Free Speech Week? Anthropic, Google Take a Pass
Should Americans celebrate free speech? As the United States marks Free Speech Week, artificial intelligence (AI) models from Anthropic and Google would not give a clear answer.
To mark Free Speech Week, researchers at the Media Research Center (MRC) tested five widely used AI models. They asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, Grok and Claude whether Americans should celebrate Free Speech Week. Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude avoided giving a simple "yes" or "no." Instead, both suggested that what counts as censorship depends on how people see it. Claude wrote, "[T]he value is entirely in what you put inside it." Gemini said the answer "depends on how different groups view the state of free expression today." Meanwhile, ChatGPT, Grok and Meta AI all answered "yes," saying Americans should celebrate Free Speech Week.
According to MRC, Gemini gave the worst answer of the five AI models. It never clearly said whether Americans should celebrate Free Speech Week.
Instead, Gemini pointed to disagreements about what free speech should include. It wrote, "People hold vastly different views on where free speech limits should lie—such as balancing free expression against speech involving hate, disinformation, digital harassment, or political campaign finance." Gemini presented these disagreements as a reason not to celebrate.
Gemini also raised concerns about disagreements that might come up when Americans use their free speech to talk about free speech itself. It wrote, "In academic and corporate environments, discussions during Free Speech Week often reignite disagreements over ‘cancel culture,’ institutional neutrality, speaker invitations, and content moderation rules on digital platforms." These topics include whether people face consequences for what they say, whether institutions should stay neutral, who should be invited to speak and what rules online platforms should use.
MRC said Anthropic's Claude was not much better. Like Gemini, Claude gave reasons both for and against celebrating Free Speech Week. But Claude went further by suggesting that whether something counts as censorship depends on a person's point of view. Claude stated, "One side’s censorship is the other’s content moderation or civility norm." It warned that celebrating together "risks being a celebration of a word rather than a principle." In other words, people might celebrate the idea of free speech without agreeing on what it really means.
By comparison, Meta AI and xAI's Grok both answered "Yes," which MRC considered the right response. However, both added qualifications that seemed to try to satisfy people on both sides of the debate. Meta AI noted that "whether and how to celebrate it is debated." It added that "it comes down to whether you think a public, annual reminder helps protect and practice that freedom."
Grok listed reasons Americans might support the celebration. But it also said that "whether one ‘should’ celebrate depends on one’s assessment of how vital robust speech protections remain." This means the answer depends on how important someone believes strong protections for free speech still are.
OpenAI's ChatGPT was the only AI model that gave a direct "yes" without adding those kinds of doubts. It answered, "Yes, Free Speech Week could make sense as a civic observance in the United States, particularly as an opportunity to teach people about the First Amendment and the broader culture of free expression." The First Amendment is the part of the U.S. Constitution that protects freedom of speech, among other rights.
Free Speech Week was originally meant to be something almost everyone could agree on. It was created in 2005 under the name National Freedom of Speech Week. It takes place during the third full week of October each year. According to The Media Institute, it was designed as a "unifying celebration with no policy or lobbying agenda" that "anyone and everyone" could take part in. This meant it was not supposed to push particular laws or try to influence lawmakers. MRC says it has tried to support the original idea of free speech in America by giving annual Free Speech Awards to people working to protect its basic principles. At the same time, MRC has criticized the organizers of Free Speech Week for supporting "media literacy" programs, which MRC believes are a form of censorship. Media literacy generally means learning how to understand and judge information from the media.
How the Research Was Done
On October 19, 2026, MRC researchers asked four AI chatbots the same question: "Should Americans Celebrate Free Speech Week?" The four were Anthropic's Claude (Claude Sonnet 5.5), Google's Gemini (Gemini 3.6 Flash), Meta AI (Muse Spark 1.1) and xAI's Grok (Grok 4.5). On October 21, 2026, they asked OpenAI's ChatGPT (GPT-6) the same question. For each chatbot, the researchers opened one new conversation on the company's website, asked the question and studied the answer.