Just over a month into President Donald Trump’s second term, and the administration’s aggressive, swift action to bolster and protect Americans’ free speech rights and to project the importance of this fundamental liberty far and wide has not abated but only gotten stronger.
Recently, Vice President J.D. Vance admonished European leaders on censorship and the harms of bias in artificial intelligence (AI).
During his remarks at the Paris AI Summit Feb. 12, Vance rightly, and emphatically, stated, “The Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening the screws on US tech companies with international footprints. America cannot and will not accept that and we think it's a terrible mistake not just for the United States of America but for your own countries,” [emphasis added].
He further noted that “[w]e feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”
But his blistering of European leadership in the tech space did not end there.
While speaking at the 2025 Munich Security Conference Feb. 14, Vance declared in a clear and unambiguous manner what he considers to be the greatest threat to Europe: the “threat from within” — and Europe’s withdrawal from fundamental freedoms.
“[I]n Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” warned Vance.
From MRC Free Speech America’s report on the Vance’s speech:
“The vice president cited multiple examples of Europe seemingly forgetting the democratic principles it allegedly holds. He brought up Romania canceling an election because Russia spent money on social media and Scotland preemptively regulating the speech and conduct of people in their own homes if they live near an abortion mill.
“Vance even laid into the very conference at which he was speaking, noting that representatives of opposition parties had been banned from the gathering.
“The vice president also went after rampant government censorship of social media in the EU under the draconian Digital Services Act (DSA), noting both threats to shut down social media by EU bureaucrats and member states that prosecute speech.
“Vance told those in attendance at the Munich Security Conference that the authoritarian behavior of European governments looks appalling to Americans: ‘Now to many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or God forbid vote a different way or even worse win an election.’”
Apart from spreading the pro-free speech message abroad, the Trump team is cleaning house at home.
Though bastions of the Biden-era censorship cartel remain, the Trump administration continues to take executive action to eliminate bad policy and root out bureaucrats that fought to suppress Americans’ first freedoms.
To that effect, a recent Trump Executive Order has, at least temporarily, halted the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a digital financial system built around fiat money that could ultimately be used to form a communist Chinese government-style social credit system.
From Trump’s executive order:
“(a) Except to the extent required by law, agencies are hereby prohibited from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs within the jurisdiction of the United States or abroad. (b) Except to the extent required by law, any ongoing plans or initiatives at any agency related to the creation of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be immediately terminated, and no further actions may be taken to develop or implement such plans or initiatives."
The Trump administration has also been keen to eliminate government censors from within the federal bureaucracy, keeping a key campaign promise.
Dealing a blow to the “nerve center” of the government censorship cartel, the Trump Department f Homeland Security “is moving to fire 12 employees of a federal cybersecurity agency that policed ‘misinformation’ while pausing ‘all elections security activities’ pending further review of free-speech implications,” as reported by the New York Post. The agency implicated, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has already reportedly been shrunk down to size, with the Trump administration cutting 130 total employees so far.
We find ourselves at a key inflection point in American history. And with help from principled individuals and organizations, we can begin to right the American ship, educate others about the threats that still exist and continue to promote freedom both here and abroad.
MRC Free Speech America has more to come on exposing the Biden-era government censorship cartel. Stay tuned!
Conservatives are 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.
