Free Speech is Under Assault by Trump, not European Allies
Congressman Cohen Questions Premise of Judiciary Committee’s Hearing on a European Threat to American Speech
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today questioned the premise of a Republican-inspired hearing on “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation,” calling it “disingenuous.”
Congressman Cohen recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Britain and described a talk given to the bipartisan delegation by a Conservative member of Parliament at the House of Lords about the Magna Carta, the historic basis of legal freedoms, who told the Americans that the job of a legislator is “to stand up to an out-of-control executive.”
In his remarks, he also said in part:
“I’m a strong supporter of free speech and always have been and I find this hearing a bit disingenuous because of the problems we have in America. Free speech includes the speech of those with whom we disagree – people who say vile things, racist, antisemitic, homophobic, Islamophobic-type speech, something I find foul. However, it’s protected free speech…
“It used to be bipartisan these efforts to protect free speech but President Trump has taken on free speech in ways that have never been thought of…They try to silence and shake down those who don’t conform.”
Congressman Cohen also discussed his SPEECH Act, enacted in 2010, that would prohibit U.S. courts from enforcing foreign defamation judgments for speech protected by the First Amendment. It was the first bill he sponsored to become federal law. The United Kingdom’s expansive libel laws have made UK courts a destination for “libel tourism” and have become a tool for powerful interests to silence unfavorable views. Congressman Cohen questioned why hearing witness Nigel Farage wasn’t focused on those laws, given that he is a sitting Member of Parliament
See his remarks at the hearing here.
Witnesses at today’s hearing were:
- Nigel Farage, a Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom;
- Lorcan Price, Legal Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom International;
- Morgan Reed, President, The App Association;
- David Kaye, Professor of Law at the University of California-Irvine and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression.
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