Free speech, a topic that today now comes under severe scrutiny and questioning. With a quick glance it would be easy to claim how the freedom to voice one’s own views is a common right that many individuals have. There is freedom to debate, outwardly disagree on politics, share religious values etc.
After all, it seems this generation has an opinion on every single matter, and going online to express points of view on issues as diverse as ethical aspects of war to the deconstruction of song lyrics to establish how they could be offensive. Indeed, some would argue that this generation is too opinionated, complaining constantly and speaking out too much. However, if we dig beneath the surface, I believe there are many cracks and fears to be found in the idea of free speech.
Recently, a number of events have made people more fearful to share their thoughts and views openly and widely. On the 17th of September this year, Jimmy Kimmel Live, the USA’s longest running late-night show was suspended and taken off the air by ABC and Disney. Many were initially shocked at this as it was not only one of ABC’s flagship shows, but it followed the announcement two months earlier of the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the 17th of July.
People thus began “connecting the dots” as to why this action had been taken. A couple of days earlier, Kimmel monologue commented on the recent Charlie Kirk murder and Trump’s response. His view was that the MAGA movement was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and accused them of “scoring political points” from the tragedy.
He then went on to ridicule Trump’s response when asked how he was holding up after Kirk’s death, stating “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.” It was these comments that lead to the shows suspension with Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, noting the comments were “offensive and insensitive.” Kimmel was condemned by many for his seemingly insensitive comments and seen as making a joke out of a tragic death. However, I think it would be useful to take a closer look at what he actually said, without the glare of social media and people's biases exaggerating what was said.
Although yes, it was arguably too soon to even mention anything related to the tragedy, we can see that he never made light of Kirk’s death. In reality, the focus of the monologue was the MAGA movement and Trump. Kimmel pointed out how MAGA were using Kirk's death to push an agenda and it was not liked by Trump supporters that Kimmel was calling out issues on the MAGA party.
He never made light of Kirk’s death
As such, did this warrant the show's immediate suspension? In my view, the main reason for the suspension were the comments directed at Trump himself. After all, it was after Colbert made comments on his show, calling a network settlement with Trump a “big, fat bribe” that his show was cancelled.
The network claimed it was a “purely financial decision” though Trump chimed in saying “His talent was worse than his ratings”. Interestingly, when Trump was questioned about the suspension of Kimmel's show, he completely ignored the Charlie Kirk comments and claimed it was due to “No talent” and “No ratings”. As each episode typically has around 1.8 million viewers, it is hard to see how the ratings argument stands up.
This Kimmel episode is just one of a number this year where someone has spoken up about their political views which resulted in severe consequences. Even though the axing of Kimmel’s show ended up being temporary and it is now airing again, it is still unsettling. What if this began happening more often, what if there were repercussions for anyone who made a critical comment about their leaders or a political party?
This would hardly demonstrate a democratic society. Clearly, when it comes to the issue of free speech, we cannot ignore the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk. Whatever you think about the views and ideals he espoused, there should be absolutely no excuse for political violence.
Some people may have seen what happened and are now far more reluctant to speak out on political issues. Whether you're on the political right or left, you oughtn't be fearful that you'll be killed for speaking your views. It is because of events such as these that we could perhaps see the shrinking of freedom of speech.
There may be a growing concern of legal action, suspension or even arrest just for speaking out on political issues. This, together with fear of violence could lead to people becoming increasingly reluctant to share and debate their views. It is also evident there is an extreme divide and growing hostility between the political right and left resulting in issues of free speech and entitlement to views.
We can only hope a bridge begins to form between the two sides otherwise the fear of free speech may snowball beyond control and who knows what our western society could turn into.