【编者按：美国政府一贯喜欢用“言论自由”来给自己脸上“贴金”，并打击对手。但是，通过最新的TikTok事件，以及其他各种事实，我们可以发现，美国所谓的“言论自由”，不过是被美国统治阶级和利益集团控制、操纵下的“有限的自由”和“虚假的自由”。我们到底该怎么看待美国政府口中的“言论自由”？外交学院最新发布的这份报告，内容翔实，有理有据，值得一看】
以下是报告的中英文全文：
美国所谓“言论自由”的事实真相
2024年3月
目录
引 言
一、美国言论自由名不副实
二、美国对内侵犯言论自由
三、美国对外操控言论自由
结 束 语
引 言
美国长期标榜言论自由，也长期奉行双重标准，用所谓“言论自由”的空洞政治口号和虚伪道德面具来掩盖政治操控和社会不公。在美国国内，政治斗争践踏言论自由，新闻干预威胁言论自由，社交媒体侵犯言论自由。在国际上，美国幻想继续“一言堂”，用霸权霸道霸凌阻碍国际关系民主化，用诬蔑造谣抹黑破坏国际舆论环境，用自我粉饰的道貌岸然形象和冠冕堂皇的说辞蛊惑国际社会。
这份报告用大量事实，揭露了美国所说的“言论自由”到底是什么样的言论自由；美国在国际上到处声称“言论自由”，但实际上干了些什么，真实目的是什么。
一、美国言论自由名不副实
◆美国将言论自由写在立国之基的庙堂之上，却踩在现实政治的脚底之下。宪法修正案虽然明确规定“言论自由”，但在现实中，政党纷争、集团利益却在不断利用言论自由的形式，损坏言论自由的实质。民众没有感到真实的言论自由，日益看穿和厌倦政客们虚伪的口号和许诺。
◆美国奈特基金会2022年发布《2020年后美国的言论自由》调查报告，被美国言论自由中心评为“代表了现有关于言论自由最全面的民意研究”。这份报告指出，政治极化和政党纷争已严重削弱美国的言论自由，在政治议题上体现得尤为明显。
◆美国言论自由度近年连连下降。2022年，由《纽约时报》和锡耶纳学院联合展开的全美民意调查显示，66%的被调查者表示不相信美国人享有言论自由，其中的8%还认为美国人没有任何言论自由。近年来，由于政治极化和政治暴力，民众担心被攻击和报复，在谈论政治话题时更加谨慎甚至缄默不语。46%的受访者表示，与十年前相比，美国社会谈论政治的自由度大幅下降，许多民众尽量少谈政治甚至不问政治。女性比男性、年轻者比年长者更加谨慎。一些年轻人因某些政治言论遭到严厉批评甚至报复。
◆美国各州对言论自由设限的情况随处可见。言论自由研究所发布的《2022年美国各州言论自由指数报告》显示，大多数州在尊重言论自由和集会权利方面情况不佳，只有威斯康星、密歇根和艾奥瓦三个州得分超过70%，35个州得分不到50%。
◆虚假信息满天飞，进一步影响了美国在言论自由方面的可信度。斯坦福大学研究报告指出，2016年美国大选期间，政治团体利用媒体散布虚假信息干预选举，虚假新闻网站的访问量高达1.59亿次，相当于每个美国成年人访问0.64次。布鲁金斯学会2022年发布《虚假信息正在侵蚀公众对民主的信心》报告，指出少数族裔更易受到虚假信息的影响，51.5%的受访者认为美国黑人群体是虚假信息的目标。近年，选举舞弊的讨论和虚假信息的传播使美国民众对言论自由的信任度进一步下降。
二、美国对内侵犯言论自由
◆政治斗争践踏言论自由。美国政府监控国内舆论早已不是秘密。揭露1972年“水门事件”的知名记者卡尔·伯恩斯坦详细披露了美国中央情报局与新闻界的勾结。《纽约时报》《时代周刊》、哥伦比亚广播公司等媒体同美国中央情报局关系密切，配合美国中央情报局进行舆论监控。
◆利用虚假信息操控舆论、干预言论。卡托研究所报告指出，“如果美国人民指望媒体为其提供准确、中立的政府政策信息，那就大错特错了”。美国政府与媒体串通，经常以媒体为掩护散布各种信息，以达到政治目的。2022年3月，《纽约时报》发表社论《美国存在言论自由问题》，指出美国社会正陷入左派和右派相互攻击的循环怪圈，美国的言论自由已是明日黄花。2022年4月，拜登政府宣布建立一个旨在打击关于美国人口和基础设施等方面虚假信息的委员会，遭到美国国会共和党议员和右翼媒体的强烈反对。共和党议员称，政府以打击虚假信息为幌子，使用纳税人的钱，来压制保守派新闻媒体的言论自由。在美国国会众议院监督与政府改革委员会的反对下，这个委员会成立仅3周就被关停。当前的美国，言论自由更像是两党争斗的皮球，而不是民众手中的权利。
◆美国政府操控疫情信息，打压说真话的声音。对美国疫情发出警告并将检测结果上报的华裔女医生朱海伦被行政当局下了封口令，说出“罗斯福”号航空母舰上疫情真实情况的舰长克罗泽遭到解职，还有一些国务院、国防部敢说真话的官员被纷纷下岗，而被称为美国“抗疫队长”的传染病专家福奇也多次“被消失”。
◆言论自由存在种族歧视问题。白人群体对言论自由的感知明显强于黑人群体，黑人群体言论自由更为受限。言论自由在美国历史上从未完全平等地应用于黑人群体，尤其是州政府长期以来一直利用自由裁量权压制黑人群体权利，黑人群体在言论自由问题上经常遭到区别对待。2023年6月，北卡罗来纳州最高法院唯一的非裔女性法官厄尔斯在接受采访时，指出当地司法系统存在缺乏种族和性别多样性、因种族和性别遭到同事区别对待等问题，随后受到该州司法标准委员会调查。2024年2月，联合国法官和律师独立性特别报告员萨特思韦特表示，有关委员会单独针对该州最高法院唯一一位非裔美国女性的言论进行调查，令人怀疑委员会存在种族和性别歧视问题。
