Nigel Farage told a U.S. congressional committee this week that American politicians and businesses should push back against the British government’s approach to freedom of speech, saying “you've simply got this wrong” and comparing the United Kingdom to North Korea.
Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, was giving evidence at a hearing in Washington, D.C., convened to examine whether European laws and regulations threaten Americans’ right to speak freely in the United States. He cited the cases of writer Graham Linehan and a woman jailed over a racist tweet as examples of what he described as “the really awful authoritarian situation that the UK has sunk into.”
His appearance provoked sharp criticism from some Democratic members of Congress during the session. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called Farage a “Putin-loving free speech impostor” on the House panel, drawing rebukes from Farage and his supporters.
The testimony also drew condemnation from political leaders in Britain. Labour’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Jetting off to another country and hyping up the prospect of the UK’s trade with our closest allies being hit is about as anti-British as you can get.” Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Farage of having “flown to America to badmouth and talk down our country.”
The hearing in Washington was part of a broader U.S. inquiry into whether European regulatory frameworks governing online content and speech could have extraterritorial effects that would restrict Americans' ability to express themselves. Farage urged U.S. lawmakers and private-sector actors to resist what he framed as an overreach by the British government.
Farage is a prominent Brexit campaigner and founder of the Reform UK party. His testimony came amid ongoing debates in the U.K. and across Europe about balancing protections against harmful content with free speech rights. He invoked specific U.K. enforcement actions to argue that British policy had drifted toward authoritarianism.
Democratic critics on the committee focused on Farage’s political record and alliances. Raskin’s remark, which referenced allegations about Farage's connections with international actors, underscored partisan tensions in the hearing room. Farage and his allies rejected the characterisation, saying his intervention sought to defend civil liberties.
British government officials framed the trip as an attempt to damage the country’s international standing and commercial ties. Reynolds and Starmer both argued that taking disputes about U.K. law to a foreign legislature risked harming bilateral relations with the United States.
The hearing highlighted growing transatlantic scrutiny of how national and regional rules governing online speech interact with U.S. legal protections, and how political actors seek foreign audiences to press domestic grievances. Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic are continuing to debate the shape and reach of content regulation, enforcement practices and the implications for trade and diplomatic relations.