Schweizer Monat: Europe Is Making Censorship Easier for Autocrats
Jacob Mchangama talks about why freedom of speech is in crisis – and how countries like Switzerland could show a way out of it.
The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie: The Global War on Free Speech
Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff are co-authors of The Future of Free Speech, a new book examining what they describe as a global “free speech recession.” In this episode, Mchangama and Kosseff talk with Nick Gillespie about why democracies are increasingly embracing speech restrictions once associated with authoritarian regimes, how fears about misinformation and child […]
Skeptic: The New War on Free Speech: Why Power Turns Everyone Into A Censor
About this episode: Free speech was supposed to be the great settled achievement of liberal democracy. Then came social media, cancel culture, campus speech battles, hate-speech laws, authoritarian tech control, and a new era of governments pressuring platforms from every direction. Michael Shermer speaks with free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama about why speech protections are […]
France 24: Culture of Hate? Trump’s America and The White House Press Gala Shooting
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. […]
The Good Fight: Jacob Mchangama on the Global Free Speech Recession
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 […]
Institute H21: Hate Speech, Free Speech, and The European Court of Human Rights
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 […]
Columbia Global Freedom of Expression: Book Launch: Hate Speech and the European Court of Human Rights
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 […]
Freethinker: “Islam And Free Speech, 20 Years on from Jyllands-Posten: Interview with Jacob Mchangama
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 […]
Big Think: The Case for Cancelling Censorship
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 […]
Big Think: True Free Speech, Explained in 6 Minutes
Free speech can amplify hatred, but it also protects the fight against it. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama explains. Jacob Mchangama, founder of The Future of Free Speech, explains how free speech has shaped America, from Frederick Douglass fighting slavery to Supreme Court cases protecting voices that promote hate. He argues […]