Nigel Farage Warns Congress About Authoritarian Free Speech Crackdowns

British firebrand and Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage lit up Capitol Hill on Wednesday, warning Congress that European-style censorship laws could soon pose a serious threat to American free speech and innovation.

Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Farage delivered a powerful rebuke of the UK’s Online Safety Act and the European Union’s Digital Services Act, both of which he says weaponize vague language to suppress dissent and silence voices that challenge progressive orthodoxy including those of Americans abroad.

“This could happen to any American man or woman who goes to Heathrow [who] has said things online that the British government and British police don’t like,” Farage told lawmakers. “It is a potentially big threat to tech bosses, to many, many others.”

Farage, who led the Brexit movement and now helms a party poised to shake up the UK’s political landscape, didn’t hold back. He cited the arrest of Irish comedian Graham Linehan, targeted for his online criticism of radical gender ideology, as an example of what happens when government gets to define “harmful content.”

“I come from a land of Magna Carta… and it doesn’t give me any great joy to be sitting in America and describing the really awful, authoritarian situation that we have now sunk into,” he said.

Democrats on the committee were quick to attack Farage not his ideas, but his character. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) launched a personal tirade, calling him a “fringe” figure, a “Trump sycophant,” and a “pro-Putin politician.”

“Delightful testimony you gave me earlier on,” Farage shot back. “But hey, that’s fine, you can say what you like, I don’t care. Because that’s what free speech is.”

Farage reminded the committee that robust political debate, not suppression, is the cornerstone of both American and British democracies. His message was simple: you don’t have to agree with someone to defend their right to speak.

And that’s precisely the point the Left doesn’t seem to grasp anymore.

The hearing wasn’t just about European censorship it was a warning shot for what could happen here if globalist policies are allowed to take root.

Alongside Farage, Lorcán Price, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom International, sounded the alarm on the EU’s Digital Services Act. That law gives Brussels the power to fine American tech companies up to six percent of their global revenue if they don’t comply with EU speech regulations including so-called “disinformation.”

“The so-called Brussels effect changes regulation in every area that the European Union chooses to regulate, and now they’ve entered the business of regulating speech,” Price warned.

In other words, Europe is trying to export its censorship regime, and it could have direct consequences for American users, platforms, and businesses.

Under the guise of “safety” and “tolerance,” Western governments including our allies are increasingly embracing authoritarian restrictions on speech. And as Farage pointed out, Americans are not immune:

• U.S. citizens traveling abroad could be flagged or arrested for social media posts deemed “harmful.”

• American companies could be fined or de-platformed if they allow speech that offends woke bureaucrats in Brussels or Westminster.

• Everyday users may find themselves silenced internationally even if their content is fully legal and protected under the First Amendment.

Farage’s testimony couldn’t come at a more critical time. While American elites push speech codes, DEI regulations, and “misinformation” crackdowns, allies across the Atlantic are already arresting comedians and silencing critics.

The Left calls it progress. Farage calls it what it is: authoritarianism.

And he’s right.

If Americans want to keep their freedoms online and off it’s time to stop pretending foreign policies don’t affect us. When free speech is criminalized anywhere, it puts liberty at risk everywhere.

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