Friday, 12 December 2025
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Europe’s real censorship problem isn’t what Trump claims

Much has been said about the US National Security Strategy ([link removed]) , which leans hard into far-right talking points, arguing that Europe faces “civilisational erasure” because of migration and that the USA must “cultivate resistance” within the continent to “Europe’s current trajectory”. The strategy also references censorship.

Europe’s free speech record is a bugbear of Donald Trump and JD Vance’s. I’ve written ([link removed]) about my thoughts from the perspective of the UK, arguing that they’re right. There are issues. Just not the ones they usually point to. And of course I’ve arguing about the chutzpah ([link removed]) : a case in point being Wednesday’s announcement of plans ([link removed]) to comb through US visitors’ social-media histories which we consider censorship pure and simple.

Here’s another story from the continent that won’t be flagged across the pond: a Hungarian rights campaigner, Géza Buzás-Hábel, has been placed under investigation and is facing potential criminal charges for organising a peaceful Pride march.

Back in March the Hungarian government, governed by Viktor Orbán – a “great leader” according to Trump – voted to ban ([link removed]) Pride events. They still went ahead. In June tens of thousands of people marched in Budapest, which we reported ([link removed]) on; in October some 8,000 attended Pécs Pride, organised by the Diverse Youth Network, which Buzás-Hábel runs. Days later Buzás-Hábel was summoned by police for questioning. His case was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office with a recommendation to press charges. Buzás-Hábel could face a suspended prison sentence of up to three years. He was recently dismissed from his state teaching job and from a music centre where he'd worked as a mentor.

This is an egregious free speech violation. But let’s be honest, it’s exactly what Trump and his cohort want. A Europe where minority voices – Buzás-Hábel is Roma as well as queer – aren’t free to organise peaceful protests and don’t have an equal voice.

One of the most important things that this moment demands is to not fall through the looking glass and land in a place where left means right and right means upside down. That’s sadly what is happening to free speech if you spend too long in the Trumpian vortex. At its heart free speech is about pluralism – the great marketplace of voices and ideas – which is the opposite of the ambition of the US’ National Security Strategy and Europe’s far-right parties. They are all adopting the idea of free speech in order to shut down every other voice except their own. By all means we should call out censorship as and when it occurs. But it is vital to do it across the board. After all, free speech isn’t worth a dollar if it only applies to one group and not another.

Jemimah Steinfeld

CEO, Index on Censorship


** The best of Index this week
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Meta bans Brazilian left-wing influencers ([link removed])

Politicians say it is a "direct attack on freedom of speech" ([link removed])

How Australia’s social media ban threatens free expression ([link removed])

Under-16s have been banned from key online platforms in the country and their voices are at risk ([link removed])

China media giant Tencent gags anti-censorship website FreeWeChat ([link removed])

The website has been taken offline by US hosting provider Vultr ([link removed])

Trump’s use of legal threats to stifle protected speech has gone global ([link removed])

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition condemns the legal threat brought against the BBC by the President ([link removed])

Index on Censorship seeks new Development Officer ([link removed])

We are on the hunt for a new development officer ([link removed])

Beijing is punishing Japan by pulling the plug on pop concerts ([link removed])

The cancellations follow remarks on Taiwan by the Japanese Prime Minister ([link removed])

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** Who is 2025’s Tyrant of the Year?
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The polls are now open for the title of 2025 Tyrant of the Year and we are focusing on 10 leaders from around the globe who have done more during the past 12 months than others to win this dubious accolade.

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** In case you missed it
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Afghan men arrested for dressing like Peaky Blinders

Four men known as the “Jabrael Shelbys” have been detained ([link removed]) in Herat, Afghanistan by the country’s morality police this week. A Taliban spokesman described the men’s clothing as “in conflict with Afghan and Islamic values” according to the BBC ([link removed]) .

An interview with Herat’s own “Thomas Shelby group” can be seen here ([link removed]) .

TikTok journalism leads to detention in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia authorities have arrested a TikTok journalist ([link removed]) they accuse of defamation. Eyob Shimelis, based in the country’s south, covers local corruption through the account Sidama News, reporting which has resulted in previous threats against the journalist.

See what led to the arrest here ([link removed]) .

Oman human rights activist detained for spreading hashtags

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has reported ([link removed]) that Talib Al-Saedi, an Omani human rights activist, has been arrested by Oman’s Internal Security Service (ISS), an organisation Al-Saedi has worked to document in its arrests of other activists.

Al-Saedi has faced arrest relating to activism on a number of occasions, with sources telling GCHR that this latest arrest was due to his involvement in an online hashtag campaign.


** Flashback
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Beijing’s fearless foe with God on his side ([link removed])

by Jimmy Lai ([link removed])

Volume 51, Issue 1 ([link removed])

“There is always a price to pay when you put truth, justice, and goodness ahead of your own comfort, safety and physical wellbeing, or your life becomes a lie. I choose truth instead of a lie and pay the price. Luckily God has made this price a grace in disguise. I am so grateful.”

This week, Jimmy Lai spent his 78th birthday behind bars, unjustly imprisoned for standing up for freedom in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s High Court is set to hand down a verdict ([link removed]) next week.

In his honour, we’re revisiting some of the letters he wrote from prison. Index on Censorship continues to call for his unconditional release. Read more here. ([link removed])


** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work calling out human rights abuses and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Hungary, the USA, Hong Kong and the UK has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: (Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with Donald Trump) Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok; (Jimmy Lai) CC by 4.0: Pakkin Leung@Rice Post

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