Vice President JD Vance urged European leaders to respect the voices of their people, warning them against the rising “threat from within” that has prompted censorship of so-called hate speech and misinformation.
Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference Friday, where he argued that free speech is “in retreat,” drawing on numerous examples of European countries suppressing citizens’ speech: German police raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist content online, the Swedish government convicting a Christian activist for burning Qurans, and the United Kingdom persecuting pro-life activists for praying in their heads.
“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor, and what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental…
