Unfree Speech: The Highway to Hell
“We should speak to each other. We must never stop speaking to each other.
When we stop speaking, that’s when bad things happen.” Charlie Kirk.
Blitzkrieg unleashed
On the 1st of September 2025, comedy writer Graham Linehan was arrested by armed thought-control officers at Heathrow Airport for a series of tweets he sent in relation to the trans debate. Unlike the Blitzkrieg unleashed by Hitler on the 01st of September 1939 when Poland was crushed in 36 days, the violent assault on speech in the ‘democratic West’ has been insidious, creeping, but wholly effective.
Speech within former democracies can longer be described as being free. Speech is now heavily regulated, policed and punished if words are uttered that ‘cause distress and harm’ to others.
A few short years after the end of WWII, Frank Loesser wrote the popular song ‘Baby it’s cold outside’. The song became a staple Christmas season standard and received generous airplay, especially in the US. Until the ‘Me Too’ movement arrived.
In 2018, the song was pulled from playlists across the US and in the United Kingdom due its ‘creepy’ and ‘coercive’ content. In 2021, the Rolling Stones ‘retired’ the song ‘Brown Sugar’ citing their acknowledgment of the sexualisation of female slaves during the era of slavery. Keith Richards was one of the Stones who was not happy at the decision.
The 1958 film ‘Gigi’ drew criticism in 2015, when the theme song, ‘Thank heaven for little girls’ sung by Maurice Chevalier, was identified as having a strong paedophilic theme. Enid Blyton’s ‘Noddy’ books were removed from schools due to ‘xenophobic’ content and themes. Some works of Mark Twain suffered the same fate. The potential for offense has resulted in self-censorship and official censorship.
Several examples can be presented, just within the sphere of the arts, but it is therein that the dangers for wider society presents itself. The graffiti artist Banksy recently had a work of his erased by the Starmer regime in England. The graphic depicted a judge beating a protester, mocking the two-tier policing and justice system in the land of the defunct Magna Carta.
The intellectual inbreeding that has been happening within liberal circles and groups for decades, has resulted in deformed, intellectually impaired ideological offspring. The ‘liberal left’ has suffocated itself in its own waste.
The assault on expression, speech and words has taken a dark turn since the advent of the internet and smart technology. The ‘words are violence’ brigade have devolved into an authoritarian bureaucratic class, devoted to a fetid sameness among all people. Universal blandness and synchronised ritualised political, intellectual prayer, have rendered the pilgrimages to ballot boxes wholly meaningless.
Political Correctness – The art of saying exactly what you don’t mean.
Speaking openly in 21st century society has become a minefield of misspeak in order to avoid censure. AI algorithmic systems automatically block or censor certain words, phrases, sometimes even images and videos, based on set criteria.
The world ‘unalived’ has replaced the word ‘kill’ or ‘murder’, in order to euphemise speaking about death. As with most draconian policies, the ‘greater good’ is presented as the reason for the imposition of measures that curb freedoms. JK Rowling has faced fierce criticisms for using ‘charged’ or ‘politically incorrect’ language when referring to the gender debate.
In a chilling reflection of George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’, people have been openly encouraged to believe that ‘2 + 2 = 5’, and to ‘reject the evidence of their eyes’. The Covid-19 era ushered in the age of scientific censorship. Scientists and medical experts who voiced concerns over lockdown measures, medical interventions, and who suggested alternative treatments, were silenced, and ostracised – many lost their jobs without their concerns ever being openly debated within scientific circles.
When science is censored it usually follows extensive groundwork in reigning in the meaning of words, and curtailing the use of certain words in certain contexts. In the current era, the word ‘woman’ for example, has fallen foul of its own meaning in the traditional, historical, and biological sense.
The policing of language has real-world consequences, some of which could be dire, and holding biological reality in higher esteem than ideological preference, could result in unemployment. Industrialised democracies are in a heated race to ‘not offend anyone’ within the designated borders, to the extent that the slightest verbal, or social media misstep could result in a visit from the thought police.
In 2018, the film ‘Inxeba’ was released to howls of indignation, and in East London, at the local cinema, protesters prevented the screening and turned patrons away. In 2012, Brett Murray faced fierce backlash over his artistic expression of Jacob Zuma in rampant Leninesque repose, when he exhibited ‘the Spear of the Nation’.
Without delving into conspiracy theories, the patterns of censorship, across ideologies all appear to follow the suggestions put forward by Edward Bernays, who wrote that “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.” Bernays describes those who controls the thoughts of the masses, as the ‘true ruling power’.
Censorship and restrictive speech policies, as history clearly demonstrates, heralds much darker times. Through fear, governments and their corporate backers, engineer a climate of fear and suspicion, so that control over the masses can be easily managed.
States of Madness.
In 2020, an unelected bureaucratic body known as the World Health Organisation, published a set of ‘guidelines’ for all member states to follow in order to curtail the ravages of the hitherto unknown disease – COVID-19. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that asking questions about, protesting about, and even reporting on health, treatments and social policies became a crime.
