Australians have praised JD Vance for saying the US should not have alliances with countries that refuse to support free speech.
The Vice President-elect’s comments that the USA’s European allies should respect American values were made in an interview in September but went viral on social media this weekend, and were welcomed by Australian free speech advocates and opponents of proposed misinformation laws.
Mr Vance told YouTube host Shawn Ryan that EU officials had threatened to arrest Elon Musk for platforming Donald Trump, and said America should respond by insisting that support for NATO should come with “strings attached”.
“So what America should be saying is, if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and respect free speech?” Mr Vance said.
“It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance is going to be pro-free speech. I think we can do both. But we’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached. One of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.
“Like, look, I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives. But European countries should theoretically share American values, especially about some very basic things like free speech.”
“It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn’t gonna be pro-free speech”
-US Vice-President elect JD VanceHow do you reckon we are going to go in Australia, with Kevin Rudd as our ambassador in Washington and Albanese’s Misinformation &… pic.twitter.com/wUp35bMIU2
— Craig Kelly (@craigkellyXXX) November 9, 2024
Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly responded to the comments by asking how Australia’s relations with the incoming Trump administration were going to fare in light of Anthony Albanese’s Labor government’s ongoing efforts to restrict freedom of speech and expression.
“How do you reckon we are going to go in Australia, with Kevin Rudd as our ambassador in Washington and Albanese’s Misinformation & Disinformation Bill empowering the crazed zealotry of eSafety Karen to fine X corp $250 million because they didn’t censor an opinion that eSafety Karen deemed as ‘misinformation’?” asked Mr Kelly.
“Do they think Trump and JD Vance are going sit back and watch the 1st amendment of the US Constitution violated by default by Albanese & eSafety Karen? Albanese’s MAD (Misinformation & Disinformation) Bill is not only a grave threat to free speech – it’s now a grave threat to our national security.”
“Australia, are we paying attention yet?” asked Australian libertarian commentator Mickamious.
“Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, are you both paying attention yet?”
Australia, are we paying attention yet??@AlboMP & @PeterDutton_MP are YOU BOTH paying attention yet??
JD Vance – “it is insane that we would support a military alliance that isn’t going to be Pro-Free Speech”
The script just flipped.
— Mickamious (@MickamiousG) November 10, 2024
Labor’s controversial misinformation bill, which will allow the government to decide whether information is true or false, was quietly pushed through the House of Representatives on the same day as the US election, but may be blockaded by key senators in the upper house.
Independent senators Gerard Rennick, David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell and Fatima Payman all have concerns about the bill, with Mr Pocock saying on Friday he believed the government’s approach was “deeply flawed”.
Mr Rennick said “the idea of having the government control over their version of the truth is extremely alarming”, while Ms Lambie said the government was rushing the process by only allowing seven working days for submissions to the Senate inquiry.
Nationals MP Keith MP said in the House of Representatives on Thursday that the proposed legislation reminded him of George Orwell’s 1984.
“Who in this place and in this country would think that part of that dystopian fiction – an absolute work of fiction – would be implemented by the Albanese government, in terms of the Ministry of Truth?” Mr Pitt said.
“The idea, even the concept that a public servant in a department will determine what a fact is and whether someone can have that opinion and whether they can have that reasonable belief is a yawning chasm – it is incredibly dangerous to this country.”
Mr Albanese is also under fire from free speech advocates and civil libertarians for his plan to ban teenagers from social media, which critics fear will result in the government’s digital ID scheme being made mandatory.
