Washington manipulates freedom of speech, report finds

China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing released a report on "Freedom of Speech in the United States: Truth and Facts" on Thursday, saying that Washington covers up political manipulation and social injustice with empty political slogans of so-called freedom of speech.

The report reveals the freedom of speech purported by the US is "not worthy of the name". The United States violates freedom of speech at home and manipulates freedom of speech in foreign countries, it said.

The report said that although the First Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly stipulates "freedom of speech", political disputes and group interests have been constantly taking advantage of the form of "freedom of speech" to damage its essence.

The report cited the survey, "Free Expression in America Post-2020", which was conducted by the Knight Foundation in 2022. The survey, described as "representing the most comprehensive public opinion study on free speech at present" by the US Free Speech Center, noted that political polarization and party strife have severely undermined free speech in the US, especially on political issues.

In a 2022 national poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, 66 percent of participants say they do not believe people in the US enjoy free speech, with 8 percent also saying they don't have any freedom of speech, the report said.

The report reveals the US government colludes with media to disseminate information under the cover of media to achieve its political objectives. It cited an editorial published by The New York Times in March 2022 titled "America has a free speech problem", which pointed out that freedom of speech in the US is a thing of the past.

The report cited the US crackdown on TikTok. Before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held the TikTok hearing in March 2023, several US free speech organizations, including the Civil Liberties Union, warned in an open letter that the ban on TikTok would have a serious impact on free speech in the digital domain, which violate the rights of people according to the First Amendment.

"The crackdown has set a worrying precedent by damaging the freedom of more than 150 million TikTok American users on the platform. The US government has turned a deaf ear to these calls and is determined to clamp down on TikTok," the report said.

The report concluded that freedom of speech in the US "is one for domestic politicians and interest groups and another for ordinary people". It is one way of saying and doing things about the US, and another way of saying and doing things about other countries, it added.

"No matter how the US propagates its freedom of speech … it cannot change the fact that more and more people are seeing through the ugly practices of the US: How it relies on lies to weave 'the emperor's new clothes', and how it smears others to maintain its hegemony," the report noted.

caodesheng@chinadaily.com.cn