The combination of numerous social maladies such as ‘gender discrimination’, pandemics and diseases, and ‘climate change’, have encouraged governments to develop newer and more restrictive policies in their efforts to maintain their grip on power. Democracies have fallen and have been replaced by bureaucracies.
COVID-19 lockdown rules defied logic. Any questioning of the rules and regulations were smothered, and there were times when stronger action was advocated. Despite the harsh and draconian public restrictions, the visuals, at times, described a different scenario – with the ‘Jerusalema dance challenge’ taking place in deserted hospitals all over the world.
The term ‘social distancing’ was a euphemism for ‘physical distancing’, and governments were handed powers that severely restricted the freedoms of citizens who were under the spell of a heavily regulated press. New Zealand, Australia and Canada imposed restrictions on par with the heavy-handedness of the Chinese government.,,,
COVID-19 was a bureaucratic godsend. It was the political philosopher, John Stewart-Mill who described bureaucracies as ‘legislated tyrannies’. Vladimir Lenin in his final article for Pravda, wrote a strong warning about the misuse of bureaucratic structures against the people.
The policing of thoughts and language necessitates the development of a potent bureaucratic system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing lockdown measures, the mandates and the crushing of any form of questioning of the will of the authorities, stripped citizens the world over of their rights and freedoms.
The age of social media, the internet and smart technologies, has truly and spectacularly globalised the planet. Everyone with a connection to the World Wide Web, now has access to communities that share their views and ideologies. This new globalised version of planet earth raises the spectre of a borderless world, with a possible rise of the city state in a new techno-feudal world.
Nation states have become all but superfluous to the modern, digitally connected world. Facebook has a larger population than China, yet the rules of speech and thought in this most populous of communities, are restrictive, and banishment ever present for those who violate the rules.
Humans have fallen out of love with humanity and have become smitten by gadgetry and smart technology. We are, as Shoshana Zuboff writes, “singing in our chains”, with people happily ‘paying for their own domination and technological bondage’. This love affair with technology blinds us to the harsh realities of the increasing footprint of authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
Humans have moved into an artificial environment that is increasingly policed and mediated by AI and AI-controlled and programmed algorithms. This shift has resulted in a disconnection from reality and from knowledge, and an inability to discern truth from fantasy.
Universities the world over have recently started promoting the idea and ideology of ‘many truths’, and that the proposition of only ‘truth’ was in essence, an ideology that had to be eradicated. This eradication of ‘truth’ was devised in order to protect the fragile in spirit.
Once universities and other educational institutions started choosing ‘many truths’ over truth, and prosecuting those who challenged those views, education disappeared and was replaced by ideology. This is a precarious situation for society to be in, and if the status quo is not challenged while tongues still have some room to move, then within a very short space of time, those same tongues might be amputated.
Authority should be questioned, and education is where these questioning thoughts should be stimulated and formulated. This cannot happen in a heavily regulated environment where restrictive speech and predetermined outcomes are the order of the day. Universal sameness in thought is not the objective of education.
Freedom of thought and expression with a healthy respect for opinion and history should be the foundations of media education. Learners, students, scholars and citizens, should be wary of state bureaucracies that over complicate access to freedom.
When bureaucracy replaces democracy, it should be borne in mind that bureaucracy is a system of complicated, regulated language, whereas democracy is a system of expressive freedom. It is time to debate these issues.
Mark Fredericks is
References
1. Ambrose, Charlotte. ‘Police Accused of “harassing” Cancer Patient over Facebook Comments’. The Standard, 19 September 2025. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/thames-valley-police-harass-free-speech-tommy-robinson-b1248596.html.
2. BBC. Baby It’s Cold Outside Pulled by Radio Station, Citing #MeToo. 1 December 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46413209.
3. BBC 2021. Howard Springs: Australia Police Arrest Quarantine Escapees. 1 December 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59486285.
4. Bernays, Edward. Propaganda. (2005 ed). IG Publishing, 1928.
5. Boucher, Harriette. ‘Banksy’s Identity Could Be Revealed as Police Treat Latest Artwork as Criminal Damage | The Independent’. Accessed 10 September 2025. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/banksy-identity-courts-mural-criminal-damage-police-b2822931.html.
6. Brown, Jon. ‘New Zealand Government Tries to Seize Guardianship of Baby after Parents Demand Unvaccinated Blood for Surgery | Fox News’. 30 November 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/world/new-zealand-government-tries-seize-guardianship-baby-parents-demand-unvaccinated-blood-surgery.
7. Burana, Lily. When Does Our Cultural Fascination with Teenage Girls Cross the Line? - Dame Magazine. 20 January 2015. https://www.damemagazine.com/2015/01/20/when-does-our-cultural-fascination-teenage-girls-cross-line/, https://www.damemagazine.com/2015/01/20/when-does-our-cultural-fascination-teenage-girls-cross-line/.
8. Diana Sass, dir. Jerusalema Challenge by Children´s Cancer Center (Barncancercentrum) Gothenburg Sweden. 2021. 05:53. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGQ73MgqtvA.