◆美国政府打压TikTok。2023年3月美国国会众议院能源和商务委员会举行TikTok听证会前，公民自由联盟、民主与科技中心、反审查联盟等数个美国言论自由组织联署公开信指出，对TikTok的禁令将对数字领域的言论自由产生严重影响，侵犯美国宪法第一修正案赋予美国人民的权利，打压损害超过1.5亿TikTok美国用户在该平台上的自由，开创一个令人担忧的先例。美国政府对这些呼声置若罔闻，一意孤行打压TikTok。
◆新闻干预威胁言论自由。近年，美国新闻自由遭受冲击明显，新闻记者工作环境恶化。美国有线电视新闻网记者吉姆·阿科斯塔因在白宫新闻记者会上询问“大篷车移民”和“通俄门”问题，被吊销白宫记者采访证。一些政府高官还威胁、攻击新闻媒体人员，《华盛顿邮报》《纽约时报》等媒体指出，这些言行增加了新闻记者的安全风险，严重影响新闻自由。美国政府还限制媒体对新闻事件进行报道。2021年，一些记者在报道民众抗议警察杀害乔治·弗洛伊德和道恩特·赖特活动时遭到警方骚扰或伤害。美国新闻自由追踪系统显示，2022年全美发生128起违背新闻自由的事件，其中攻击新闻记者40起，逮捕或起诉15起。2023年，美国至少12名记者被捕或面临指控，多名记者因正常新闻报道遭刑事定罪。
◆校园管控打压言论自由。美国近年各种禁言禁书行动严重干扰校园言论自由。2021年以来，公立学校的禁书审查范围迅速扩大，一些州的立法者还引入“教育禁言令”。2021年1月至2022年2月，共和党立法者出台了150多项州层级的法律，限制教师在课堂上讨论种族和社会正义等问题，还审查、跟踪教师言论。2022年，个人权利和表达基金会调查了208所大学的近45000名本科生，发现22%的学生认为他们经常无法就某些问题发表意见，种族问题、枪支管制、新冠疫情、反歧视行动、堕胎都成为讨论和表达观点的雷区。捍卫自由联盟认为，当前美国公立学校通过建立“言论自由区”，使用模糊和误导性政策压制言论自由，强迫师生表达某些信息，惩罚在言论自由方面未能“循规蹈矩”的教职员工。
◆社交媒体侵犯言论自由。利益集团游说政府和媒体公司管控社交媒体，压制对其不利言论。推特公司公布的内部文件显示，美国生物技术创新组织代表辉瑞、莫德纳、阿斯利康等制药公司致信美国政府和推特公司，要求审查在推特上呼吁提供低价疫苗和分享知识产权和专利的用户，以维护其在新冠疫苗领域的垄断地位。美国媒体爆料，金融大亨乔治·索罗斯在2016至2020年期间，利用上亿美元贿赂数百个与美国媒体有关系的网络，打造自己的媒体关系网，从而实现舆论操控。
◆社交媒体及其背后所代表的利益集团阻碍言论自由。《纽约邮报》2023年3月30日报道，推特删除了近5000条关于美国最高法院外“变性人抗议”活动的推文，理由是这些推文“煽动了暴力”。随着越来越多的用户对删除推文表达质疑，推特改口称删除推文是由于系统的自动化识别与删除流程，没有考虑推文具体内容。更令人大跌眼镜的是，《华盛顿邮报》在其推特账号上报道推特大规模删帖一事后，推特转而将《华盛顿邮报》推特账号封号。《纽约邮报》评称，推特公司对《华盛顿邮报》封号的行为与其标榜的言论自由严重不符。
三、美国对外操控言论自由
◆美国出于维护霸权需要，经常操控国际舆论，为其对外政策增添“合理性”和“道德感”。利用社交媒体发动心理战，配合对外军事行动，压制各种反战言论。利用言论自由大搞双重标准，释放烟雾弹，声称其他国家散布“虚假信息”，而自己则发布各种真正基于虚假信息的歪曲抹黑报告，妄图转移国际社会对美国各种恶行劣迹的注意力。2022年5月4日，美国共和党参议员兰德·保罗在国会听证会上表示：“你知道谁是世界历史上最大的虚假信息传播者吗？美国政府。”
◆冷战时期，美国政府先后组建美国之音、自由欧洲和自由电台三家媒体机构，将其作为开展舆论战，实施和平演变的重要工具。上世纪80年代以来，随着互联网快速发展，美国利用自身技术优势，以年轻人为主要目标，通过互联网传播美式意识形态、价值观和文化产品，操控国际舆论，煽动、影响甚至直接鼓动有关国家民众对抗政府。2022年2月25日，美国前国务卿希拉里在接受采访时煽动美国黑客对俄罗斯发动网络攻击，并称“我们可以通过网络攻击很多政府机构和寡头以及他们的生活方式，我们在‘阿拉伯之春’中就是这么做的。”
◆美国政府利用社交媒体编造战争谎言，为对外干涉开脱。2019年《华盛顿邮报》曝光了一份联邦项目政府文件，其中包括美国军方人士、外交官、军事承包商、阿富汗官员等400多位参与阿富汗战争关键人物的采访。文件显示，美国政府试图掩盖受访者言论，隐藏战争已无法取胜的证据，高级官员在长达18年的阿富汗战争中从未对民众说出真相，使民众难以获得真实信息。美国国家安全档案馆2008年发布的一份文件披露，布什政府通过对情报部门施压和选择性公布有利于政府立场的证据，增加对伊拉克的指控，为发动战争增添合法性。文件还提及多项此类“情报政治化”的事例。例如，相关人士称如果美国中央情报局工作人员提供的信息与布什政府希望听到的不同，那么他的职业生涯将会受到威胁。伊拉克战争结束后的事实表明，并未发现伊拉克持有大规模杀伤性武器或与基地组织有关联。美国国内由此产生对政府操控舆论、误导民众的广泛怀疑和批评。
