"Orwellian" will be the word of the decade for the 2020s.
Europeans are furious that the United States has sanctioned Europeans who have been using their power to censor Americans—actual, bona fide individuals who will feel the sting, thank God—and it's hilarious to watch the reactions. They are ridiculous precisely because they are asserting the opposite of the truth.
My favorite?
For far too long, Europe has been weak in implementing its own laws and defending its own interests.
— Raphael Glucksmann (@rglucks1) December 24, 2025
You have chosen to cosy up tyrants and confront democracies. The time has come for us to stand up.
Kneel as much as you want in front of Putin, we are the free world now. https://t.co/nH5KlXVpTQ
"We are the free world now."
Think about that. Mr. Glucksmann, a Member of the European Parliament, goes on a rant and accuses the United States of bowing to a tyrant because...the US is fighting for freedom of expression.
Yeah right https://t.co/UmzADKqESs pic.twitter.com/W1rhgJ6FNj
— Svetlana Lokhova (@RealSLokhova) December 24, 2025
The United Kingdom has been throwing people in jail for making posts on social media, with sentences longer than those given to Islamists who raped British children, yet they insist that they are the true defenders of free speech.
How many fathoms down into the echo chamber do you have to be to write this out and not see the irreconcilable contradiction? https://t.co/1H3xShVKwO
— Joel Engel (@joelengel) December 25, 2025
They just define freedom as slavery.
These sanctions are visa-related. We aren't invoking severe Magnitsky-style financial measures, but our message is clear: if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you're unwelcome on American soil. https://t.co/CYvR1HFnhR
— Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers (@UnderSecPD) December 23, 2025
WE’VE SANCTIONED: Thierry Breton, a mastermind of the Digital Services Act. In August 2024, while serving as European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Digital Services, he published a letter using the DSA to threaten @elonmusk ahead of his livestream interview with President…
— Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers (@UnderSecPD) December 23, 2025
Ed and I both wrote about the sanctions on Wednesday. Well, Ed wrote about them, and I ranted and raved, but you got two good essays out of the flap in any case.
Europeans believe that freedom of speech doesn't include speech that is "harmful," and we all know who gets to define harmful. Objecting to the rape or murder of British women can be deemed harmful, but calling for the murder of Jews is not.
Police have DROPPED all charges against Bob Vylan over their IDF chants at Glastonbury. @ASPolice cited a lack of evidence, even though it was literally broadcast on the BBC.
— Peter Lloyd (@Suffragent_) December 23, 2025
Meanwhile, Lucy Connolly went to prison for a deleted tweet. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/jpxbT8YHYR
As Europeans lecture us on freedom of speech, they simultaneously proudly describe how they execute dawn raids to take away people's communications devices to prevent them from exercising it.
The three people interviewed by Sharyn Alfonsi in this 60 Minutes clip about policing online hate speech in Germany are:
— Martyupnorth®- Unacceptable Fact Checker (@Martyupnorth) December 25, 2025
Dr. Matthäus Fink: A German state prosecutor specializing in hate speech cases.
Svenja Meininghaus: A German state prosecutor working on online hate speech… pic.twitter.com/E1dAHwwquZ
What is striking to me is how the EU has not figured out that free speech is a total red line for the United States, and that Marco Rubio directly warned them on Wednesday that their status as allies of the United States is predicated on respecting the speech rights of Americans, and on our continuing to share values.
EU threatens action after US sanctions 5 prominent Europeans pressuring US companies to censor.
— Grummz (@Grummz) December 25, 2025
Censorship is the enforcement "muscle" of DEI. The EU made it very profitable.
The EU has quietly set up a system of laws that allow them to shake down US companies for cash. The… pic.twitter.com/3FWDZlHNQV
Wednesday's move was not only about protecting the rights of Americans, although that was the headline lead. Rubio went much further, calling into question the existence of NATO (implicitly) itself. A lot of people missed this, but I sure didn't.
"Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested?"
— Free Speech America (@FreeSpeechAmer) December 23, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a warning to Americans over Europe's assault on the First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/tOG8Lf8Ov0
The pullquote is about Americans in particular, but the longer quote is worth noting:
Are we gonna live in a world where some American puts up a social media posts and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested? Um, we’re also concerned about the impact that some of their policies are having on our social media platforms. As you recently saw, you know, X. Is facing this massive multimillion dollar fine that they’re gonna have to pay, I guess, if they want to continue to operate. But I think more importantly, I think it, it, it, it touches on the broader question that was asked a little bit earlier. We all talk about how these alliances, in many cases, our alliances with our European partners are built on our, on our common principles are common values as much as anything else. These aren’t just a geopolitical arrangement. It is an alliance with like-minded countries with whom we share values and principles. And one of those values and principles, we hope is freedom and the freedom of expression, and we’re concerned that that is eroding.
Read the bolded section, and you see that Rubio is putting down a marker. America's historic ties to Europe and willingness to defend it is predicated on a certain understanding of the "free world," and that doesn't include bullying Americans or European citizens to STFU.
"Like-minded countries."
Dear @EmmanuelMacron ,
— Maxim Mironov (@mironov_fm) December 25, 2025
According to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy @kajakallas, traveling is a privilege, not a right.
Practice what you preach. https://t.co/VRpXFn2j6g pic.twitter.com/GYPUWbkGAB
I have been a big fan ot NATO for decades, but I am unconvinced that we should continue to be a member of it. Not because we don't have geopolitical interests in common, but because NATO is made up of countries that are becoming unrecognizable. "The Free World" used to mean something.
I firmly condemn the United States decision to impose travel restrictions on five European individuals including former European Commissioner Thierry Breton
— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) December 24, 2025
How long and how many crises will it take for the United States to understand that, by attacking the European Union…
Laying down a marker is the right thing to do. And if the Europeans don't like it, then they can choose to defend themselves alone.
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