“We took the freedom of speech away,” said President Donald Trump during an Oct. 8 roundtable discussion on Antifa. 

This statement was made in reference to his Aug. 25 executive order, which prohibits inciting violence by or otherwise violating laws while burning the American flag. But even without context, it doesn’t feel like an entirely inaccurate description of our current reality. 

Concerns over the future of our First Amendment rights have intensified in the past several weeks, mainly because of the responses to Charlie Kirk’s assassination — and the way individuals and companies have chosen to crack down on the criticism. 

It started with Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial monologue, filled with jabs at MAGA and Kirk, which ended in ABC pulling him off the air. 

Disney suspended Kimmel from his show “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” the company said in a statement to USA TODAY. Disney lifted the suspension on Sept. 22.

Although Disney put it delicately, let’s call it what it is: bending to the will of Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, and shutting down any criticism toward the far-right podcaster who has been revered by Christian nationalists, most Republicans and even some who identify as liberal or left-leaning.

While this alone should be enough to raise concerns about freedom of speech, Kimmel isn’t the only one who has faced the consequences for the unfavorable statements he made. In the two weeks following Kirk’s assassination, over 100 people were fired from their jobs because of statements they’d made about him. This doesn’t include the number of people whom conservative activists doxed or harassed. 

But this event did not spark restrictions on freedom of speech and press in today’s America; it poured gasoline on the fire. It intensified an issue our country has already been facing, bringing it to a level where we can’t pretend it’s not happening. If you weren’t already, it’s time to be concerned.  

To understand the severity of our current situation, it’s important to first understand the history and purpose of the First Amendment. It means a lot more than simply “people should be free to say whatever they want, whenever they want.”

There are several reasons why the Founding Fathers chose to include freedom of speech and the press in the Bill of Rights. The colonists lacked these rights under Britain’s control, as licensing laws prevented publishers from criticizing the crown without suffering severe consequences. 

It was also important to give people the right to criticize the government so that it could adjust accordingly to better serve the public. The United States was, after all, intended to be a government created by and for the people. 

Free criticism of those in power also reflects the strength of a nation. A government that relies on silencing people to prevent dissent could send the message that people can, and will, revolt if allowed to inform each other and create networks. 

The First Amendment grants people and the media legal protections against government entities, not private entities. ABC did not infringe on Kimmel’s freedom of speech by suspending him from his show; in fact, they had every right to do so. 

But this is more than a legal concern; it’s about the principle of it. Silencing criticism against the government — or a martyr of the party in power, as Kirk has been made to be — is step one of democracy’s slow demise into authoritarianism. 

To give a few of the many historical examples, in Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels — Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist — controlled newspapers, radio and broadcasting stations to fill the media with only pro-Nazi content.

In contemporary China, the Great Firewall exists as a vast system of internet censorship, blocking foreign news and social media platforms. It specifically prevents Chinese citizens from accessing information that its government claims goes against the country’s interests. 

In Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, journalists have been arrested and convicted for insulting the president. Currently, 85% of the Turkish media is controlled by private companies allied with the government. 

But just because the freedom of speech violation with Kimmel was technically enacted by a private company, rather than the government, doesn’t mean we should all remain calm.

Trump has been personally coming after press associations since his inauguration, with several lawsuits in addition to his regular rhetoric attacks against news organizations. He’s especially come after organizations that published surveys revealing his net negative approval ratings. 

In February, Trump removed The Associated Press from the White House press pool. This barred journalists from accessing Oval Office and Air Force One events, on the grounds that the global news association didn’t follow the U.S.’ new name for the Gulf of Mexico. 

In May, Trump slashed public funding for PBS and NPR for alleged bias in the broadcasters’ reporting. Although NPR sued Trump, Congress approved eliminating $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting. 

He sued CBS in April for editing a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris to paint her in a positive light. After Paramount settled in July by paying $16 million to his future presidential library, a spokesperson from Trump’s legal team said to Fox News, “President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”

The statement makes it seem like a good-faith effort. But if Trump really cared about the American people being lied to, he wouldn’t have signed the executive order that prevents social media platforms from tracking and removing disinformation. 

All of Trump’s efforts come down to this: He doesn’t want himself or his party to be criticized by the media. Anything that he finds insulting is illegal, in his eyes, and the FCC’s suggestion that it may target other shows after the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” incident should be setting off sirens for everyone who cares about maintaining democracy. 

This isn’t to say that all hope is lost and the U.S. is now a fascist country. Kimmel returned to the air after public outrage — so outrage we must. Criticism of the president and the government is a crucial feature of democracy, and getting louder is the best way to fight being silenced. 

Makenna is a junior in LAS.

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CORRECTION Oct. 17, 3:13 p.m.: A previous version of this article misrepresented the terms of illegal desecration of the American flag and included the incorrect end date of Disney’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The article now reflects the correct term and date.