Individualism can take many forms. There’s the art-form exclusionist, who disregards Oscar Wilde to believe they are a better life kind because they watch Game of Thronesinstead of Jersey Shore. The exclusionist believes that following a basketball team from a nation that was once colonized is a contemporary kind of politics. Then there is the nation-state exclusionist, who assumes status as a result of their predecessors ‘ decision to fight European colonizers. And among them, none are worse than the Americans—the first to rid themselves of the Europeans and spent the next 250 times telling everyone about it.
The Free Speech Idiot
Nothing is the country’s view on free speech more apparent than in Will McAvoy’s statement, a delusion that is bipartisan, regardless of whether one votes red, orange, or purple. Get a recent New Yorker part titled The Detention of Mahmoud KhalilIs a Flagrant Assault on Free Speech, which, like all others in the similar vein, operates under the premise that Trump isn’t ceteris paribus but a special, Agent Smith-like glitch in the British model.
You shouldn’t be shocked by this obvious duplicity if you’re not. America’s like encounter with free talk has always been more situationship than determination. The nation has developed the skill of consistently supporting free speech in principle while consistently undermining it in practice.
The communication has always been that opposition comes at a price, from the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s, when suspected socialists were blacklisted and Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles were imprisoned, to the FBI’s COINTELPRO system in the 1960s and 1970s, which wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr., removed Muhammad Ali of his fighting name, and labeled civil rights activists as threats to national security.
The post-9/11 era ushered in the Patriot Act, transforming mass surveillance into an art form and forcing whistleblowers like Edward Snowden into exile. When Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks criticized Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, country radio stations blacklisted the group, and their CDs were burned in a contemporary book-burning spectacle. Even the entertainment industry wasn’t immune.
Fast forward to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, when Republican-led states passed laws that made it easier to detain journalists and beat protesters, and some states even made it legal to run over protesters while using cars. Colin Kaepernick learned the hard way that peaceful protest is only tolerated when it doesn’t challenge the status quo—his NFL career ended the moment he took a knee against racial injustice.
While the officials responsible for those crimes continue to live their lives undisturbed, Julian Assange is still in legal limbo for exposing US war crimes through Wikileaks, facing a potential 175-year prison sentence.
Schrodinger’s Freedom of Expression
Mahmoud Khalil A recent graduate from Columbia University, a Palestinian activist, and most importantly, a legal green card holder. The US government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided he is a threat—not for any crime, not for inciting violence, not even for some convoluted money trail leading to a nefarious organization. His actual offense? Exercising the First Amendment claim to protect as well as Musk, Trump, and Trump.
Now, he’s facing deportation. Because free speech is sacred in America. Unless, of course, you fail the check for political vibe.
And Khalil isn’t alone. Under the pressure of the Trump administration, Columbia University recently issued multi-year suspensions, degree revocations, and expulsions against students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, demonstrating once more that campus activism is a privilege, not a right.
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student in Columbia’s urban planning program, was accused of supporting Hamas but unsurprisingly, no proof was presented. The Department of Homeland Security also accused her of supporting the organization. A Fulbright scholar with degrees from Harvard and Columbia, Srinivasan was forced to leave the US, self-deporting via the CBP Home App.
Right before crucial contract negotiations between the union and the university, Grant Miner, president of the Student Workers of Columbia ( SWC ) union, was expelled. After almost a year of disciplinary proceedings, Miner was removed without any evidence, according to SWC. The union condemned Columbia’s actions as an outright attempt to silence student labor organizers.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student, was accused of overstaying her F-1 student visa and faced deportation as Columbia began to protest pro-Palestinian student activists. The timing wasn’t at all alarming.
But that’s the thing—America has always been selective about whose speech is protected.
History of Suppression
The Civil War and Anti-War Speech Suppression (1860s) – President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, allowing the arrest of anti-war activists without trial. Newspapers sympathetic to the Confederacy were shut down, and editors were jailed. Democratic politician Clement Vallandigham was arrested and exiled to the Confederacy for criticising Lincoln’s war policies.
The Palmer Raids (1919-1920) – Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, in a Red Scare-induced frenzy, led mass arrests of suspected radicals and anarchists. Over 10,000 people were detained without warrants, and immigrants were deported without due process, including feminist and anarchist Emma Goldman.
Japanese-American Internment (1942-1945) – After Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing 120,000 Japanese-Americans into internment camps. Speaking out against internment could get you fired, harassed, or worse. Newspapers like The Pacific Citizen faced censorship, and protest within internment camps was crushed.
Hollywood Blacklist (1947-1960s) – The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) turned paranoia into policy, jailing the Hollywood Ten for refusing to testify about their political beliefs. Screenwriters like Dalton Trumbo and directors like Orson Welles were blacklisted. Careers were destroyed, studios refused to hire suspected leftists, and actors like Charlie Chaplin were effectively exiled.
The Pentagon Papers and the War on Journalists (1971-Present) – When Daniel Ellsberg leaked The Pentagon Papers, exposing how the US government had systematically lied about the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration tried to block publication. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the press, but the precedent was set—whistleblowers became the government’s favourite target. Fast forward to the modern era, and journalists like Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange are still feeling the heat for exposing government misconduct.
The War on Protesters (1980s-Present) – From the heavy-handed police response to Ferguson protests in 2014 to laws making it easier to criminalise demonstrations, America’s approach to dissent has remained consistent: crush it. The Black Lives Matter protests saw thousands arrested, police deploying military-grade equipment, and some states even legalising running over protestors with cars.
Post-9/11 and the Patriot Act (2001-Present) – The government turned mass surveillance into a national sport. The NSA indiscriminately collected Americans’ phone records, emails, and metadata, while whistleblowers like Edward Snowden had to flee the country for exposing it. The FBI used secret National Security Letters (NSLs) to gag journalists, and Muslim communities found themselves under constant government scrutiny for “suspicious” speech.
The NFL and Trump’s War on Kneeling (2017-Present) – When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, Trump called him a traitor and demanded his firing. The NFL complied, and Kaepernick never played another game, proving that even the illusion of free speech disappears when it makes powerful people uncomfortable.
Anti-BDS Laws and the Israel Exception (2017-Present) – More than 35 states passed laws punishing individuals or businesses for boycotting Israel, because in America, you’re free to protest—unless it’s against the wrong ally. In 2018, a Texas teacher was fired for refusing to sign a pro-Israel pledge. Even college professors have lost jobs for criticising Israel, showing that free speech is anything but universal.
The Rise of Deplatforming and Selective Censorship (2020-Present) – Trump was banned from Twitter for inciting a riot, yet Iran’s Supreme Leader and other authoritarian leaders still enjoy full access to social media. Jordan Peterson, Andrew Tate, and Alex Jones were deplatformed, sparking ongoing debates about whether Big Tech functions as a protector of democracy or a Silicon Valley thought police. Eventually they would all be brought back by Musk.
The War on “Woke” vs. The War on “Offensive Speech” (Ongoing) – Whether it’s J.K. Rowling being hounded for her views on gender, Dave Chappelle being protested for telling jokes, or university professors losing jobs for discussing biological sex, the left has its own version of speech suppression. Meanwhile, conservative states are busy banning books on race, LGBTQ+ issues, and history under the guise of “protecting children.”
Covid-19 and the Battle Over Truth (2020-Present) – In the early days of the pandemic, social media platforms cracked down on “misinformation,” banning discussions about lab-leak theories, lockdown policies, and vaccine skepticism—some of which later turned out to be legitimate debates. Scientists questioning lockdowns were blacklisted, tech giants took down posts under government pressure, and speech was regulated under the guise of “public health.”
The notion that America is the world’s beacon of free speech has always been a marketing ploy. Just ask the black man. Or the activist. Or the author. Or anyone who has ever dared to challenge the system and found themselves exiled, deplatformed, or worse. So, remember that when an American talks to you about free speech, remember that it’s not a right; it’s a privilege. When it poses a threat to the organization’s standing.
