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Are First Amendment Rights Under Threat? Lessons from 1930s Germany and Today’s Fight for Free Speech

It’s hard not to wonder: Are we starting down a similar path in the United States?

Libby Winkler
4 min readJan 26, 2025
Photo by Sven Verweij on Unsplash

Are First Amendment Rights Under Threat? Lessons from 1930s Germany and Today’s Fight for Free Speech

Looking back at history, specific periods echo eerily into the present—not because they’re ancient tales, but because they feel like warning signs. One such moment is Germany in the 1930s, a powerful reminder of how fragile democracy can be when freedom of speech and the press are chipped away in favor of censorship and centralized control. It’s hard not to wonder: Are we starting down a similar path in the United States?

Let me be clear—this isn’t a direct comparison between our leaders today and the authoritarian regimes of the past. However, the parallels are hard to ignore when you see the gradual erosion of First Amendment rights. While we still can speak out, write, protest, and question, I feel compelled to use my voice. Because things are changing at this rate, I’m not confident those freedoms will remain intact forever.

The Erosion of Freedom: Red Flags in the Present

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Libby Winkler
Libby Winkler

Written by Libby Winkler

Freelance writer who loves exploring the messiness of humanity, while poking around in nooks of life and shining light on all the things that make us complex..

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