◆美国军方利用社交媒体操控话题和欺骗性宣传手段影响其他国家看法。美国中央司令部曾与加利福尼亚一家软件公司签署软件开发协议，通过虚假在线角色操纵社交媒体，影响中东国家民众。2022年推特向“截击”网站公布内部文件，揭露美国军方借助社交媒体开展虚假宣传，为其滥杀其他国家公民进行辩护。美国国防部曾制定“白名单”，要求推特优先服务名单上的机构。中央司令部官员纳撒尼尔·卡勒曾于2017年7月要求推特优先服务6个美国政府的阿拉伯语账号，宣传“美国无人机对也门的军事袭击是精准的，杀死的是恐怖分子而不是平民”。
◆美国自我标榜“言论自由”，而对其他国家却大搞双重标准。2022年8月，斯坦福大学互联网观测站发布研究报告《闻所未闻的声音：评估五年来亲西方的秘密影响行动》，披露推特、脸书和照片墙等社交媒体平台上存在相互关联的账户网络，这些虚拟账号使用欺骗手段在中东和中亚等地区宣传亲西方言论，吹捧美国政府，攻击抹黑中国、俄罗斯和伊朗等国家。一些账号还使用人工智能技术创建虚假个人资料，散布不实信息。美国还通过种种手段让别国媒体“消音”。今日俄罗斯电视台、卫星通讯社等俄主流媒体被美欧禁止落地，俄罗斯官方账号被推特等平台限流，俄罗斯频道和手机应用程序被苹果、谷歌应用商店下架，涉俄内容遭到极其严格审查。
◆美国打着“言论自由”的幌子恶毒攻击抹黑中国。一些美国政客不仅大肆编造炒作“中国病毒”“武汉病毒”等不实言论，而且还攻击媒体客观反映中国抗疫情况的报道。据美国媒体报道，白宫在官网上刊文，批评这些媒体拿美国纳税人的钱“帮中国宣传”，美国全国广播公司和有线电视新闻网也因在报道中肯定中国的抗疫表现被白宫指责为“中国傀儡”“全民公敌”。
◆美国媒体片面解读新闻事件，恶意报道涉华新闻。美国媒体将美国高校退出世界大学及专业排名解读为反抗压制美国高等教育暴政的正义之举，却将一些中国高校退出世界排名解读为中国正在科学领域“闭关锁国”。美国一些政客和媒体将美国民众因为总统选举问题围攻国会大厦的行为斥责为暴乱，却将中国香港地区发生的街头暴力运动美化为“追求民主自由”和“美丽的风景线”。
◆美国在互联网领域奉行言论自由双重标准，诬蔑中国是“数字威权主义”，将印度称为“数字互联网关闭之都”。同时推动组建“互联网未来联盟”，一方面声称建设“一个开放、自由、全球化、可互操作、可靠和安全的未来”，另一方面却将中国、俄罗斯等国家排除在外，打造封闭排他的小圈子，在互联网领域制造数字鸿沟、集团对抗。
◆美国利用“言论与新闻自由”干涉别国内政、颠覆他国政权。1970年，美国中央情报局打着“新闻自由”的幌子，对智利阿连德政府展开大规模诽谤攻势，在智利境外物色报纸杂志，资助发表攻击抹黑阿连德的文章，支持反对派抢占媒体平台，挑唆反政府行动，同时联合智利军方等政治力量以及美洲国家组织和其他拉美国家，最终颠覆了阿连德政府。
◆美国借助“言论自由”策动颜色革命。利用苏联解体后一些新独立国家立足未稳，扶持利用媒体大肆鼓吹西方民主制度，炮制和传播当地政府和领导人的负面新闻，帮助反对派宣传政治言论。例如，公开宣布在阿塞拜疆和吉尔吉斯斯坦建立多个“民主资讯中心”，协助当地发展“独立媒体”，影响和促进这些国家的“民主化进程”。在吉尔吉斯斯坦议会选举期间，美国支持的阿扎特克电台大肆宣扬反对派和亲西方观点，为政权更迭制造舆论。
◆美国社交网站散布大量虚假信息，阻碍刚果（金）政府抗击埃博拉疫情行动。2018年，刚果（金）再次暴发埃博拉疫情后，推特、脸书等社交媒体网站散布怀疑埃博拉疫情并不存在、质疑政府应对埃博拉行动的言论，对当地抗击埃博拉疫情造成严重干扰。医学期刊《柳叶刀》2019年一项研究指出，虚假信息导致四分之一的当地人认为埃博拉病毒并不存在，三分之一的人认为该病毒只是用来破坏地区稳定。
◆美国国际新闻记者经常遭受无端打压。据美国媒体报道，2010年６月，89岁的知名记者海伦·托马斯参加白宫美籍犹太人历史月庆祝活动时被问到对以色列有何评论，因回答“告诉他们，滚出巴勒斯坦”而被迫终止记者职业生涯。2021年5月，美联社记者艾米丽·怀尔德因发表支持巴勒斯坦的推文，被以“违反社交媒体政策”为由解雇。2023年2月，普利策新闻奖得主、资深调查记者西摩•赫什发布调查报告，揭露美国政府是“北溪”天然气管道被炸事件的幕后黑手。美国国家安全委员会发言人向媒体宣称，赫什所说的拜登政府炸毁“北溪”管道的文章完全是虚假信息，纯属捏造，对赫什进行攻击。
结 束 语
美国的言论自由对国内政客和利益权势集团是一套，对普通民众又是另外一套；对自己国家是一种说法和做法，对其他国家又是另一种说法和做法。美国发布报告毫无根据地诬蔑指责其他国家散布“虚假信息”，但美国才是全世界虚假信息的策源地和“认知作战”的指挥所。当今世界不是谎言重复千遍就能成为真理、抹黑他人就能为自己洗白的时代。全世界人民的眼睛是雪亮的，无论美国如何宣扬自己的言论自由，如何不遗余力将散布“虚假信息”的帽子扣到他国头上，都无法改变世界上越来越多的人们正在识破美国依靠谎言编织“皇帝的新装”、通过抹黑他人来维系霸权的丑陋行径。
"Freedom of Speech" in the United States：Truth and Facts
China Foreign Affairs University
