Free Republic

From today's decision in Melton v. City of Forrest City, written by Judge David Stras, joined by Judges Lavenski Smith and Ralph Erickson: Steven Melton is a pro-life, evangelical Christian. In June 2020, he reposted a black-and-white image on Facebook that depicted a silhouette of a baby in the womb with a rope around its neck. His intent was to convey that he was "anti-abortion." Others did not view the image the same way. Two weeks after he posted it, a retired fire-department supervisor complained to Melton that he thought it looked like a noose around the neck of a...

Ursula's new "European Media Freedom Act" permits the arrest of journalists if it is in the "public interest." ... The act also allows surveillance software to be deployed on devices used by media service providers, editorial staff, or related persons in the “public interest. Who decides the “public interest?” Sophie ... The new law also contains numerous provisions that call for action against alleged "disinformation." Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President ... "national lists" are to be created listing the owners and addresses of media outlets, as stipulated in Article 6. Despite its intent to strengthen media freedom, critics...

JD Vance has said he does not want the UK to go down a "very dark path" of losing free speech during a meeting with the foreign secretary at his country estate. The US vice president has previously raised concerns that free speech is being eroded in the UK. However, during a two-day visit to David Lammy's grace and favour 115-room mansion, Chevening House in Kent, Mr Vance kept his criticism a bit more low key. Asked about free speech in the UK during a televised meeting of the two men, Mr Vance said he has "raised concerns" about free...

When it comes to its “Star Wars” franchise, The Walt Disney’s Company’s Death Star just exploded. On Thursday, in a decisive turn of events, Disney and conservative actress Gina Carano announced the settlement of a lawsuit Carano filed last year accusing the House of Mouse of wrongful termination. And while the exact terms weren’t disclosed, there’s no doubt who the winner was. Carano’s statements on Thursday make it clear. “[A]nd the truth shall set you free,” she wrote in a post on the social media platform X. She followed that up with a lengthier statement that thanked mega-billionaire and Renaissance...

If you report unfavorably about homelessness, open drug use, criminal illegal gangs terrorizing apartment complexes, etc., the Denver Post (a HORRIBLE newspaper that does no good reporting on these issues) will use your public records request to try to get you fired and shut up. ... Censorship, when you can't debate the facts. ... There’s more. Wait ... AG Weiser of CO put Tina Peters in jail, is going after deputies who work with ICE, but refuses to charge criminals until they steal their 3rd or 4th car in 3 months. ... The good news is that the Denver Post...

The EU is inching toward the biggest peacetime surveillance experiment in its history, with plans to quietly search every private message before you hit send. The European Union is still wrestling with a controversial plan that would turn private messaging services into surveillance tools. For over three years, talks have stalled over whether providers should be forced to scan every user’s messages for possible illegal material and forward anything suspicious to law enforcement. The European Commission is still pushing for a universal scanning requirement. In contrast, the European Parliament insists any checks should apply only to unencrypted messages from people...

A controversial European Union proposal dubbed “Chat Control” is regaining momentum, with 19 out of 27 EU member states reportedly backing the measure. The plan would mandate that messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram, must scan every message, photo and video sent by users starting in October, even if end-to-end encryption is in place, popular French tech blogger Korben wrote on Monday. Denmark reintroduced the proposal on July 1, the first day of its EU Council presidency. France, once opposed, is now in favor, Korben said, citing Patrick Breyer, a former member of the European Parliament for Germany and...

Rep. Ramirez (D-IL) says in Spanish: "I am a proud Guatemalan before I am American"

Fifteen people have been arrested after protests across England outside hotels used to house asylum seekers. Anti-migrant groups and counter demonstrators clashed in London and Newcastle, and before a march in Manchester city centre. Nine people were arrested in the capital, seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions, the Metropolitan Police said. A series of protests outside the migrant hotels have been taking place in recent weeks. The Home Office has said the number of hotels being used for asylum seekers has decreased from more than 400 in summer 2023, to less than 210. It also announced plans to end...

Orwell's Big Brother is definitely peering into every aspect of one's life in the United Kingdom.The latest step into dystopian hell is the so-called Online Safety Act, and it was enacted into law in the name of, again, as you might imagine, FOR THE CHILDREN.As these sorts of things tend to be.The way people in the UK might navigate the internet is changing.Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must take action - such as carrying out age checks - to stop children seeing illegal and harmful material from July.Services face large fines if they fail to comply with UK's sweeping...

