by Thaddeus G. McCotter
Free speech invites falsehoods—but censorship invites tyranny; the answer is not silencing voices, but sharpening minds.
Recently, I was asked by an acquaintance if I had noticed any changes on the social media platform X (née Twitter) since its purchase by Elon Musk. I had not much mused on the matter; however, I figured the exercise could not hurt and might even prove beneficial.
Long ago, I had minimized my use of the platform under the old Twitter regime, largely limited to the posting of articles written for American Greatness, among other sundry sites. Even at that, I was on the cusp of ending my use of Twitter due to its increasing level of censorship. Only the rigmarole of deleting my account prevented my taking a final bow and exiting the platform.
Then, Mr. Musk appeared. His announced intention was to purchase the platform to protect and promote free speech. To date, he has succeeded, despite the elitists and their leftist, bureaucratic minions’ siren song of censorship. After a moment of reflection, I replied to my acquaintance (on an X “chat,” in fact):
True, but a free speech platform historically attracts propagandists and dissemblers. The biggest difference between Twitter and X is the willingness of the former’s owners to abet the elitists’ war on free speech and Mr. Musk’s adamant promotion and protection of free speech and the inherent freedom of conscience. (This is not to say he does so in all regards, communist China being a notable example.) The answer to the demands to limit free speech due to “disinformation” and other sundry rationalizations is not censorship. It is to promote critical thinking so people can make up their own minds.
As noted, it is a lie as old as time, with a bogus justification proffered by heinous, murderous regimes from communists to fascists: “We will keep you safe from those radicalized by disfavored speech.”
Insidiously, the temptation flatters the listener by claiming that, while they can handle free speech, there are faceless, dangerous “others” who cannot. Consequently, everyone is asked to curtail their right to free speech for a greater level of purported safety.
Today, from the EU to the American Left, demands abound to succumb to this deceitful ploy. Bemoaning “hate speech,” “disinformation,” and “misinformation,” they have often rebranded speech they dislike with this fraught connotation, and all to enforce the tenets of their ideology.
The loss of free speech and the concomitant freedom of conscience of others are welcomed by these elitists, for it advances their ideological agenda. And, of course, there is the practical imperative: free speech is the greatest guard against authoritarianism and tyranny. It is why free speech is a God-given, constitutionally enumerated, protected right, as are the rights of a free press and the freedom of religion—the bedrocks of the inherent right to the freedom of conscience.
Now it should become obvious why elites and radicals both seek to curb free speech. As history proves, those calling for censorship are the dangerous ones, and they are already radicalized. If people fail to reject their temptation to erode the sanctity of free speech, it will not merely be those whose speech is disfavored that will be endangered. Eventually, the bell of repression will toll for all, and no one will be safe from these lethal elitists, radicals, and their censorious regimes. Bluntly, censorship is the ultimate step to authoritarianism, and those who engage and/or promote this execrable exercise in thought control must be stopped.
But they must not be silenced. The proponents of free speech must never engage in that which they oppose, lest they become rightfully branded as hypocrites and, in fact, do as much, if not more, to damage the support for free speech than its opponents.
How, then, to promote free speech in the teeth of the censorious? Promote and protect critical thinking.
The marketplace of ideas is crowded, increasingly so every day, and the motives and aims are as diverse as humanity itself. While sifting through the diurnal data deluge can seem a daunting task to many, it is one that must never be delegated to the government or anyone else. You must be the filter, and the only way to do that is to think critically. If you refuse to assert your rights and cede them to someone else to do it for you, you are no longer a sovereign citizen; you are a serf.
Moreover, this is not merely a call for the teaching and learning of civics and history or other essential educational endeavors. It is a call to engage in lifelong learning—not merely by simply reinforcing one’s confirmation bias, but by challenging it; by seeking out alternative points of view and ideas to test your beliefs and assumptions; and by buttressing or modifying them as the truth emerges out of the confluence of divergent streams of sources.
Thus, those who seek to curtail speech are the most radical danger to our free republic. Where promoters of censorship have risen to power, their barbarous rule has imprisoned and butchered millions upon millions of dissidents for the “crime” of speaking—and thinking—freely. Why? Because for such censorious, lethal regimes and radicals, their most ardent adversary is a critically thinking, ever-vigilant sovereign citizen.
Be it wrapped with an iron fist or with a bow, whenever the temptation to cede any and all of your rights to free speech arises, it must be rebuffed. You are the filter. Therefore, promote critical thinking, not censorship, lest one day you may find yourself canceled—and, if history is any guide, perhaps quite literally.
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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.
Thaddeus G. McCotter
Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/03/21/you-are-the-filter-promote-critical-thinking-not-censorship/
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