CTRL-ALT-SPEECH: Live at TrustCon 2025

Trust & safety influencer Alice Hunsberger and The Future of Free Speech Senior Legal Fellow Ashkhen Kazaryan joined Mike Masnick to cover: As millions adopt Grok to fact-check, misinformation abounds (Al Jazeera) Analysis Of Grok’s Epstein Comments Show How This AI Chatbot Is Learning (Forbes) People With Body Dysmorphia Are Spiraling Out After Asking AI to Rate […]

Claudio Dantas Podcast: Moraes Practices “Necrophilia” with Liberal Philosopher, Says Freedom of Expression Expert

Photo credit: Marcelo Camargo   Jacob Mchangama uses the word “necrophilia” to describe how Minister Alexandre de Moraes interpreted and applied John Stuart Mill’s ideas in his decision to ban the Rumble platform in Brazil. Mchangama argues that Moraes “vandalized the main point” of Mill’s work, “On Liberty,” by using it to justify censorship. He […]

Fourth Branch Podcast: Privacy & Safety: Examining the FSC, Inc. v. Paxton Decision

On June 27th, the Supreme Court ruled in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton that Texas’s age-verification law did not violate the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause. Justice Thomas wrote the Court’s opinion, holding that States had a right to protect children from obscenity, even if that meant incidentally burdening adults’ own access to that content. […]

Brussels Signal: Online Speech Should Be As Free As Offline Speech

Brussels Signal’s Head of News, Justin Stares, sits down with Jacob Mchangama, human rights advocate and CEO of The Future of Free Speech, to discuss the growing challenges to free expression in the digital age. From the European Union’s Digital Services Act to the stark contrast with US free-speech values⁠, this interview dives deep into: Why […]

So To Speak Podcast: Is There A Global Free Speech Recession?

Jacob Mchangama joins the So To Speak Podcast as host and guests travel from America to Europe, Russia, China, and more places to answer the question: Is there a global free speech recession? Host: Nico Perrino, FIRE Executive Vice President Guests: – Sarah McLaughlin: FIRE senior scholar, global expression – James Kirchick: FIRE senior fellow

The Good Fight Podcast: Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech

Host Yascha Mounk and Jacob Mchangama explore the different approaches—and proliferating threats—to free expression. Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech, a research professor at Vanderbilt University, and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). His book Free Speech: A History From Socrates to […]

State of the Net 2025: The Frontiers For Free Speech In The Trump Era: The Content Moderator’s Dilemma

From the State of the Net Conference hosted by the Internet Education Foundation. Jacob Mchangama discusses the relationship between government, Big Tech content moderation, and free speech online—drawing on Europe’s regulatory approach to bring much-needed global context to the conversation.

Censorship in the Sciences: The Free Speech Recession and How to Reverse It

From Censorship in the Sciences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives conference at the University of Southern California, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Jacob Mchangama discusses The Free Speech Recession and How to Reverse It: 5 Lessons from History.

Reclaim: Navigating the Digital Whirlpool: The Struggle Over the EU’s DSA

The Digital Services Act, the EU’s digital regulation master stone, is designed with the intention of tackling content affecting democratic political debate without limiting free speech. But things get more complicated when it comes to so-called “harmful content” or “disinformation”: the line between keeping people safe and stifling free speech remains a difficult one to […]

The Free Speech Recession Goes Digital: How Censorship Is Evolving Online

In the digital age, free speech faces unprecedented threats—not just from authoritarian regimes, but from the algorithms and AI systems that govern online platforms. Once fought in physical spaces, the battlefield for free expression has moved online, where Big Tech and new digital regulations increasingly decide what we can and cannot say. In this talk […]