Almost daily, I go through major international outlets such as CNN, BBC, The New York Times, Fox News, The Guardian, and many others. And what is striking—though I’m clearly not the first one to say it—is how biased nearly every major outlet has become. There are rare exceptions, but they are very rare indeed. These outlets often publish false information, omit crucial facts (which in my view is an even greater sin), and base their analyses on false assumptions. By doing so, they create a biased virtual reality in which those who have not yet been “vaccinated” against propaganda will almost certainly fall victim to it.
If the situation in major Western outlets is so dire, then the situation in social media is nothing short of catastrophic: a space overflowing with unrestrained hate and lies.
Today, the so-called “free speech” resembles the early days of the “free market”—or simply put, rampant 19th-century capitalism: no regulation, no rules, and the strongest takes it all. The same happens now in the “free speech”: the bigger you are and the more money you have, the stronger and more influential you become. As a result, smaller nations and minority groups that lack powerful allies simply don’t stand a chance. No one listens to them, no one hears them.
Every individual in Western democracies has basic rights, and one of these is the right to be heard. Strangely enough, small communities and small nations do not share this right. They are judged according to current political interests, prosecuted and persecuted in the court of public opinion without any chance to defend themselves. And as sad as it is, some of the very same political circles that claim to promote human rights, minority protections, globalization, progress, and international law are today among the main forces fueling these modern-day witch hunts.
This is, unfortunately, the nature of many ideologies that aim to “save the world”: they end up justifying bloodshed for a higher purpose, only to be condemned by humanity a few generations later.
It took time for capitalism in Western countries to become more balanced, regulated, and human-oriented. Now it is time to do the same with “free speech.” Today, there are essentially two prevailing approaches to free speech:
- Allow everything—which, as I already described, is very similar to rampant 19th-century capitalism, where the biggest players with the deepest pockets dominate the narrative, push their interests, and by doing so, shape nations.
- Impose censorship—which claims to cut off “hate speech” and “false narratives,” but in practice often silences anything that does not align with mainstream political views.
But there are other ways too—one that is well-known, yet rarely applied. I call it “the right of each nation to be heard.”
This would mean that any nation choosing to join an international agreement on free speech would enter a regulated space in which every outlet or social media platform publishing news, analysis, or commentary about that nation would be obligated to grant it a proportional opportunity to present its own position—published in the same outlet, on the same platform, and reaching the same audience as the original content. For example: for every three words written in an “independent” article, the nation in question would have the right to one word to represent its own view. No more meaningless “we reached out for comment” footnotes just to tick the box.
In return, the outlet or social media platform would gain access to parallel national outlets and platforms, allowing it to publish commentary or analysis there. In this way, people on both sides would at least have a chance to see the world through the eyes of the other. There can be no League of Nations or United Nations, no international law, or no true peace without this fundamental right for each and every nation.
I expect anyone who truly supports human rights—who claims to stand for minorities, progress, and mutual understanding between nations—to back this call to action. Otherwise, I invite them to stand in front of a mirror and take a good look at how hypocrisy really looks like…