Claudio Grass: Freedom of Speech Dying a Slow Death in Europe

For decades, Western democracies operated under a comfortable consensus: censorship was a blunt instrument reserved for authoritarian regimes, while the “free world” relied on open debate, robust dissent, and constitutional safeguards. This sentiment allowed Western leaders to feel superior over the rest of the world, to lecture other countries on democratic principles and, in some cases, to invade and bomb them too, to spread these ideas by force. In recent years, however, that narrative has collapsed under the weight of its own hypocrisy.

Graham Adams: Five years on, the tide turns against ideological censors

It is five years this month since a letter signed by seven Auckland University professors was published in the Listener under the title “In Defence of Science”. They argued that although mātauranga Māori (traditional knowledge) is “critical for the preservation of culture and perpetuation of local practices, and plays key roles in management and policy… it falls far short of what we can define as science itself.”

The letter sparked a firestorm. Auckland University’s Vice-chancellor, Dawn Freshwater, wrote that questioning “whether mātauranga Māori can be called science has caused considerable hurt and dismay among our staff, students and alumni”. She emphasised the letter did not represent the university’s views.

Dr Michael Johnston: Psychology journal controversy shows why professional bodies must stay out of politics

As a former academic, I know how onerous research publication can be. Before being published in a professional journal, an article must undergo peer review. Many articles don’t survive this process. Most require revision before both the reviewers and journal editors are satisfied.

Once an article has been published it becomes part of the permanent research record. Only when there is clear evidence of data fabrication or plagiarism should an article be retracted. Even then, both the article and the reasons for its retraction should remain on the public record.

Dr Kumari Valentine: NZCCP Sets a Precedent of Censorship

When a professional body removes a peer-reviewed article because it conflicts with organisational values, the issue is no longer a single publication, but the future of open inquiry, editorial independence, and professional disagreement.

A few days ago, members of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) received an email informing them that a published article (He Wero Ano: Don't Just Tell Me, Show Me How Science and Psychology Are Racist in New Zealand by A. Mitchell) had been removed from the Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists. This article had been submitted in 2024 and been peer reviewed and then published in later 2025.

Simon O'Connor: We are being misled

I explore three of the ways many in media manipulate stories and, as Sir Roger Scruton once noted, effectively censor what people read and hear.

I’m a big fan of the late Sir Roger Scruton. He was a powerful conservative voice, and among many writings, he warned of the censorship happening to conservative voices. In 2019 he said:

David Harvey: Creeping Control

How the Department of Internal Affairs Is Building a Social Media Surveillance Regime Before Parliament Has Spoken

The Bill and the Bureaucracy

A Bill is currently before Parliament. The Social Media (Age Restricted Users) Bill proposes to require providers of designated social media platforms to take all reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts.

Matua Kahurangi: Bikinis, Grok and the great excuse to censor X

Let’s be honest about what’s actually going on here, because the sudden moral panic from Britain, Australia and Canada reeks of bullsh*t.

We are being told that X might need to be banned, throttled or “urgently assessed” because Grok AI can be used to put politicians in bikinis. Yes, bikinis. The whākn’ horror.

Chris Morrison: The False Temperature Claims That Underpin the COP30 Alarmist Agenda

The next two weeks of COP30 will see three favourite climate scares relentlessly broadcast to promote the fast-fading hard-Left Net Zero fantasy. They are: breaching a 1.5°C global ‘threshold’ leading to runaway temperatures; human-caused tipping points producing unimaginable natural disasters; and attribution of single-event bad weather to the use of natural hydrocarbons.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Will the BSA have to back down on this?

Listen, I don't know how much most people will care about the drama that's unfolding with the BSA. Obviously here in radio world, we do, because these people are our watchdog.

But if you enjoy watching people try something on and then be forced to retreat, you might enjoy this one.

