The new pope of the Catholic Church emphasized the importance of free speech while warning of another looming threat: Big Tech.
Pope Leo XIV told journalists on Monday that the “precious gift of free speech” must be protected, though he also condemned “prejudice” and “hatred.” He more directly addressed Big Tech, criticizing the potential negative side effects of the artificial intelligence boom.
According to Breitbart’s translation of the pope’s Italian remarks, Leo told journalists, “The Church must face the challenges posed by the times. In the same way, communication and journalism do not exist outside of time and history. Saint Augustine reminds of this when he said, ‘Let us live well, and the times will be good. We are the times.’”
He added, “Communication is not only the transmission of information, but it is also the creation of a culture, of human and digital environments that become spaces for dialogue and discussion.”
Leo cited journalists imprisoned by corrupt or despotic regimes, including communist China and Vietnam. “The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press,” he stated, as quoted by Breitbart.
Pope Leo speaks on free speech pic.twitter.com/O8sQWF0Qad
— Catherine Salgado (@CatSalgado32) May 13, 2025
Though the new pope is American, he appeared to echo the language of censorship-prone Europeans, condemning “fanaticism and even hatred,” and calling for the need to “disarm words”—though it was not clear exactly what he meant by the latter phrase.
Leo spoke more strongly on AI, saying the risks of this increasingly popular technology were on his mind. He noted that even his choice of papal name was intentional related to new tech, as he drew parallels to Leo XIII, who had warned about some societal harms of the Industrial Revolution.
The Church can provide guidance amid “developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,” Leo said, according to Breitbart. He further elaborated that these developments require “responsibility and discernment” from journalists “in order to ensure that [AI] can be used for the good of all, so that it can benefit all of humanity.”
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
