On May 28, 2020, Trump signed Executive Order 13925 to “[prevent] online censorship.” This executive order, which boasts of free speech protections, discourages social media platforms from moderating content deemed complicit in selective censorship, according to the Center for Democracy and Technology.
This executive order was later revoked by the Biden administration on May 14, 2021, citing concerns over press censorship.
Hate Speech in U.S. Law
In recent weeks, however, these restrictions on speech have become increasingly prevalent, with the government calling for those who defame conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his death to face consequences. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on a podcast hosted by Stephen Miller’s wife that there is “free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society.”
In the days following Kirk’s death, dozens of teachers and professors from K-12 schools and universities were fired over comments about Kirk. According to ABC News, numerous teachers filed federal lawsuits against their districts, saying their first amendment rights were violated.
One of these teachers was allegedly fired after sharing a post containing a direct excerpt of Kirk’s own words from a speech he gave at a Turning Point USA event. In this post, Kirk was quoted saying that the right to bear arms is, “worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year.”
Dan Barrett, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said that hate speech is not a legal, first amendment category.
“This Department of Justice will continue taking bold legal action to protect the American people from encroachments on free speech and free markets by tech companies,” Bondi said, in response to winning an antitrust case against Google.
Multiple Supreme Court cases have upheld the public’s right to use such “hate speech,” even in the most extreme examples. Ku Klux Klan member Clarence Brandenburg invited local news stations to cover a KKK rally where he was filmed burning crosses and calling for revenge against Black and Jewish people. Brandenburg was later convicted on a criminal syndicism statute, which deemed his speech offensive and advocating for violence.
This conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court, ruling that a state may not forbid speech in any capacity unless that speech has intent to incite or produce lawless actions.
Kimmel Cancellation
Censorship has also been reinforced by Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Carr specifically attacked organizations that Trump labeled, in a Sept. 18 post on Truth Social, “an arm of the Democrat party.”
“At the moment, the guy in charge of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has made it very clear that he intends to use the agency to silence critics of his boss. He’s even said he’s going to do it again,” Barrett said.
On Sept. 17, after a public statement from Carr, talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from the air by ABC and its parent company Disney. Speaking on a podcast, Sept. 17, Carr said, “these companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Kimmel’s program was taken off the air later that day, with Trump celebrating the cancellation on Truth Social.
“When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — that license, they’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said on his platform.
Kimmel was ultimately reinstated on Sept. 23, with his first show back featuring a personal apology from Kimmel to Kirk’s family amid public backlash.
Actions Toward Foreign Nationals
According to the Guardian, on Oct. 14, six foreigners had their visas revoked over inflammatory comments regarding Kirk. According to an X post from the Department of State, “The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
“One of the key ingredients of monopoly,” said Sen. Chris Murphy in a press conference with journalism students at UConn “is the use of violence in order to punish dissent.”
In March, Trump attempted to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to ramp up deportations across the nation. On March 15, 2025, Trump sent out an executive order attempting to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, claiming America was facing a domestic invasion.
This Department of Justice will continue taking bold legal action to protect the American people from encroachments on free speech and free markets by tech companies
Attorney General Pam Bondi
This order stays that all Venezuelan citizens 14 or older, who are suspected of being part of Tren De Aragua, are liable to be apprehended, restrained and removed. Before it was struck down by a superior court, 161 Venezuelans were expelled under this act, according to CBS.
This act has only been invoked three times in history, with the last being nearly 80 years ago during World War II to justify the creation of internment camps for Japanese Americans.
The 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately issued an injunction that blocked Trump’s enactment of this 18th century law, according to reporting by Reuters, but the deportations still took place.
Department of War and National Guard
In recent weeks Trump has deployed the National Guard against protestors and limited the press’ ability to cover national security issues.
Last Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth enacted a new policy that demanded journalists pledge to not obtain or use any material unauthorized by the government. On Oct. 15, journalists from every major news outlet agreed to turn in their press badges to the Pentagon, according to AP News.
On Oct. 8, nearly 500 National Guard troops were deployed on the streets of Chicago. The Chicago mayor and Illinois governor both criticized this military escalation, according to Reuters.
In response, Trump called for both the mayor and governor to be jailed. “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump further called for Democratic cities to be “used as training grounds for our military,” in a speech he gave on Sept. 30, according to the Military Times.
“I think some people think there’s a day when democracy dies,” said Murphy, “some places elections get cancelled, that’s not what happens in America, we’ll still have elections in America, the question is if they are free and fair elections.”
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