Our outrage that the Canadian Supreme Court would force psychiatrist Jordan Peterson to undergo “social media training” for “demeaning posts”—or lose his medical license—did not go unnoticed.
Even the popular Dr. Peterson himself thanked our campaign for highlighting his plight on his X account (formerly known as Twitter).
The fact is, we live in a country that was built upon the principles of freedom—spelled out in our Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments of our Constitution.
The First Amendment says in no uncertain terms: Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech.”
And while Canada does not share our Constitution, they have long held to the principles found therein.
Several media outlets were as shocked as we were that someone like Dr. Peterson could be forced to undergo training or lose his job.
One news headline read:
The article noted:
A U.S. presidential candidate and a U.S. congressman have condemned recent Canadian court rulings that allow the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) to require Jordan Peterson to undergo social media training in order to keep his professional licence.
Dr. Peterson, in a Jan. 20 post on X, shared a letter sent by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s office to a recipient named "Norman" that noted similarities between Dr. Peterson's case and Mr. Kennedy's campaign, which the letter said is "currently facing mainstream media censorship."
"The breaking news that a Canadian Court is forcing psychiatrist Jordan Peterson to undergo state-sanctioned media training because of 'demeaning' social media posts is an assault to the fundamental tenets of Democracy and Freedom," said the letter, emailed to Mr. Kennedy's campaign supporters on Jan. 20, as confirmed by his press secretary, Stefanie Spear.
Mr. Kennedy, a former Democrat, had initially challenged U.S. President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. In October 2023, he announced he would run for president as an independent instead. The letter, which seeks additional support for his campaign, condemns authoritarianism while making reference to Dr. Peterson's case.
"That a Canadian court would force anyone to submit to their speech codes or else lose his or her ability to earn a living more resembles Communist-led China, not a free nation," it said.
"Authoritarianism was tried by many nations in the 20th century, and it failed every single time because people of the free world opposed those regimes that sought to terminate fundamental human rights."
Our nation has led the free nations of the world in protecting and promoting human rights. The United States has long served as a light for the world to emulate, and we have a long standing agreement with our Canadian friends on this critical issue.
Yet in today’s age, there are many—even in our own country—who are calling for more and more censorship.
According to one recent poll in which respondents were asked if they agree or disagree with the statement “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, only 31% of Democratic voters “strongly agreed” and only 34% of Independents agreed with the sentiment.
For the record, our campaign believes in the basic and universal right to speech without qualification.
As a people, we need to be able to disagree with one another and offer differing viewpoints without fear of retribution.