Rising Tide Foundation’s New Focus Area: Free Speech

April 2, 2025

The Rising Tide Foundation’s Freedom in Practice program is proud to launch a new focus area: Free Speech.  

With this new focus area, the Rising Tide Foundation acknowledges that the freedom to speak, debate, and dissent lies at the heart of human progress and dignity. Throughout history, the greatest defenders of liberty have recognized that free speech is not merely one right among many, but the cornerstone upon which all other freedoms rest. It is through the unrestricted exchange of ideas that societies advance, cultures flourish, and human potential finds its fullest expression. 

However, recent years have witnessed increasing challenges to this fundamental freedom. Government regulations, informal pressure from powerful institutions, and restrictions on open dialogue threaten to undermine the very mechanisms that have driven human advancement. A society that discourages questioning and independent thought inevitably weakens its citizens’ capacity for critical thinking and reasoned analysis. When societies choose coercion over persuasion, they sacrifice not only freedom but also the primary engine of human progress: the ability to challenge, innovate, and evolve through reasoned debate. 

By adding the topic of Free Speech as a focus area, we recognize that vibrant discourse, even when uncomfortable or controversial, is essential for scientific discovery, artistic expression, and the development of critical thinking. Our commitment stems from the classical liberal understanding that truth emerges not through imposed consensus, but through open inquiry and discussion.    

We are seeking projects that: 

• Remove Barriers to Free Speech: Projects that identify, challenge, and work to eliminate institutional, technological, or regulatory obstacles that restrict free expression. This includes initiatives that tackle restrictive policies, address digital platform limitations, combat censorship mechanisms, and develop solutions that enable broader participation in public discourse. 
• Promote a Culture of Free Speech: Projects that foster environments where open dialogue and respectful debate can flourish, strengthening critical thinking skills, encouraging intellectual diversity, and building an understanding of free speech’s role in human progress.  
• Defend the Right to Free Speech: Projects that actively protect and preserve free speech rights through legal, advocacy, or institutional means. This includes supporting those facing censorship, developing legal frameworks that protect expression rights, creating resources for those whose speech rights are threatened, and building networks of support for free speech defenders.