March 2024
Contents
Introduction
Freedom of Speech in the United States is not worthy of the name
The United States violates freedom of speech at home
The United States manipulates freedom of speech in foreign countries
Conclusion
Introduction
The United States has long purported its freedom of speech and pursued double standards, covering up domestic political manipulation and social injustice with empty political slogans and hypocritical moral mask of so-called "freedom of speech". At home in the United States, political fights trample on free speech, press interference threatens free speech, and social media violates free speech. In the international arena, the United States is daydreaming about continuing to speak for all, obstructing the democratization of international relations with hegemonic practices, destroying international public opinion environment with smear campaigns, and deluding the international community with self-glorified images and high-sounding rhetoric.
This report, by presenting numerous facts, aims to expose what “free speech” is according to the United States, what the US actually does, and what its real purpose is.
I. Freedom of Speech in the United States is not worthy of the name
◆The United States regards freedom of speech as the foundation of the country, but treads on it under the feet of political reality. 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 public do not feel free to speak truthfully, and gradually see through and get tired of politicians' hypocritical slogans and promises.
◆ The Knight Foundation of the United States released its Free Speech in America After 2020 survey report in 2022, which was rated as "representing the most comprehensive public opinion study on free speech at present" by the US Free Speech Center. The report noted that political polarization and party strife have severely undermined free speech in the United States, especially on political issues.
