive.ABC News pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air on Wednesday. Not for being painfully unfunny, and not even for having an opinion. No, Kimmel got yanked because he flat-out lied and claimed: “the MAGA gang desperately [is] trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”It was a pure lie. Following widespread criticism, Nextstar Media Group said its ABC...

Republicans in Congress are launching an aggressive campaign to punish individuals they accuse of posthumously smearing Charlie Kirk, threatening to bring them before lawmakers, defund entities that protect them and oust them from positions of power. They are also trying to castigate one of their own. On Monday evening, two House Republicans introduced resolutions to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and remove her from her congressional committees for comments she made about the conservative influencer during an interview with liberal commentator Mehdi Hasan. During the interview, Omar expressed “empathy” for Kirk’s wife and children but also chastised those who “completely...

Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA

President Trump went on a late-night attack against NBC and ABC News on Sunday, deriding them for what, in his view, was "biased" coverage and said he would be in favor of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoking their licenses. The Republican president said the news outlets had given him negative coverage on "97%" of stories. It wasn’t clear from where Trump was citing the "97%" figure. A study released earlier this year by the conservative media watchdog group, Media Research Center (MRC), found that coverage of the president’s first 100 days in office was "92% negative." "IF THAT IS...

From the outset of forming our country, our Founders were determined to keep religion as a foundational element, given that many people had left their homes in Britain to be able to practice their religions as they chose. The goal was not for the government to reject faith, but for it to be prevented from dictating doctrine. But over the years, the Left has distorted the meaning of “separation of church and state” (a phrase that’s not written into the Constitution) and now the country feels obligated to ban religion from every nook and cranny. How did a country founded...

The Republican-led Texas House has officially caved to the radical Left’s war on free speech—and shockingly, it’s being spearheaded by none other than the state’s own scandal-plagued former House Speaker Dade Phelan. On Tuesday, House Bill 366 passed with bipartisan support, making it a potential crime in the state of Texas to share or distribute AI-generated and “altered media”—including political memes—without a government-approved disclaimer on political ads. According to the bill: “A person may not, with the intent to influence an election, knowingly cause to be published, distributed, or broadcast political advertising that includes an image, audio recording, or video...

The encrypted-messaging service Signal is the application of choice for dissenters around the world. The app has been downloaded by more than 100 million users and boasts high-profile endorsements from NSA leaker Edward Snowden and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk. Signal has created the perception that its users, including political dissidents, can communicate with one another without fear of government interception or persecution. But the insider history of Signal raises questions about the app’s origins and its relationship with government—in particular, with the American intelligence apparatus. Such a relationship would be troubling, given how much we have learned, in recent years,...

During the first two months of Trump's second term, I have noticed that the sheer volume of protests has far exceeded what took place in DC during the first months of his first term. I noticed something else, too: the crowds are far older than any time in the past. What does this tell me? Well, for one it says that young people are not the ones taking to the streets of our nation's capital anymore. Trump gained significant ground on the younger demographic in the most recent election. While MAGA was considered to be a fringe political movement populated...

HAMBURG — Chaos erupted and hundreds fled in a German city once again today, after what witnesses described as a "deranged maniac" allegedly fired off over 17 memes in a crowded shopping mall. The incident occurred during peak shopping hours, with one witness saying that a commotion arose near the food court, as someone began screaming, "Memes! Memes! Run! Run!" before people began making panicked runs for the exits. "You see this on the news, but you never expect to experience it firsthand," said witness Friedrich Müller. "We were just shopping and enjoying our day when this sick lunatic just...

Today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio went on Face the Nation and was confronted with this historical illiteracy from host Margaret Brennan:Brennan: "[Vance] was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide..." Rubio: "I have to disagree with you. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide." "The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews... There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none."

Here’s what she had to say during a recent hearing on censorship: “The thing about the Constitution is that it has always been a balancing test. There are limits to this. And right now what we continue to hear from a certain side of the aisle is that there are no limits to this lawlessness. In fact, there are limits, and I can tell you that one of those limits typically is around hate crimes. You may or may not know that when it comes down to it, if somebody decides that they want to send something hateful in, say,...

Jackson Local School District settled with the teacher, Vivian Geraghty, Dec. 18 for $450,000 in damages and attorney fees.

Every Legal Scholar and Pundit, including the highly respected, and sadly recently passed, David Rivkin, as well as Jonathan Turley, Elie Honig, Andy McCarthy, Alan Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, Elizabeth Price Foley, Katie and Andy Cherkasky, Paul Ingrassia, and many others, have unequivocally stated that the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt is a nonexistent case, which is not only barred by the Statute of Limitations but, on the merits, should never have been brought. This illegitimate political attack is nothing but a Rigged Charade. “Acting” Justice Merchan, who is a radical partisan, just issued another order that is knowingly unlawful, goes against...

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean claimed Thursday on MSNBC’s “All In” that once in office, President Donald Trump will attack free speech, causing the country to be “done for as we know it.” Host Ari Melber said, “I am curious what you see here in the political side of this. These are political efforts to change how people act or change coverage or have some impact. ABC, going to make its own decisions but it was widely covered that the case was not an obvious loss by any means and their statement, I am referring to what ABC...