Free Speech is in Trouble--Globally.  Greg Lukianoff Talks to A&G

Free speech is under unprecedented global threat—not just from authoritarian regimes, but from democratic nations adopting repressive laws that criminalize speech once considered protected. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), warns that the U.S., once the last stronghold of robust free expression, is now eroding its own principles through partisan polarization, cancel culture, and the influence of critical theory. He argues that the real test of free speech isn't defending ideas we agree with, but protecting those we find offensive—especially when they come from marginalized voices or unpopular viewpoints. Lukianoff traces the decline to a dangerous fusion of moralistic censorship, where political disagreement is treated as a moral failing, and the uncritical adoption of 20th-century European leftist philosophies like those of Herbert Marcuse and Michel Foucault, which explicitly advocate for suppressing opposing views. The erosion is particularly acute on college campuses, where students are being taught to police factual statements in the name of emotional safety, undermining both truth and pluralism. The solution, Lukianoff insists, is not just legal defense—but cultural reeducation. He calls on listeners to publicly stand up for anyone punished for speech they personally disagree with, no matter the context. This act of principled solidarity, he says, is what truly preserves free expression.