Even if it’s the act of a “lone wolf”, as first suggested by US President Donald Trump, Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner drama certainly did not happen in a vacuum. And just as mass shootings have become commonplace in a United States overrun by firearms, so have attempts on the lives of political figures. […]
Jacob Mchangama on the Global Free Speech Recession by Yascha Mounk Yascha Mounk and Jacob Mchangama discuss how democracies and dictatorships alike have turned against online speech freedom. Read on Substack Jacob Mchangama is the Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech and a research professor at Vanderbilt University, as well as a Senior […]
In this episode of Atlas Network with Michael Carnuccio, Jacob Mchangama, founder of The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University, discusses the current global recession of protections for free speech. Despite the United States’ historic role as a bastion of free speech, increasing censorship and political polarization now threaten its robustness. Mchangama highlights how […]
If the people controlling AI are biased, the output will also be. Free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama makes the case for completely open-source AI. Free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama warns that AI’s growing role in search, email, and word processing means its hidden biases could shape freedom of thought itself. With his team at the […]
On October 8, AEI hosted a web event to discuss the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) tactics under Chairman Brendan Carr. AEI Senior Fellow Shane Tews kicked off the event with opening remarks. Clay Calvert, a senior fellow at AEI, followed with a review of some of the actions taken and statements made by Chairman Carr […]
The fastest way to make a book a bestseller? Ban it. Free speech activist Jacob Mchangama explains how oftentimes, attempts to silence ideas actually amplify them. Historian Jacob Mchangama explains how suppressing voices often has the opposite effect. From the crucifixion of Jesus fueling Christianity to Barbra Streisand accidentally amplifying photos of her Malibu mansion, […]
By Mike Kiniry The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of […]
In this episode of The Good Fight Club, recorded live from the 2025 Global Free Speech Summit, Yascha Mounk, Renée DiResta, Jacob Mchangama, and Jonathan Rauch discuss threats to free speech under Joe Biden vs Donald Trump, how to protect free speech, and the administration’s new compact for universities. Renée DiResta is an Associate Research […]
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of several cartoons of the supposed Prophet Muhammad by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten (see also our latest image of the week). I spoke with Danish free speech activist and author of Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media (2022) Jacob Mchangama about that controversy […]
Free speech may be messy, but censorship is deadly. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama explains. America’s real danger isn’t free speech. It’s silence. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama argues that free speech is not a threat but society’s strongest safeguard against violence. Suppressing expression creates a pressure […]