Free Republic

Half a century ago, George Orwell, writing on literary censorship, wrote that “unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban.” That dynamic now broadly extends to an opaque network of government agencies and self-proclaimed anti-misinformation groups that have repressed online speech. There’s no official ban on discussing the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines or criticizing American involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, but editors and journalists have realized that writing on such topics can come at a cost. News publishers have been demonetized and shadow-banned for reporting dissenting views and the bureaucratic means...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's Prime Minister on Tuesday called protests over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad a global crisis and appealed for calm. "We are now facing a growing global crisis," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. "It now is something else than the drawings in Jyllands-Posten." The Jyllands-Posten, a Danish paper, first published the drawings that have sparked violent protests in Muslim countries worldwide. They have since been reprinted in media around the world. Demonstrators in Afghanistan on Tuesday clashed with NATO forces, and three protesters were killed. "Now it has become an international political matter," he said. "I urge calm...

COPENHAGEN - Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will visit Houston, Texas, later this month to receive an award honoring the country's World War II rescue of thousands of Jews from occupying Nazi forces. Fogh Rasmussen who will be in Houston April 20-22, will receive the Lyndon B. Johnson Moral Courage Award during a ceremony at the Holocaust Museum Houston on April 21, his office said Thursday. The award was given to Denmark for "the miraculous action by people of all levels to save the Jewish population during the Holocaust," the museum said. Previous recipients include U.S. Secretary of State...