Freedom of Speech
The page numbers provided link directly to the relevant sections in the Project 2025 document.
Project 2025 will severely limit our First Amendment right to free speech, from what individuals can read, view, and discuss, to social media’s right to moderate content.
Read more about the impact of Project 2025 on free speech.
Project 2025 will…
...ban pornography, imprison the people who produce and distribute it, shut down the telecom and tech firms that facilitate its spread, and register as sex offenders any educators and public librarians who purvey it. Given the extremely vague definition of pornography, this would create a chilling effect on teachers, artists, authors, and filmmakers, enact disproportionate punishment for non-violent offenses, stifle innovation, lead to job losses and economic disruption, and lead to censorship and moral policing. Additionally, educators will be prohibited from teaching or discussing Critical Race Theory or Gender Ideology. The terms sexual orientation and gender identity, diversity, equity and inclusion, gender, gender identity, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other similar term will be deleted out of every federal rule, contract, regulation and legislation. [5]
…rescind existing civil rights to personal healthcare privacy, and emphasizes total parental control over their children. Project 2025 proposes strict rules against gender-affirming care, labeling it as “child abuse,” and these rules would include notifying parents about children’s decisions. This intrudes on personal health decisions and undermines privacy, particularly for LGBTQ+ youth who may not receive support at home. This could lead to more harm and less willingness to seek needed medical care. [5]
...limit online platforms' ability to moderate content. This will lead to a proliferation of hate speech and misinformation, including political and medical misinformation. [849]
...remove existing protections for online platforms from being held legally responsible for user-generated content on their sites. This will cause these online platforms to either shut down or implement strict moderation and censorship. Project 2025 calls for Section 230 of the Federal Communications Act to be revamped. Section 230 embodies the principle that we should all be responsible for our own actions and statements online, but (generally) not those of others. Currently, if a social media company has a user who posts something that is hate speech or libelous, the writer of that speech can be sued individually, but the host site is immune from civil suits. [847]
...eliminate the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) involvement in countering misinformation and disinformation. This means that the government will abandon its role as "the arbiter of truth" and the American people will be more exposed to lies and manipulation. [155]
...prohibit the FBI from engaging in activities related to combating the spread of misinformation and disinformation by Americans. This means that the government will abandon its role as "the arbiter of truth" and the American people will be more exposed to lies and manipulation. [550]
…restrict our nation’s Free Press. The Supreme Court has interpreted Free Speech to also include a free press, covering not only talking, writing and printing, but also broadcasting. Project 2025 also seeks to make it easier to seize journalists emails and phone records, eliminate funding for NPR, PBS and public broadcasting, limit advertising for prescription drugs, punish current and former officials who speak to reporters, ban TikTok, and remove restrictions on media ownership that prohibit a single media company from controlling all sources of news distribution in a single market. [246]