U.S. Official Blasts Eu’s Assault on Freedom of Speech During Budapest Summit

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers at the event

The third Budapest Global Dialogue, organized by the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA) and the Observer Research Foundation, has begun on February 9 in Budapest. The first panel discussion titled Restoring Civilizational Self-Confidence: Which Values Will Secure Our Future? brought together U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers, Political Director to the Hungarian Prime Minister Balázs Orbán, UnHerd editor Sohrab Ahmari, and ADF International Executive Director Paul Coleman.

The panel discussion, moderated by President of HIIA, Gladden Pappin, examined the state of democracy, freedom of speech, and sovereignty in both Europe and the United States.

Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers emphasized the central importance of freedom of expression in democratic self-government, stating that “there is no self-government without freedom of speech.” She warned that censorship in Western societies today often operates indirectly, through regulatory pressure and government-linked non-governmental organizations (NGOs), rather than through overt state repression.

If the censorship apparatus or class gets its claws in and can intimidate, it can distort democracy in frightening ways. That is one of the reasons I made this fight a priority for my office,”

she explained.

Moreover, my office is forthright and transparent about everything we do.

The salacious scoop that I’m trying to promote free speech overseas is easily derived from my X feed and numerous media engagements. The FT resorts here to the same sleight of hand that media analysts… https://t.co/ifComhRnbh

— Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers (@UnderSecPD) February 6, 2026

Referring to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), Rogers explained that “trusted flaggers” can report allegedly problematic content through priority channels, creating an “opaque system” that can stifle democratic debate. Similar coordination has developed between government actors and intermediaries in the United States, she noted, raising concerns about transparency and accountability.

During the Biden administration, you saw an attempt to establish what was effectively a de facto DSA-style regime in the United States. This was exposed through discoveries in a case known as Murthy v. Missouri, which went to the Supreme Court. In that case, NGOs worked arm in arm with the government to identify content for suppression,”

she pointed out.

Political Director Balázs Orbán spoke about how the content that appears in users’ news feeds is currently determined by the algorithms of large international technology companies, which influence what people consider to be important public issues. He emphasized that if these systems are not neutral, they are capable of shaping a country’s political environment, which is why, in his view, the issue is not merely about freedom of speech, but also about democratic functioning and sovereignty.

Panel discussion titled Restoring Civilizational Self-Confidence: Which Values Will Secure Our Future? at the Budapest Global Dialogue. Photo: Hungary Today

Balázs Orbán stressed that he considers “equal conditions” and neutrality in the operation of platforms to be necessary for democratic decision-making to prevail.

He added that

due to Hungary’s size and the limited spread of the Hungarian language, it is not realistic to create a separate social media platform, so Hungary can cooperate with large international platforms as long as they are neutral and ensure equal conditions and democratic functioning.

In his opinion, these are goals that should be achieved at the European and national levels over the next ten years.

The speakers also reflected on the future of Hungarian-American relations within a broader civilizational framework. Sarah B. Rogers argued that restoring “civilizational confidence” in the transatlantic alliance depends on allowing true democratic self-government to function, noting that American political positions on migration, sovereignty, and family issues often align more closely with European public opinion than with certain European elites.

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