Last week, I experienced censorship of my work, but it was more alarming how easily people gave up their free speech rights. Many were silent out of legitimate fear, but the scary part was those trying to bully others into complying with the loss of their right to free speech. Free speech is not just a constitutional right—it is the foundation of the free society most of us have enjoyed our entire lives. I say most because we know that not all Americans have or have had equal rights. Without free speech, truth is silenced, dissent is criminalized, and fear replaces open discourse. The ability to speak, question, and challenge authority is what prevents oppression from taking root.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. –First Amendment of the Constitution

History offers us dire warnings about what happens when people fail to stand up for free expression. During World War II, entire societies became complicit in the silencing, persecution, and extermination of their fellow citizens. Ordinary people, who may not have been inherently evil, allowed fear, obedience, or ideology to dictate their actions. They turned in their neighbors, not always out of hatred, but often out of submission to authority, social pressure, or a wish to avoid personal risk.

Yesterday, I was told that one reason for not allowing some speech is that people were reporting the content on their fellow employees—content on a private page, not representing themselves as speaking for their employer, and on off-duty time. We all too quickly forget the history lessons and think they could not happen to us, but they have. There are too many examples of limiting free speech to list, but just a few are:

• Nazi Germany: Book burnings and the suppression of what was perceived as inappropriate art and literature. These cultural policies aimed to eradicate Jewish, leftist, and other dissenting voices.
• United States: During the McCarthy era, there was significant censorship and blacklisting related to alleged communist sympathies, and people were pressured to report on their friends to save themselves, leading to an era of fear.
• Social Media: Platforms were pressured to moderate content, leading to debates about censorship versus free speech, especially as it relates to hate speech, misinformation, and political influence.

The same moral failure exists today in those who refuse to stand up for free speech. When people stay silent in the face of censorship—whether by governments, corporations, or social movements—they become modern-day collaborators in oppression. The excuses may differ, but the outcome is the same: ideas are suppressed, individuals are punished for dissent, and society inches toward authoritarianism.

This impingement on freedom of speech does have limits we should all know – we can’t make real threats of harm or incite violence, slander, yell fire in a crowded theatre, etc. Right to free speech doesn’t mean parents cannot limit what is said in their house or employers cannot restrict what is said in the workplace. However, the threats to freedom of speech that have been weaponized by this administration started years ago and in a quieter way. We saw pressure not to allow people with certain ideologies to speak on college campuses, people who wanted to censor words that could be used in professional journals because they were not politically correct enough, and pressure not to publicly disagree with anything related to policies about DEI without being labeled a racist. In fact, the APA Style Manual has long been seen by some as ideological police in writing.

True freedom demands courage. It requires us to defend even speech we dislike, stand against those who seek to silence others, and reject the creeping normalization of censorship. If we do not, we risk becoming the enablers of oppression, just as those who betrayed their neighbors in history’s darkest moments did.

If we believe in a free society, we must act like it. That means speaking up, even when it’s uncomfortable. Because the moment we let fear dictate our words, we become what we claim to oppose.