Aussies have criticised the US Embassy for calling Australia a “free nation” while the government restricts freedom of speech, bans rival political parties, and censors the internet.
The US Embassy Australia shared a map titled The State Of Global Freedom on its official X account on Tuesday, showing the world’s countries colour-coded as “free”, “partly free” and “not free”.
“This map says it best. Freedom is the foundation of our strongest partnerships. The United States and Australia stand together as free nations, where people can speak, vote, and worship as they choose. In China, those freedoms are denied,” the caption read.
But many Australians objected to the characterisation of Australia as “free”, and highlighted the government’s use of new prohibited hate group laws to ban the White Australia Party, the politically motivated jailing of right-wing dissidents, and the proposed Digital Duty of Care bill.
@USEmbAustralia Hey you’re wrong. Australia is not free. Speak against the system and you’ll be buried. Neither is the UK. Try again.
— Senator Babet (@senatorbabet) November 10, 2026
Dear @USEmbAustralia, I have corrected the image for you.
Australia absolutely does not have freedom of speech and has a recent history of criminally prosecuting and punishing people for criticising or protesting against the government, or saying things that are arbitrarily deemed to be offensive.
— Ben Robson (@brobson_politic) November 10, 2026
I’m Australian and I have no right to free speech and any political party that would actually represent my nativist interests would be instantly banned by the government.
— reviled (@LumbridgeMeth) November 10, 2026
United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet, who has had repeated attempts to enshrine free speech in the Constitution blocked by the uniparty, was among those who pushed back at the US Embassy.
“Hey you’re wrong. Australia is not free. Speak against the system and you’ll be buried. Neither is the UK. Try again,” Mr Babet said.
Libertarian Party federal president Ben Robson posted an edited version of the map showing Australia in yellow for “partly free”, and wrote “I have corrected the image for you”.
“Australia absolutely does not have freedom of speech and has a recent history of criminally prosecuting and punishing people for criticising or protesting against the government, or saying things that are arbitrarily deemed to be offensive,” he wrote.
“I’m Australian and I have no right to free speech and any political party that would actually represent my nativist interests would be instantly banned by the government,” read one of the most popular responses.
“There’s a mum in Australia looking at five plus years in jail because she posted swastikas, freedom is absolute, if there’s something I can’t say regardless of what it is, I’m not free,” a different X user said.
“Sure, lets just put the country with absolutely no freedom of speech laws and actively arrests people for speech while slowly introducing restrictions that will lead to complete CCP-level great firewall restrictions,” wrote another.
In September the US Embassy in Canberra raised “serious concerns” about the Australian government’s proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation, warning it will facilitate censorship, encroach on free speech, and unfairly burden American companies.
Header image credit: Statista (reference link).