◆ The freedom of speech in the United States has fallen in recent years. In a 2022 national poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, 66% of participants say they do not believe that Americans enjoy free speech. 8% also say Americans don't have any freedom of speech. In recent years, due to political polarization and political violence, people have become more cautious or even reticent when talking about political topics, fearing attacks and reprisals. 46% said that American society is far less free to talk about politics compared with a decade ago. Many people talk about as little as possible or even evade political topics. Women are more cautious than men, and younger people more cautious than older ones. Some young people have been severely criticized and even retaliated against for certain political remarks.
◆ Restrictions on free speech are quite common across the United States. Most states have bad performance on respecting free speech and the right to assembly, according to the 2022 US State Free Speech Index report by the Free Speech Institute. Only three states - Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa - scored more than 70%, and 35 states scored less than 50%.
◆ The United States is flooded with false information, which further erodes its credibility in terms of free speech. During the 2016 presidential election, political groups used media to spread disinformation to interfere in elections, with fake news websites receiving as much as 159 million visits, equivalent to 0.64 visits per American adult, according to a research study conducted by Stanford University. The Brookings Institution's report, Disinformation is Eroding Public Confidence in Democrac released in 2022, noted that minorities are more susceptible to disinformation, and 51.5 percent of respondents believe that the black American community is the target. In recent years, discussion of election fraud and spread of disinformation have further reduced American confidence in free speech.
II. The United States violates freedom of speech at home
◆ Political fights trample on freedom of speech. It is not a secret that the US government monitors domestic public opinion. Carl Bernstein, a well-known journalist who exposed the 1972 Watergate scandal, revealed in detail the collusion between CIA and the press. The New York Times, Time Weekly, CBS and other media have close ties and cooperate with CIA to monitor public opinion.
