Jordan Bardella, President of France’s National Rally (RN) party, has raised alarms about free speech being “under attack” in France, suggesting that the country could learn from the U.S. model.
Speaking out on February 17, Bardella pointed to the potential closure of Channel C8, home to right-wing commentator Cyril Hanouna, as an example of this growing issue. Despite public support, including a petition with one million signatures, French regulators are pushing to shut down C8, a move Bardella calls an “unprecedented attack” on free speech.
Bardella argued that the Left in France has created a “thought police” environment, where anything challenging their ideology is quickly labeled a “slip-up.” He criticized what he sees as a stifling “soft consensus” that limits open debate and hinders solutions to France’s problems. To combat this, Bardella advocates for embracing the U.S. approach to free speech, noting that Donald Trump’s re-election bid positions him as a defender of this right.
Bardella also praised changes in U.S. social media, such as Meta’s shift to prioritizing free speech with community ratings instead of fact-checking, and Twitter’s move under Elon Musk to allow more open debate while still addressing misinformation. He hopes that France will adopt a similar “wind of freedom,” allowing a broader, unrestricted discourse where the Left no longer dictates the terms of debate and what can be discussed.
