Transatlantic Dialogues to address attacks on free speech

Political Network for Values (PNfV) returns with the Transatlantic Dialogues and next Friday, April 25, will address a very topical issue: “ Free Speech under Threat”.

In this online event we will talk with two personalities who have been victims of persecution for expressing their thoughts: Päivi Räsänen, member of the Parliament of Finland, and Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family, in Mexico, and vice-president of the Board of Directors of PNfV. We are also joined by Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International, an organization that provides legal advice to victims of human rights violations.

In many countries, those who promote and defend fundamental values often experience limitations to freely express their convictions. Such restrictions are imposed by a “cancel culture” that spreads widely, and becomes “normative” in some social networks and communication vehicles; and sometimes they are even imposed by governments, parliaments and courts, under the pretext of combating fake news or alleged “hate speech”. The freedom to peacefully and respectfully express one’s convictions is a fundamental right that must be respected and guaranteed by the state.

Päivi Räsänen, was legally prosecuted for quoting the Bible when expressing her perspective on marriage and family; and Rodrigo Iván Cortés was sentenced by a Mexican State body to a process of “re-education” for having affirmed the biological truth of a male parliamentarian claiming to be a woman.

Although freedom of expression is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is explicitly protected by most constitutions of Western nations, cases such as these multiply year after year.

The April Transatlantic Dialogue will take place next Friday, April 25, at the following times, depending on the region you are in: