In most horror films or novels from the last century, the scariest moments are often associated with the cold. You can see the hair stand up on the arms or back of the neck of the main characters when they hear the creak of the floor above them. An encounter with a ghost might lead someone to say "a shiver ran down my spine." Any dead creature is usually known to have a cold touch, scaring everyone around them in the books and movies. Because of these common patterns in the genre, there becomes a clear correlation between fear and cooler temperatures. While it may seem to be a cheesy characterization or stereotype for the creative category, in the last twenty years, we have seen it carried over into modern day, coining the name the chilling effect.
The chilling effect is much deeper than any fictional story. It is a phenomenon that is exacerbated by the government and a tool used to keep their control almost absolute. The term refers to the limitation of expression that a group or individual feels they have on them due to the fear of violating a law that is loosely defined. We can most commonly see this come into play when looking at the relationship between journalists and the government.
Since the 19th century, the press has commonly been referred to as the fourth estate, or an extension of our ruling bodies. The media and journalists are assumed to be the ones to keep the three other estates, the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government, in check. This requires them to be transparent and accurate in their reporting, working to release unbiased material as much as possible. In short, they are responsible for alerting the public of the truth. For those in the other three estates, those who may not want the truth to be released, this devotion to honesty and accuracy is threatening. One wrong move by a politician can be a field day for a journalist in the right place, with the right contacts, at the right time. Thus, the government is forced to use their power through the only way that they know how: intimidation.
The chilling effect is the government's new school way of bullying journalists into silence before they can expose secrets uncovered in their own investigations. The most recent and large-scale example of this is Julian Assange.
Assange was born in Australia and founded a company known as Wikileaks. His goal was to spread the truth while protecting whistleblowers that provided him with top secret information. In 2010, almost half a million documents regarding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan were released on Wikileaks. The classified documents showed the true nature of the United States and their efforts to isolate both opposing countries economically and politically. One of the most infamous videos that resurfaced was footage from U.S. helicopters that showed soldiers killing a group of "insurgents" that was later identified to be a group of Reuters reporters and local children that were in no way a threat to the area.
The government took immediate action against Assange. They issued the ultimate chilling effect. They were going to ruin his life and they didn't care about how long it would take or what it would cost them. First, false accusations of sexual assault were brought against him in Sweden. The accusations quite literally appeared out of thin air. Was it an early 'me too' movement? No. It was the government trying to take everything from Assange. In December of 2010, Assange was arrested in London and held without bail until 2011 when he was ordered to be extradited to Sweden.
He appealed to the Supreme Court in England and was denied. So, in June 2012, he was forced to flee to Ecuador to hide from the governments in three different countries. His accusations of rape were dropped by Sweden in 2015, but he still wasn't free. The United States government was going to get their revenge on the Australian journalist in any way they could. For seven years, Assange hid out in Ecuador, confined to the embassy, until they revoked his asylum in 2019. He was taken back to England by authorities and has been held there in a maximum security prison in the poorest conditions ever since.
The story of Julian Assange shows the power the government has to influence the world around them and to try and suppress the truth that journalists like Assange try and bring to light. Those in power will do whatever it takes to protect themselves and intimidate anyone, especially the press, to maintain their status and reign.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Assange
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-fourth-estate-3368058
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/c8c58ad3-fd6e-4b2d-99fa-d8864355b638/the-concept-of-chilling-effect-20210322.pdf
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