9. EraOfLight. ‘WHO Calls For “New Global Public Health World Order” To Legally Bind 194 Nations To Medical Martial Law In Case Of A Future Pandemic’. Era of Light, 12 March 2022. https://eraoflight.com/2022/03/12/who-calls-for-new-global-public-health-world-order-to-legally-bind-194-nations-to-medical-martial-law-in-case-of-a-future-pandemic/.
10. Evans, Holly. ‘Graham Linehan Says He Doesn’t Regret Posts about Trans People after Heathrow Arrest’. The Independent, 9 September 2025. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/graham-linehan-heathrow-arrest-trans-posts-b2822852.html.
11. Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov, dir. Judge Throws Journalist in JAIL For 22 Days for ‘Anti-Mandate’ Protest Reporting. n.d. 18:53. Accessed 15 October 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfAUKuxO8kY.
12. Fredericks, Mark. ‘The Right to Offend: The Arts vs Hate Speech’. Unnderdogg Tales, 6 November 2019. https://unnderdogg.wordpress.com/2019/11/06/the-right-to-offend-the-arts-vs-hate-speech/.
13. Garton-Ash, Timothy. Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World. Atlantic Books, 2016.
14. Harvey, Ben. ‘Non-Binary Battle after 63-Year-Old Perth Worker Sacked for Calling Colleague “He” Not “They” | PerthNow’. Accessed 20 September 2025. https://www.perthnow.com.au/wa/non-binary-battle-after-63-year-old-perth-worker-sacked-for-calling-colleague-he-not-they-c-19601114.
15. Ivison, John. ‘John Ivison: Trudeau’s Intolerance of “unacceptable Views” Has Brought Us to This Moment’. National Post, 15 February 2022. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-ivison-trudeaus-intolerance-of-unacceptable-views-has-brought-us-to-this-moment.
16. Kennedy, Robert F (Jr.). The Real Anthony Fauci. Skyhorse Publishing, 2021.
17. Lenin, Vladimir. ‘Better Fewer, But Better’. 1923. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1923/mar/02.htm.
18. Lukianoff, Greg and Haidt, Jonathan. The Coddling of the American Mind. Penguin Random House, 2018.
19. Mander, Jerry. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Quill, 1978.
20. Marsden, Emma. ‘British Police Explain Video of Officers Investigating Social Media Use - Newsweek’. Accessed 21 September 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/british-police-explain-video-officers-investigating-social-media-use-2133274.
21. McKenry, Timothy. ‘Brown Sugar: Why the Rolling Stones Are Right to Withdraw the Song from Their Set List’. The Conversation, 15 October 2021. https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.567rt3kmf.
22. Orwell, George. 1984. Uniform edition. Penguin Books, 1949.
23. Purcell, Evan. ‘“Unalive” — The Birth of a Terrible New Word’. New Writers Welcome, 11 May 2024. https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/unalive-the-birth-of-a-terrible-new-word-216b8d452190.
24. Seemela, Ontlotlile. ‘Brett Murray’s “The Spear” and Artistic Freedom of Speech’. Arts Help, 20 November 2021. https://www.artshelp.com/brett-murrays-the-spear/.
25. Sengupta, Shaswata. ‘The Bad Golly and the Wicked Goblins: Was Enid Blyton’s “Noddy Series” Truly Racist and Xenophobic?’ Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science 10, no. 10 (2022): 293–96.
26. Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Pan Books, 1959.
27. Times Now Word Desk. ‘Chinese Drones Warn Shanghai Residents to “Control the Soul’s Desire for Freedom” and Follow COVID-19 Restrictions’. TimesNow, 2022. https://www.timesnownews.com/world/chinese-drones-warn-shanghai-residents-to-control-the-souls-desire-for-freedom-and-follow-covid-19-restrictions-article-90739601.
28. Wagner, Adam. Emergency State: How We Lost Our Freedoms in the Pandemic and Why It Matters. Penguin Random House UK, 2022.
29. What-Is-a-Woman-Guide.Pdf’. n.d. Accessed 14 September 2025. https://lgbt.foundation/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/What-is-a-woman-guide.pdf.
30. Young, Toby. ‘Justin Trudeau’s Tyranny Has Finally Been Exposed – by Two Brits!’ Uncategorised. The Daily Sceptic, 13 August 2022. https://dailysceptic.org/2022/08/13/justin-trudeaus-tyranny-has-finally-been-exposed-by-two-brits/.
31. Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Profile Books, 2019.
Mark Fredericks is a Lab Technician and technical assistant to the broadcast lecturer in the Journalism Programme at the Walter Sisulu University. His research interests include the omission of social narratives in post-apartheid sporting discourse. Mark's video commentary ‘Injury Time – The Rise of the 80 Minute Nation’ forms part of the education curricula at the University of Wisconsin (African Sports, Politics & Sociology), and the University of Otago (Sport, Education and Physical Sciences). Mark has had articles published by the Ohio University Press book on Sports in Africa (2020), on Al Jazeera, in the Cape Times and the New Zealand Herald. A published photographer, Mark teaches visual literacy and visual narratology to school children at the Gompo library and the Khanya Youth Centre in East London. Mark makes appearances in the national media as a socio-political critic of the current sporting structures.
