By Jacob Mchangama
Last week, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance shocked an A-list group of European political and military leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany with a blunt message: Europe has gone too far in restricting speech. According to Vance, the main threat against European security does not emanate from Russia or China, but rather from “within” due to “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” He then lectured his European counterparts that “Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.”
At a time when global free speech protections are eroding, Vance’s critique of Europe could have been a powerful call for realignment between the United States and Europe on advancing free expression. But America’s credibility as a defender of free speech is being undercut by the very government Vance represents. If he and the Trump administration are serious about championing free expression worldwide, they must recognize that the problem isn’t just in Europe—it’s at home, too.
Let’s start with what Vance got right. Free speech is in retreat in the Old World and European governments are increasingly turning to censorship and speech restrictions in a misguided attempt to defend democracy. Some of the examples that Vance offered missed relevant context and were cherrypicked to cater to an American audience. But he didn’t need to twist facts or omit details to prove—beyond a reasonable doubt—that European democracies and institutions see free expression as a double-edged sword.
Take one of Vance’s hosts, Germany’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Green Party. In November last year, Habeck authorized a police raid of a man who had made various online posts, including a meme calling Habeck a “professional idiot.” As recently documented by CBS 60 Minutes, police investigations for online speech crimes happen to literally thousands of people in Germany. Those on the receiving end include climate activists, pro-Palestinian activists, and ordinary people critical of their local political representatives. Even posting a book cover on X that features a barely visible swastika on a facemask—intended to draw sarcastic parallels between COVID policies and Nazi-era policies—can lead to a criminal conviction for displaying prohibited symbols.
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Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).