Dr James Allan: In Defence of Cancelling the Left

This past fortnight has seen an explosion of interest in free speech in the United States. First there was the political assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. Then there was the decision by Disney (owner of the ABC TV broadcasting network in the US) to remove late night host Jimmy Kimmel from the air. A lot is going on in the name of ‘free speech’ so let me start with some facts.

Jillaine Heather: Words, not witch hunts

We’ve said it over and over: censorship is a trap. The wind changes, and it blows right back in your face.

At the Free Speech Union, we’ve spent years defending the slim, uncomfortable space that lets bad ideas be seen and argued with, not buried to fester away.

Nick Hanne: 30 arrests a day ...

How many armed police officers does it take to arrest an Irish comedian?

No, that's not the beginning of a bad joke.

But it's precisely the scenario which Graham Linehan (BAFTA winning comedy writer/producer of such sitcoms as Father Ted and Black Books) faced this week as he stepped off a plane at Heathrow Airport in London.

Michael Rainsborough: Britain’s Descent Towards Civil War is No Accident

Having lived in Australia for the past three years, I sense that this country is the least advanced down the road towards the multicultural dystopia confronting much of Europe. That is not to say there is room for complacency: Australia has its own canaries in the coal mine, echoing trends observable across the Western world. Yet relative prosperity, firm immigration policies, a distinct welfare regime (mandatory health insurance, means tested pensions), a robust federal system, and above all a unique electoral framework of three-year cycles and compulsory voting all help, willy-nilly, to keep politicians on a short leash and broadly tethered to the popular will.

Ele Ludemann: Māori seats passed their use-by date

When I was thinking about writing a post arguing that the Māori seats have passed their use-by date and asked Goggle Gemini to give me some ideas.

This is the reply I got:

Bob Edlin: Fringe benefits in the dunnies at IRD raise questions.....

Fringe benefits in the dunnies at IRD raise questions about what staff can say without upsetting the rainbow bunch

Free speech is under threat in Britain because people feel they cannot speak out for fear of offending others over race, religion and immigration, according to research for the Commission for Countering Extremism, which advises the Government.

Moreover, almost half of Britons believe people are too easily offended.

Dr Will Jones: Britons Believe They Can No Longer Speak Their Minds, Poll Finds

Britons believe they can no longer speak their minds, a poll has found, in the latest indicator of a free speech crisis in the UK, as nearly half of Britons say people are too easily offended. The Telegraph has more.

Free speech is under threat because Britons feel they cannot speak out for fear of offending others over race, religion and immigration, a study has found.

DTNZ: Australia to require age verification for Google searches

Australians will soon be required to verify their age when logged into Google or other search engines, under new regulations aimed at “protecting children from harmful content”.

The changes are part of a wider framework of codes and standards developed by the eSafety Commissioner, with enforcement starting before the end of 2025.

Barrie Davis: Sir Apirana’s Free Speech

Congratulations to Jonathan Ayling and the Free Speech Union (FSU) and also to Dr Muriel Newman and the New Zealand Center for Political Research (NZCPR) on the outcome of the law suit for the absurd Hutt City Council censorship affair. We should be outraged that the Council removed NZCPR sponsored copies of Sir Apirana Ngata’s 1922 The Treaty of Waitangi: An Explanation from public libraries. The Council should be humiliated, humbled and apologetic that they presumed to do so. It was an Orwellian act to be ashamed of, yet the contrition is entirely absent.

Nick Hanne: Silenced for exposing foreign interference in NZ? Surely not.

Courage comes in all shapes and sizes.

I saw this for myself last Friday in the Manukau District Court when I went to support Portia Mao on behalf of the Free Speech Union.

Don't let Portia's appearance or gentle demeanour fool you. This pint-sized Kiwi-Chinese journalist isn't backing down to anyone or anything.

Eliora: Freedom of Speech: Surveillance and Threats

Prior to Covid-19 in 2020 it would rarely cross minds that governments were so deep, dark, suspicious and controlling that they would watch everything you do. Most in New Zealand would never have imagined they might be censored or surveilled by a spying, prying government checking what you wrote in personal emails or said on social media.