Australian police raid Canberra bar’s artwork under new counter-extremism legislation

Plus: Canadian tribunal issues $750,000 fine for school trustee’s ‘hate speech’

Oct. 21, 2024 – An Australian Federal Police officer at Queen Camilla and King Charles III's visit to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, via Shutterstock.com

FIRE’s Free Speech Dispatch covers new and continuing censorship trends and challenges around the world. Our goal is to help readers better understand the global context of free expression. Want to make sure you don’t miss an update? Sign up for our newsletter.

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Canberra bar labeled a crime scene after police raid posters

Citing recent anti-extremism legislation, police raided Canberra’s Dissent Cafe and Bar last week and seized a set of posters depicting Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, and others in Nazi uniforms. Police, who declared the cafe a crime scene, said they are “committed to ensuring that alleged antisemitic, racist and hate incidents are addressed promptly and thoroughly and when possible criminality is identified, ACT Policing will not hesitate to take appropriate action.” The bar’s owner, David Howe, called the raid “ludicrous” and within a day replaced the posters with large “CENSORED” captions over them. Guardian Australia reports that this “is the first complaint about alleged hate imagery received in the nation’s capital following laws passed earlier this year in the wake of the Bondi shooting.” Howe says the posters “are an anti-fascist statement” about “authoritarian regimes around the world.”

Former school trustee issued whopping $750,000 fine by Canadian tribunal

For comments made on social media, school board meetings, and to the media, former elected Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld is now on the hook for a $750,000 fine. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruled last week that Neufeld’s comments about gender identity and related Ministry of Education directives “invoked negative and insidious stereotypes about LGBTQ people, especially trans people, which denied their inherent dignity and, in some cases, reflected the hallmarks of hate against them as a group.” Among other comments, Neufeld said government resources about gender identity, which he called a “biologically absurd theory,” were a “weapon of propaganda.”

The case dates back to 2017, when the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association and B.C. Teachers’ Federation first took their objections over Neufeld to the Tribunal, alleging that Neufeld’s public comments constituted hate speech and discrimination. The fine issued by the Tribunal “will result in individual awards between around $4,600 to $16,667” to members of the teachers’ groups who filed the complaint. The Tribunal, writing that it was “not persuaded such an order would have any beneficial effect in this complaint, given Mr. Neufeld’s clearly entrenched views,” decided against issuing mandatory anti-discrimination training for Neufeld.

In comments praising the decision, British Columbia’s Human Rights Commissioner said “statements that deny trans identities and rely on stereotypes create significant harm” and that this “decision is significant for ensuring that human rights laws apply to political and public statements from our elected officials and affirming that trans people are entitled to have their identities recognized and rights respected.” Neufeld’s attorney announced this week that they intend to appeal.

UK court strikes down Palestine Action terror ban

The UK High Court ruled that banning Palestine Action under anti-terrorism law was “disproportionate and unlawful.” Judges found the group’s activities had not met the statutory threshold required for proscription but ministers have said they will appeal. For more in-depth discussion, see FIRE’s coverage of the ruling and what it means for the thousands who have been arrested for holding signs expressing support for the banned group, an offense that was also targeted under anti-terror legislation.

In a separate ruling, the High Court found the Police Federation acted unlawfully when it suspended elected officials over comments about racism in policing. In a media interview, one official “warned that officers were becoming increasingly reluctant to challenge individuals from some ethnic minority groups for fear of vexatious complaints or being labelled racist” and another “used social media to challenge claims that policing in the UK is institutionally racist.” The measures were deemed unjustified and disproportionate.

Brazil prosecutes student for gender identity posts and orders journalists silenced

The trial has begun for Brazilian veterinary student Isadora Borges, who faces up to ten years in prison for social media posts expressing her views on gender identity if found guilty. She says she hopes her “case can serve as a turning point in fighting censorship in Brazil” and that “Brazilians deserve the freedom to speak openly without punishment.” Borges, who was charged under an anti-racism law expanded years ago by the Supreme Court to include transphobia, was reported to police by Brazilian politician Erika Hilton.

Separately, a court in Belém ordered Adriano Wilkson to remove posts about alleged municipal contract irregularities and barred him from further discussing the issue. Journalist organizations condemned the ruling as censorship and a violation of constitutional press protections.

Russia blocks WhatsApp and throttles Telegram

Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor confirmed it had begun “throttling” Telegram, citing noncompliance with local law. Authorities have also blocked WhatsApp nationwide. Roskomnadzor stated: “We are absolutely open to working with any domestic or foreign internet resources. But on one very simple condition: respect for Russia and its citizens, and compliance with the laws of the Russian Federation.”