◆ False information is used to manipulate public opinion and interfere with speech. The Cato Institute report noted that "if American people expect the media to provide accurate and neutral information on government policy, it will be a big mistake." The US government colludes with media and often disseminates various information under the cover of media, in order to achieve political objectives. In March 2022, The New York Times published an editorial titled There is a Freedom of Speech Problem in America, pointing out that the US society is caught in a cycle of left and right attacking each other and that freedom of speech in the US is a thing of the past. In April 2022, the Biden administration announced the establishment of a committee aimed at combating disinformation about population and infrastructure in the US, which met with fierce opposition from Republican members in the U.S. Congress and the right-wing media. Republican lawmakers claimed that the administration is using taxpayer’s money to suppress free speech in the conservative news media under the guise of cracking down on disinformation. The Committee was shut down after only three weeks in existence due to objections from the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Freedom of speech in the United States today is more like a ball kicked about by the parties than a right in the hands of people.
◆ The US government manipulates epidemic information and suppresses truth-telling voices. Helen Zhu, a female doctor of Chinese descent who warned about the epidemic in the United States and reported the test results, was given a gag order by the administration. Captain Crozier, who told the truth about the epidemic on the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt, was sacked. Some officials in the State Department and Defense Department, who dared to speak the truth, have all been laid off. Fauci, an infectious disease expert known as the US "anti-epidemic captain," has "disappeared" many times.
◆ Freedom of speech in the United States has a problem of racial discrimination. The perception of free speech among white groups is significantly stronger than black groups where freedom of speech is more restricted. Tracing back the U.S. history, freedom of speech has never been fully and equally applied to the black community, and state governments have used discretion to suppress rights of the black community for a long time. The black community is often treated differently when it comes to free speech. In June 2023，Justice Earls—the only African American woman justice on North Carolina’s Supreme Court—was investigated by the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission after she disclosed in an interview that there was a lack of racial and gender diversity in the local judicial system and she was treated differently by her colleagues on account of race and gender. In February of 2024, Margaret Satterthwaite,the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers,commented that the commission’s disciplinary investigations of the only African American woman justice in the state raised suspicions of racial and gender discrimination.
◆ US government has been cracking down on TikTok. Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee held the TikTok hearing in March 2023, several US free speech organizations, including the Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Coalition Against Censorship, jointly signed an open letter. It pointed out that the ban on TikTok would have a serious impact on free speech in digital domain, which violated the rights of American people according to the First Amendment. The crackdown has set a worrying precedent by damaging 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.
◆ Press intervention threatens free speech. In recent years, freedom of the press in the United States has been significantly impacted, and working environment for journalists has deteriorated. CNN correspondent Jim Acosta has been stripped of his White House press credentials for asking about "caravan migrants" and "access to Russia" during a White House press briefing. Some senior government officials have also threatened and attacked news media members. The Washington Post, New York Times and other media pointed out that these words and deeds had increased journalists` security risks and severely impacted press freedom. The United States government also restricts the coverage of news events by media. In 2021, a number of journalists were harassed or harmed by police while reporting on popular protests against the police killings of George Floyd and Dawn Wright. According to the US Freedom of the Press Tracker, there were 128 incidents of press freedom violations across the US in 2022, including 40 attacks on journalists and 15 arrests or prosecutions. In 2023, at least 12 journalists in the United States were arrested or charged, and several were criminally convicted for normal news reporting.
◆ Campus Control suppresses freedom of speech. In recent years, various bans on words and books in the United States have seriously interfered with freedom of speech on campus. Censorship of banned books in public schools has expanded rapidly since 2021, and lawmakers in some states have introduced "educational gag orders." Between January 2021 and February 2022, Republican lawmakers introduced more than 150 state-level laws that restrict teachers from discussing issues like race and social justice in the classroom and also censor and track teachers` speech. In 2022, the Individual Rights and Expression Foundation surveyed nearly 45,000 undergraduates from 208 universities, and found that 22% of students felt they were often unable to speak out on certain issues. Race, gun control, the coronavirus pandemic, anti-discrimination actions and abortion have all become minefields for discussion and expression. Alliance Defending Freedom holds the belief that public schools in the United states are currently suppressing freedom of speech by establishing "free speech zone", using vague and misleading policies, forcing teachers and students to express certain information, and punishing faculty members who fail to "behave well" in terms of free speech.
◆ Social media infringes on freedom of speech. Interest groups have lobbied governments and media companies to regulate social media and suppress unfavorable speech. Internal documents released by Twitter show that US Biotech Innovation Group sent letters to the US government and Twitter on behalf of pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Modena, AstraZeneca and others, demanding to review users who have called on Twitter to offer low-priced vaccines and share intellectual property and patents in order to maintain their monopoly on COVID-19 vaccines. The US media have reported that financial tycoon George Soros used hundreds of millions of dollars to bribe hundreds of networks related to the US media between 2016 and 2020 to build his own media network and thus achieve public opinion manipulation.
◆ Social media and the interest groups it represented block free speech. The New York Post reported on March 30, 2023, that Twitter removed nearly 5,000 tweets about "transgender protests" outside the US Supreme Court, citing "incitement to violence." As more and more users expressed doubts about deleting tweets, Twitter changed its excuse, saying the deletion was due to the system's automated identification and deletion process without considering the specific content of the tweet. More shockingly, Twitter instead suspended The Washington Post's Twitter account after it reported massive deletion of tweets on its Twitter account. The New York Post commented Twitter's move to ban The Washington Post is "seriously inconsistent with its declared free speech."
III. The United States manipulates freedom of speech in foreign countries
◆ To maintain its hegemony, the United States often manipulates international public opinion, adding "rationality" and "moral sense" to its foreign policy. The United States also uses social media to launch psychological warfare, along with military operations in other countries, and suppress all kinds of anti-war rhetoric. It uses freedom of speech to practice double standards, creates a smokescreen and claims that other countries are spreading "false information," while it publishes various distorted and discrediting reports based on false information, to divert the attention of the international community from misdeeds of the United States. On May 4, 2022, U.S. Senator Rand Paul spoke bluntly at a Senate hearing, “Do you know who the greatest propagator of disinformation in the history of the world is? The U.S. government.”
◆ During the Cold War, the United States government established three media organizations, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, to carry out public opinion warfare and implement peaceful evolution. Since the 1980s, with the rapid development of the Internet, the United States has exploited its technological advantages and mainly targeted young people to spread American ideology, values and cultural products through the Internet. The U.S. manipulated international public opinion, influenced or even directly incited the people of relevant countries to confront the government. On February 25, 2022, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton incited U.S. hackers to launch cyber attacks against Russia in an interview. She said, “we could be also attacking a lot of the government institutions and oligarchs and their way of life through cyber attacks. We did some of that during the Arab Spring when I was Secretary of State.”
◆ The US government uses social media to fabricate war lies to justify foreign interference. In 2019, the Washington Post exposed a federal program government document that included interviews with more than 400 key figures involved in the war in Afghanistan, including US military sources, diplomats, military contractors, Afghan officials and others. The documents show that the US government tried to cover up the comments of the respondents and hide evidence that the war was unwinnable, and that senior officials never told the public the truth during the 18-year war in Afghanistan, making it difficult for the people to obtain true information. A 2008 document released by the National Security Archive revealed that the Bush administration had strengthened the charges against Iraq by pressuring the intelligence community and selectively releasing evidence favorable to the government's position, to legitimize the war. The document also mentions several instances of such "politicization of intelligence." For example, people involved say that if a CIA staff provided different information from what the Bush administration wanted , his career would be at risk. The facts after the war in Iraq indicate that Iraq has not been found to have weapons of mass destruction or be associated with Al-Qaida. In the United States, widespread suspicion and criticism of the government's manipulation of public opinion and misleading of the people arose.
◆ The US military uses social media to manipulate topics and deceptive propaganda to influence other countries' perceptions. US Central Command had signed a software development agreement with a California-based software company to manipulate social media through fake online personas and influence people in Middle Eastern countries. In 2022, Twitter released internal documents to the website "The Intercept," exposing the US military's use of social media to carry out disinformation campaigns justifying its indiscriminate killing of citizens of other countries. The Defense Department had developed a "white list" that would require Twitter to prioritize services for the agencies on the list. Central Command official Nathaniel Kahle requested Twitter in July 2017 to prioritize six US government Arabic-language accounts that promoted "the precision of US drone military strikes in Yemen, with terrorists, not civilians, being killed. "
◆ The United States prides itself on "freedom of speech," while it applies double standards to other countries. In August 2022, the Stanford Internet Observatory released a study titled Unheard Voices: Evaluating Five Years of Pro-Western Covert Influence Operations. It revealed a network of interconnected accounts on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that use deception to promote pro-Western rhetoric in regions such as the Middle East and Central Asia, touting the US government, attacking and smearing countries such as China, Russia and Iran. Some accounts also use artificial intelligence technology to create fake personal profiles and spread disinformation. The United States also uses various means to "silence" foreign media. Russian mainstream media such as RT TV and Sputnik News Agency have been banned from the United States and Europe. Russian official accounts have been restricted by platforms such as Twitter, Russian channels and mobile apps have been removed from Apple and Google App stores. Russia-related content is subject to extreme scrutiny.
