The Future of Free Speech confronts a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across the globe. Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff present a panoramic view of how we arrived at this pivotal moment. […]
The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom Today, anyone who cares about freedom of expression needs to face a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across […]
Renée DiResta, Lawfare contributing editor and associate research professor at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Lawfare senior editor and associate professor of law the University of Minnesota, spoke with Jacob Mchangama, research professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and founder of The Future of Free Speech, and Jacob Shapiro, […]
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 […]
Natalie Alkiviadou is a senior researcher at The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University (USA). Her research interests include free speech, hate speech and the far right. Her monograph Hate Speech and the European Court of Human Rights was recently published by Routledge. She is currently a member of the advisory board of the […]
This panel discussion, held on October 6, 2025, explored Hate Speech and the European Court of Human Rights, the recent book by Natalie Alkiviadou (Book Review here). The book examines the Court’s approach to hate speech and argues for a stronger and more consistent protection of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European […]
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, […]
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 […]