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Russia is attempting to force citizens onto a state app “built for surveillance and political censorship.” A WhatsApp spokesperson called the move “a backwards step” that “can only lead to less safety for people in Russia.”

Spain targets VPN infrastructure in anti-piracy crackdown

A Spanish court ordered NordVPN and Proton VPN to block IP addresses transmitting illegal LaLiga football streams, allowing “dynamic” blocking in real time during matches. Proton VPN said it “has not been formally notified” and emphasized that courts are “bound by procedural safeguards that ensure parties are given a fair opportunity to present their case.” NordVPN called the approach “unacceptable.” Privacy advocates warn that blocking shared IP infrastructure risks sweeping lawful users into enforcement actions.

Olympic political speech rule reignites long-running debate

Every Olympic season, it seems, there is a controversy over whether and how athletes can and should express themselves on and off the track. This one was no different. Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified for wearing a “helmet of remembrance” honoring athletes killed since Russia’s invasion. The IOC cited Rule 50, which states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted.” An IOC spokesperson said: “It’s not the message, it’s the place that counts.” The decision has reignited debate over contested claims of Olympic neutrality, athletes’ political expression, and what it means for speech to be “political” in the first place.

Internet takedowns remain a contentious issue in India

India has amended its IT Rules to require platforms to label and trace deepfakes and comply with government takedown orders within “as little as two to three hours.” Companies that fail to act risk losing safe harbor protections. Officials claim the changes are necessary to combat deceptive AI content, but critics warn the compressed timelines leave little room for human review and may pressure platforms to over-censor lawful speech.

And comedian Kunal Kamra is challenging the government’s Sahyog portal, which is intended to streamline online content takedowns, calling it an “assault on free speech.” Kamra argues the portal enables removals on “wholly vague grounds” and threatens “the free flow of information.”

Elsewhere, a sedition complaint was filed in Maharashtra after a school event allegedly featured a Pakistani patriotic song. The complainant described the performance as “anti-national,” and authorities launched a probe.

More political censorship across Asia

• West Bengal Police arrested activist Amit Nandi — over a minor joke. Nandi posted on social media that a traffic warning against drunk driving said “don’t drink cars and drive alcohol.”

• Indonesian comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono is also facing a police report over jokes in his Netflix special. Fellow comedians defended him, arguing that “funny is funny” despite backlash and legal risk.

• A Thai court extended a man’s prison sentence for insulting the monarchy to a shocking 50 years under Thailand’s lese majeste law. Rights groups note that hundreds have been charged under Section 112 in recent years and argue the statute is routinely used to suppress dissent. Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has also recommended lifetime political bans for 44 former Move Forward Party lawmakers for proposing amendments to the lese majeste law. The commission claims the lawmakers failed to uphold Thailand’s constitutional monarchy.

• Malaysian police launched a defamation probe into a Bloomberg report concerning anti-corruption chief Azam Baki’s shareholdings. Authorities said the article is “suspected of containing defamatory statements.” Azam stated he has “nothing to hide” and is “confident that the truth will prevail.”

• Separately, Malaysian police also arrested 19 individuals, including rally coordinator Zamri Vinoth, ahead of an unauthorized rally under the Sedition Act Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, and the Communications and Multimedia Act. Police also detained three men in North Klang for allegedly posting “seditious” TikTok content related to the rally.

• Pakistan’s Lahore High Court set aside the death sentence of Col. (R) Muhammad Arif in a blasphemy case, finding insufficient evidence and flaws in the original trial’s handling of the facts. At the same time, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government is intensifying efforts to curb blasphemy-related content online, a frequent target of censorship efforts from Pakistani officials.

Journalism remains under threat worldwide

A new global press freedom roundup warns that despite a slight drop in the number of jailed journalists worldwide, repression remains severe. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 330 journalists were detained and 127 media workers were killed in 2025. The report highlights conflict zone killings in Gaza, prolonged internet blackouts in Iran, and digital censorship in Pakistan, underscoring a global decline in conditions for independent journalism.

Press freedom issues have already surfaced this year, too. Journalist Pellagia Mupurwa was detained under Zimbabwe’s cyber crime statute for allegedly “transmitting false messages with the intent to cause harm.” Police messages reportedly included the phrase “we are hunting you.” Charges were later withdrawn, but press freedom groups say the case illustrates how vague cybercrime laws intimidate journalists.