Join Us! The 2026 Global Free Speech Summit returns on October 2–3 in Nashville, TN. Hosted by The Future of Free Speech and Vanderbilt University, this event brings together global leaders, thinkers, and change-makers to confront the most urgent threats to freedom of expression and explore bold, resilient solutions. Guests will have the opportunity to attend networking receptions where they can exchange ideas with speakers and other guests.
🎟️ Spots are limited. Get your tickets here.
This Week at a Glance 🔎
🇺🇸 Judge lets Pentagon fire Stars and Stripes journalists
🇺🇸 FCC chair eyes “a lot of actions” after Trump targets NBC anchor
🇫🇷 Macron pushes EU-wide social media ban for under-15s
🇬🇧 UK police made 62,199 “speech offense” arrests in five years
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan jails election monitor for 13 years
First of All 🇺🇸
» Judge Lets Pentagon Fire Journalists
A federal judge declined to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staffers who say they were punished for speaking out.
Context:
📰 Stars and Stripes is a military paper partially funded by the Pentagon. It is legally required to remain editorially independent.
Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte got separation notices after a CBS interview on the paper’s independence, as covered in a previous Free Flow
Pentagon officials directed publisher Max Lederer to fire the pair; he refused and instead announced his retirement.
The Ruling:
⚖️ U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled Slavin and Korte spoke in their official roles, making their words speech that the First Amendment does not protect.
McFadden said editorial independence “is not at stake here” and that the plaintiffs failed to show that their firing will chill free speech.
At least two other suits accuse the Pentagon of interfering with the outlet’s editorial integrity and independence.
» FCC Chair Eyes Action Against Broadcasters
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency is “looking at a lot of actions” after President Trump demanded it punish NBC’s Kristen Welker.
Details: :
📺 Welker argued that Trump-backed candidates had “mixed results” in primaries, as noted in last week’s Free Flow
Trump accused her of “purposeful inaccuracy” and said she “will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
Carr signaled the FCC is weighing a ban on broadcasting “fake” polls, among other policies on political coverage.
Our Take: The Trump administration has used the FCC to target speech. We’ve been pushing back. At the Washington Examiner, Ashkhen Kazaryan and the ACLU’s Jenna Leventoff wrote: “The FCC has made its goal clear: It wants to retaliate against broadcasters with a different political bent by burying them in baseless regulatory enforcement. Such a move sends a warning to other media that they should walk the administration’s preferred line or else.”
» Court Declines to Block Minnesota “Nudify” Ban
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank again denied xAI’s request for a preliminary injunction against a Minnesota ban on AI tools that make sexual images of real people without their consent.
Details:
⚖️ The law, passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support, was signed in May and took effect August 1.
It bans website operators and software developers from using AI to create fake nudes of identifiable people, with fines of up to $500,000 per unlawful download.
xAI called the law a “clumsy attempt” and an “overbroad, content-based ban on free speech.”
xAI added that it already bars users from making nonconsensual nude images, and it has sued users who bypass its blocks to do so.
Our Take: The law “would likely discourage companies entirely from offering image generation in those states,” Jeff Kosseff warned at The Bedrock Principle. “Companies would fear that they could not guarantee with absolute certainty that users would not misuse their services, and it is unlikely that they would risk a half-million-dollar fine each time a user circumvented their controls.”
The Digital Age 🤖
» U.S. Slams UK Plan to Boost Traditional Media
The U.S. Embassy in London warned that a UK plan to make platforms boost traditional broadcasters “risks becoming a mechanism for viewpoint-based censorship.”
Details:
🇺🇸 The U.S. said it sets “a template that authoritarian regimes could invoke” and risks “extraterritorial censorship of protected speech by Americans.”
The Embassy asked what safeguards would keep UK officials’ preferences from sidelining minority viewpoints.
Supporters of boosting traditional media outlets such as the BBC argue that it helps combat disinformation and preserve culturally British content.
The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺
» Macron Pushes for Under-15s Social Media Ban
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to pass an EU-wide ban on social media for children under 15.
Details:
Macron is turning to Brussels after France’s Constitutional Council struck down a domestic ban, as covered in a previous Free Flow.
Von der Leyen has backed a tiered approach that loosens restrictions as children get older; Macron wants a blanket ban for everyone under 15.
