Last week in Munich, Vice President JD Vance made waves with his blunt criticism of Europe’s growing hostility toward free speech. His remarks were direct, unvarnished, and—most importantly—true. He called out the European Union and several of its member states for cracking down on speech under the guise of fighting “hate” and “disinformation.” Predictably, European leaders didn’t take kindly to the criticism, with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius bristling at the idea that Europe’s censorship problem could be compared to authoritarian regimes.

Now, let’s be clear: Vance was absolutely right to highlight Europe’s slide into censorship. But at the same time, Pistorius does have one fair point—Europe is not China or Russia. It’s important that we distinguish between different levels of repression. That being said, just because Europe’s free speech crisis isn’t on par with the worst dictatorships in the world doesn’t mean it isn’t a crisis.

If your house is on fire, do you wait until the flames reach the roof before calling for help? Of course not. Europe’s move toward speech suppression should alarm anyone who cares about liberty, and JD Vance did the right thing by calling it out.

Europe’s Growing Hostility to Free Speech

The right to free speech is one of the fundamental pillars of Western civilization. It’s the reason both America and Europe have thrived, allowing ideas to flourish and political debate to be open and robust. But over the last decade, that bedrock principle has been steadily eroded in many European nations, often in the name of fighting “extremism” or “hate speech.”

Let’s look at just a few of the troubling examples Vance highlighted:

• The UK’s crackdown on silent prayer. Yes, you read that correctly. In the United Kingdom, people have been arrested for silently praying near abortion clinics. Not harassing women, not protesting—just praying quietly in their own heads. If a government feels threatened by private prayer, it’s a sign that something has gone very, very wrong.
• Germany’s police raids over political speech. In Germany, authorities have raided the homes of citizens simply for posting politically incorrect opinions online, including comments critical of feminism. Imagine a SWAT team showing up at your door because of something you tweeted. That’s where Germany is right now.
• Sweden’s criminalization of Christian beliefs. A Christian activist in Sweden was convicted for sharing biblical views on sexuality. Think about that—a so-called liberal democracy punishing someone for quoting the Bible. If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, it should.
• The EU’s pressure on social media companies to censor speech. European governments have increasingly leaned on American tech giants to silence voices they don’t like. Under the pretense of combating “misinformation,” Brussels has worked aggressively to shut down political discourse they find inconvenient.

This isn’t democracy. This is authoritarianism in slow motion.

No, Europe Isn’t China or Russia—But That Doesn’t Mean There’s No Problem

Let’s address Boris Pistorius’ response to Vance’s speech. He reacted indignantly, suggesting that it was outrageous to compare Europe’s actions to those of authoritarian regimes. On one level, he’s correct—Europe is not China or Russia. It is not a totalitarian dictatorship where dissenters are executed or disappeared.

But that does not mean Europe is free from the dangers of censorship. There is a dangerous tendency in modern politics to pretend that as long as something isn’t as bad as the absolute worst-case scenario, it isn’t a problem at all. That’s nonsense.

Consider this: If your doctor told you that you had the early stages of a serious illness, would you ignore it just because it wasn’t terminal yet? Of course not. You’d want to stop the disease before it got worse. That’s exactly the position Europe is in right now when it comes to free speech.

Sure, European governments aren’t executing journalists like Putin’s Russia or locking up dissidents in forced labor camps like China. But they are restricting speech in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago. This is the road to illiberalism. And as history has shown us, once free speech is gone, everything else follows.

The Real Authoritarian Threats: Russia and China

While it’s critical to address the West’s internal decline, Vance should be careful not to downplay the threats posed by external enemies like Russia and China. Both nations are deeply hostile to free speech—not just within their borders, but globally.

• Russia’s brutal suppression of dissent. In Putin’s Russia, journalists, opposition leaders, and even ordinary citizens who criticize the government can face imprisonment or worse. Just ask Alexei Navalny—or rather, ask his widow, since he recently died under highly suspicious circumstances in a Siberian prison. Russia’s war in Ukraine is not just a military conflict—it’s part of a broader war against democracy and free speech.
• China’s totalitarian control over speech. The Chinese Communist Party has implemented the world’s most advanced surveillance state, complete with a “social credit system” that punishes people for expressing the wrong opinions. They censor the internet, imprison religious minorities, and actively spread propaganda abroad to influence Western democracies.

Both Russia and China are actively working to undermine freedom—not just in their own countries, but across the world. And they would love nothing more than for Europe and the U.S. to weaken themselves through internal censorship and division.

So, while it is absolutely right to criticize Europe’s slide toward illiberalism, we cannot afford to ignore the very real external threats from these authoritarian giants. Both dangers must be addressed.

The American Lesson: We Must Defend Free Speech at Home

JD Vance’s warning about Europe should serve as a wake-up call for the United States. We are not immune to these trends.

Look around—Big Tech censorship, government pressure on social media companies, the de-platforming of conservative voices, and the rise of cancel culture all suggest that America is on a similar trajectory. If we don’t fight for free speech now, we may soon find ourselves in the same position as Europe—where prayer is criminalized, political speech is policed, and the government decides what ideas are acceptable.

The United States has long been the global leader in defending free speech, but that leadership is now at risk. If we lose our commitment to the First Amendment, we won’t just be failing ourselves—we’ll be failing the entire Western world.

Conclusion: Vance Was Right, and Europe Needs to Wake Up

At the end of the day, JD Vance was right to raise the alarm. Europe is heading down a dangerous path, and the worst mistake the U.S. could make is to follow in its footsteps.

Free speech is not just one value among many—it is the foundational principle that allows democracy to function. Without it, there is no debate, no accountability, and no true freedom.

Europe needs to reverse course before it’s too late. And America needs to make sure it doesn’t make the same mistakes. If we don’t stand up for free speech now, we may wake up one day to find that it’s already gone.