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Global Censorship Requires a Global Response

Global Censorship Requires a Global Response

Governments across the world are imposing and enforcing laws to silence free expression, and even free thought.

Increasingly, we are seeing not only the failure to protect free speech, but also the introduction of measures by the state to actively silence and sanction free expression.

Learn more about these cases to see how ADF International is standing against global censorship:

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Governments should focus on protecting speech, not squashing it

Freedom of speech is a prerequisite for a free society, and a fundamental human right guaranteed by every major human rights treaty. Upholding this right is essential for the protection of all of our human rights. 

State-driven censorship fuels cancel culture and a climate of fear. Once the state starts censoring “unpopular” speech, there is no logical stopping point.

Without free speech, every human right is imperiled

While laws that punish speech often impose different punishments and occur in different contexts, the foundation is often very similar. For example, blasphemy laws and “hate speech” laws are both state-driven censorship grounded in the idea that some words are simply too offensive to be heard.

In a free society, ideas should be challenged with ideas, not censorship

As international human rights advocates with deep expertise in defending the right to free speech, ADF International is uniquely positioned to address the escalating censorship crisis in Brazil.

Our work focuses on the international institutions – including the Organization of American States – which were set up to ensure states respect their human rights commitments.

In Brazil, our work includes petitioning the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intervene and protect the fundamental right to free speech in Brazil, holding the state to account for violating its international legal obligations.

Latest News

Finnish Parliamentarian on Trial for Bible Tweet to Testify Before U.S. Congress on Europe’s Growing Censorship Regime 

Finnish Parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen to testify at House Judiciary Committee hearing on her criminal prosecution for “hate speech,” joined by ADF International European legal expert  Räsänen, prosecuted for over six years, is currently awaiting a verdict from
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More Resources

CENSORED: How European "Hate Speech" Laws are Threatening Free Speech

Paul Coleman, ADF International Executive Director

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A Guide to Understanding

The Digital Services Act

ADF International on Global Censorship

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