Freedom of speech is hailed as the ‘first freedom’, the bedrock of democracy, but it is subject to erosion in times of upheaval. The British Library holds the earliest plea for free speech, Milton’s Areopagitica, which argues against censorship and in favour of ‘freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing’. But according to Freedom […]
Jacob Mchangama and Coleman Hughes discuss his brilliant new book: Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. They talk about the Danish cartoon controversy and Charlie Hebdo. They also discuss the so-called “Milton’s curse”; which is the habit of hypocritically defending free speech for some, but not for others. Coleman thinks this point […]
Danish lawyer and author Jacob Mchangama joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the history of free speech and how it protects liberty and democracy.
Hailed as the “first freedom,” free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat. In Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea. Through […]
Executive director Jacob Mchangama in interview on free speech and his upcoming book “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media” The interview is fully transcripted here:
Paul MacDonnell talks with Jacob Mchangama about the post-WWII history of attempts to constrain hateful speech and what it means for current policy. Jacob is a lawyer, human-rights advocate, social commentator, and director and founder of Justitia, a Copenhagen-based think-tank dedicated to protecting free expression.
Jacob Mchangama is guesting the webcast In Lieu of Fun in a conversation about the state of free speech and online censorship. About: In Lieu of Fun is a casual, unstructured webcast that has been broadcasting daily since March 25, 2020. We talk about news, law, life, art, squirrels, murder hornets, Baby Cannons, and whatever else […]
In May 2020, protests erupted all over the U.S. after a video emerged of a white police officer killing a black man named George Floyd. Millions took to the streets in support of racial justice under the rallying cry “Black Lives Matter.” Most protests were peaceful, but several cities experienced large-scale violence. Free speech […]