In another display of a double standard, patriotic Americans are being blocked from wearing pro-Trump or conservative gear at public concerts and sporting events. Yet, Pride and trans flags are allowed to be freely displayed. At venues like NFL stadiums, pro-Trump shirts or MAGA hats have been confiscated or banned, with fans told that political attire isn’t allowed. Meanwhile, displays of Pride and trans flags are embraced—often part of official event branding or venue-supported inclusion campaigns. In a video posted to X, a man taped himself being kicked out of a St. Louis City game for wearing a MAGA hat....

The White House has warned Sir Keir Starmer to stop threatening American tech companies amid mounting backlash over Britain’s online safety law. Members of Donald Trump’s administration are monitoring the Online Safety Act with “great interest and concern” after key allies said it was censoring free speech and imposing unfair burdens on US businesses. The law, which regulates online speech, allows the British government to levy massive fines on companies like Apple, Truth Social, and X if it finds that rules on hate speech have been broken. Those in the president’s inner circle see the potential penalties as an unwarranted...

A church in Montreal, Quebec, has been slapped with a $2,500 fine for hosting a church service featuring activist missionary and worship leader Sean Feucht, whose views on sexuality, gender and President Donald Trump have drawn the ire of authorities in multiple Canadian cities. Ministerios Restauración Church, a Spanish-speaking congregation in Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, was fined because they allowed Feucht to conduct a worship service last Friday without a permit, according to the National Post. The stop in Montreal was part of the "Revive in 25" tour being led by Feucht, an outspoken Trump supporter who has denounced abortion, transgender...

King Charles is allegedly "very concerned" that US President Donald Trump could launch into a massive rant about immigration during his second state visit to the UK in September, a source has claimed. It comes shortly after the US president sent Prime Minister Keir Starmer "advice" about the ongoing small boat crisis. While on a private visit to Scotland, Mr Trump warned the Prime Minister that those coming across on dinghies are "bad people", but praised efforts to end crossings. Meanwhile, after arriving in Scotland on Friday, the US politician made headlines after he declared that illegal migration is a...

The British government has reportedly tasked a specialist police unit to surveil social media for anti-mass migration opinions as it braces for another potential summer of unrest. Rather than address the concerns of the public, such as removing the mostly young male illegal migrants from the taxpayer-funded hotel accommodations in communities across the country, the UK Home Office has formed the National Internet Intelligence Investigations to “maximise social media intelligence” about anti-mass migration sentiment on social media, according to The Telegraph. The team will work out of the Covid lockdown-enforcing National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in London. It comes amid...

Today marks the first anniversary of the slaughter at Southport - at one of those summer-resort activities you sign your kids up for, with nary a thought. In this case, it was a Taylor Swift dance-class, from which three little girls never came home: Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine years old; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Bebe King six. As Lucy Connolly could tell us if she weren't rotting in Starmer's Lubyanka, nothing is more traumatising than the death of a child. So we remember Alice, Elsie and Bebe even as Britain's "mainstream" media has chosen mostly to memory-hole them,...

A federal judge approved a settlement this week between the Davidson County Board of Education and the parents of a student who was suspended for using the term “illegal alien” in class. Leah and Chad McGhee’s 16-year-old son was suspended for three days last year after making what school officials called a “racially insensitive remark.” The parents filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education shortly after the incident. Now, court documents show the parties have reached a settlement. The school board has agreed to issue a public apology for the “mischaracterization of racial bias” of the student’s comments and...

High school student suspended for saying "illegal aliens" also gets payout to cover his private school. Professor who banned Christian student from defending gun rights removed from class. Calling Hamas a "terrorist" organization, illegal immigration a "cancer" and people who illegally immigrate "illegal aliens" is no longer punishable speech at taxpayer-funded schools in California and North Carolina, under settlements to resolve litigation this month.In a third quadrant of America, Eastern Maine Community College didn't wait for litigation before replacing a professor who called a Christian student a hypocrite for defending the Second Amendment in a debate assignment, and twice ordered...

When Joe Biden made his power grab in 2020, he didn’t waste time pretending to be a unifier. As a matter of fact, one of the very first things his weaponized DOJ did, just two days after Inauguration Day, was launch a political hit job on Douglass Mackey, a young conservative mover and shaker who dared to mock Hillary Clinton with a satirical meme back in 2016.. Many believe that move was a test run, a little judicial experiment to see if the regime could jail someone for speech. Could they twist a funny meme into a federal crime? Could...

~An official message from the French government via its mission to the United Nations:That's a definition of free speech we can all get behind! You have the right to say whatever you want as long as the government has graciously agreed to permit it.What's somewhat dispiriting about the brazen authoritarianism of the above is that, after my hard-fought battle in Canada, I am well aware that, wherever you live, half your neighbours will accept that this definition sounds eminently reasonable. What does that boil down to in practice? Well, in order to prevent you noticing that a significant proportion of...