◆ The United States, under the guise of "freedom of speech," viciously attacks and smears China. Some US politicians have not only wantonly fabricated false statements such as hyping up "Chinese virus" and "Wuhan virus," and other untrue remarks, but also attacked media reports that objectively reflected China's fight against the pandemic. According to US media reports, the White House published an article on its official website criticizing the media for taking US taxpayers' money to "promote China." NBC and CNN have also been accused by the White House of "China's puppet" and "public enemy " for affirming China's anti-epidemic performance in their reports.
◆ American media has one-sided interpretation of news events and malicious coverage of China-related news. The US media interpreted the withdrawal of American universities from the World University and Professional Rankings as a righteous act against the tyranny of American higher education, but interpreted the withdrawal of some Chinese universities from the world rankings as China's "closed-door policy" in the field of science. Some US politicians and media denounced the US people's siege of the Capitol over the presidential election as riots. The street violence in Hong Kong, China,however, has been glorified as "the pursuit of democracy and freedom" and "the beautiful sight."
◆ The US pursues a double standard of freedom of speech in the Internet field, stigmatizing China as "digital authoritarianism," and calling India "the digital Internet shutdown capital." At the same time, it promoted the formation of the "Internet Future Alliance," which claimed to build "an open, free, global, interoperable, reliable and secure future" while excluding China, Russia and other countries. In doing so,the US attempts to form a closed and exclusive small circle and create a digital divide and bloc confrontation in the Internet field.
◆ The United States uses "freedom of speech and press" to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and subvert their regimes. In 1970, under the guise of "freedom of the press," CIA launched a large-scale smear campaign against the Chilean government of Allende, scouting about for newspapers and magazines outside Chile to publish articles that attacked and smeared Allende. It also supported the opposition to seize media platforms, instigated anti-government actions, and collaborated with political forces such as the Chilean military and the Organization of American States and other Latin American countries to eventually topple Allende's government.
◆ The U.S. instigates color revolutions with the help of "freedom of speech." Taking advantage of the instability of some newly independent countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it supported and used the media to advocate Western democracy, to produce and disseminate negative news about local governments and leaders, and to help the opposition promote political rhetoric. For example, the establishment of "information centers for democracy" in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan was publicly announced to assist in the development of local "independent media", and to influence and promote the "democratization process" in those countries. During Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections, the US-backed Aztec radio station trumpeted opposition and pro-Western views to shape public opinion for regime change.
◆ American social networking sites spread a large number of false information to hinder the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) government's efforts to fight the Ebola epidemic. In 2018, following another Ebola outbreak in the DRC, social media such as Twitter and Facebook spread suspicions saying that the outbreak did not exist and questioning the government's rhetoric about its response to the disease, which caused severe disruption to the local fight against the Ebola epidemic. A 2019 study in the medical journal The Lancet noted that false information had led a quarter of locals to believe Ebola did not exist and a third to believe the virus was only used to destabilize the region.
◆ American international journalists often suffer unwarranted repression. According to US media reports, in June 2010, Helen Thomas, a well-known journalist aged 89, was asked to comment on Israel when she attended a White House celebration of Jewish American History Month. She was forced to terminate her career as she replied “get the hell out of Palestine.” In May 2021, Associated Press reporter Emily Wilder was fired for "violating social media policy" for posting pro-Palestinian tweets. In February 2023, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, released an investigation revealing that the US government was behind the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. US national security council spokesman declared that Hersh’s article about the Biden administration blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline was false information and pure fabrication, and attacked Hersh.
Conclusion
Freedom of speech in the United States is one for domestic politicians and interest groups, and another for ordinary people. It is one way of saying and doing things about the United States, and another way of saying and doing things about other countries. The United States issued a report to baselessly smear and accuse other countries of spreading "disinformation," but the United States is the source of disinformation and the command post of "cognitive warfare" throughout the world. Today's world is not at a time when a lie repeated thousands of times can become the truth, or smearing others can whitewash oneself. The eyes of the people of the world are bright. No matter how the United States propagates its freedom of speech, and how it spares no effort to blame other countries for spreading "false information" , it cannot change the fact that more and more people are seeing through the ugly practices of the United States: how it relies on lies to weave "the emperor's new clothes," and how it smears others to maintain its hegemony.
