Tag: free speech

The threat to free speech is universal

A culture of fear is undermining ordinary people’s freedom of expression, as a new report into self-censorship in the US attests.

The headline statistic of the report, produced by the Cato Institute, is that 62 per cent of Americans agree with the statement, ‘The political climate these days prevents me from saying things I believe because others might find them offensive’. This figure has risen from 58 per cent in 2017.

The report demonstrates a number of key points. One is that concern for the health of free speech is not the preserve of the right. Though conservatives are more likely to say they self-censor (77 per cent), just over half of liberals (52 per cent) and nearly two thirds of moderates (64 per cent) say they do, too. Indeed, ‘strong liberals’ are the only group who disagree with the above statement by a majority – and even among them, there has been a 12 percentage-point increase since 2017 in those who feel they have to self-censor. This is a greater increase than that among moderates and conservatives.

As for the percentage of those who fear for their job prospects due to their views, this is very similar across political lines: 34 per cent of conservatives, 31 per cent of liberals and 30 per cent of moderates ‘worry they could miss out on job opportunities or get fired if their political views became known’.

Free-speech worries cross ethnic divides, too. Sixty-five per cent of Latino Americans – one percentage point more than white Americans – ‘have political views they are afraid to share’. Meanwhile, 49 per cent of African Americans are in the same position.

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Police Confiscate Man’s Firearm After Anonymous “Antifa” Members Accuse Him of Being a “Racist”

A California man had his registered firearm seized by local police after “antifa” members on social media accused him of being racist on the internet — the first case of its kind.

On July 7th/8th, left-wing extremist twitter user @anonymouscommie doxed a Sacramento resident named Andrew Casarez. The anonymous account accused him of being a “neo-Nazi troll.”

On the very same day, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office opened up an investigation into him. During a background check, they found that Casarez was a registered gun owner. On July 13th, 2020, Sergeant Nate Grgich executed a search warrant for his home and car.

Nothing illegal or of a criminal nature was found during the search, but Sgt. Grgich was able to get a judge’s permission to seize Casarez’s handgun, a pair of pants and a “racist” t-shirt using a new law enforcement tool called a “gun restraining order,” which was signed by Judge Jaime R. Roman.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is bragging about being the first in the country to seize a firearm using primarily the owner’s political ideology as the excuse.

On the case, spokesperson Lacey Nelson was quoted as saying “This search warrant it’s the first of its kind at least in the country. As far as how we obtained it and were able to serve it […] He was posting enough racist rhetoric and propaganda on Facebook that it was concerning that his behaviors could become violent in retaliation.”

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