Several EU states — including Spain and Denmark — want to copy Australia’s landmark ban, but members differ on how to rein in addictive platforms.
» MEPs Demand EU Action on Meta
Fifty-two MEPs demanded the Commission force Meta to strip addictive features for European minors, matching the company’s promise to U.S. states.
Details:
✉️ The letter points to Meta’s $16.7 billion settlement with U.S. states, in which it agreed to limit teen social media use, as detailed in a previous Free Flow.
The MEPs argue that EU inaction has left European children less protected than American ones.
They are also frustrated that the EU has yet to close its 2024 Digital Services Act probe into Meta.
MEPs want immediate fines, and, if needed, court-ordered shutdowns, which bite cash-rich tech companies far harder.
» 62,000 UK “Speech Offense” Arrests
UK police have arrested 62,199 people for “speech offenses” in five years, per a Big Brother Watch report.
Details:
🚓 The organization argues that the “elasticity of vaguely defined speech offenses” in legislation enables overzealous policing.
Many activists agree that threats of violence warrant police intervention, but they argue officers are increasingly targeting “thought crimes” over physical offenses.
Police have arrested parents for complaining about their children’s schools and urged some to complete “online thinking skills” classes.
Big Brother Watch is calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to launch a “free speech reset” by ordering a review of speech laws and police practices.
Free Speech Recession 🌍
» Taliban Shutters Shiite TV Station
Taliban forces raided Rah-e-Farda TV in Kabul, forced it off the air, and took owner Salman Akhlaqi to an unknown site.
Details:
📡 The raid followed the station’s coverage of a Taliban raid on a Shiite seminary in Kabul.
In February, the Taliban shut down the station for three months and revoked its former owners’ license before letting it reopen under Akhlaqi.
It is one of the last broadcasters serving Afghanistan’s Shiite community.
» Russia Brands Novaya Gazeta “Foreign Agent”
Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Novaya Gazeta a “foreign agent”
Details::
🇷🇺 Authorities claim the outlet publicly opposed the invasion of Ukraine, spread false election information, and collaborated with other “foreign agents.”
The label forces disclaimers on all published content, including social media posts.
Over 100 individuals tied to the paper were listed as “affiliated with foreign agents.”
Russia has expanded its “foreign agents” list to over 1,250 people and entities — including Nobel Prize winners and poets — in an ongoing effort to silence dissent.
» Azerbaijan Jails Election Monitor for 13 Years
A Baku court sentenced election monitor Anar Mammadli and journalist Anar Abdullayev to 13 and 12 years in prison.
Details:
⚖️ Mammadli was charged with smuggling, illegal business, money laundering, tax evasion, and forgery.
Activists argue the government arbitrarily denied bail, withheld evidence, and barred witness cross-examination.
This is not Mammadli’s first conviction — the European Court of Human Rights found that his 2014 pre-trial arrest and detention violated the Convention on Human Rights.
Azerbaijan has intensified its crackdown on dissent, sentencing nine Toplum TV journalists to 12 to 15 years in prison on similar charges in July.
» Tunisian Journalists Protest Editor’s Arrest
Journalists rallied outside a Tunis court after police arrested Mohamed Yousfi, editor of Al-Qatiba and a critic of President Kais Saied.
Details:
🚔 A judge was questioning Yousfi over illicit enrichment and money laundering charges protesters call fake.
Yousfi — a vocal critic of President Kais Saied — is one of several media figures the authorities have arrested this year.
While Tunisia saw free speech flourish after its 2011 revolution, critics say President Saied is now consolidating power and silencing dissent.
» Iran Jails Man Over Social Media Posts
Iran sentenced café chain owner Sadegh Saeedinia to 12+ years and seized all his property for posting in support of January’s protests.
Details:
🇮🇷 Saeedinia was convicted of “propaganda against national security” and acting “on behalf of hostile groups.”
He supported January’s anti-regime protests on Instagram and encouraged his employees to participate.
Since 1979, Iran has seized regime critics’ assets — a practice it escalated following January’s protests and a war with the U.S. and its allies.
Reports document the seizure of property belonging to more than 400 critics this year.
Ashley Haek is a Communications Manager at The Future of Free Speech.
Ajdin Muratovic is the Director of Communications at The Future of Free Speech and the Managing Editor of The Bedrock Principle.