By Jacob Mchangama In January 2015, Islamic terrorists murdered 12 people at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for depicting the Prophet Muhammad. When PEN America honored the magazine with its Freedom of Expression Courage Award that same year, the organization received backlash from prominent members. Then-PEN president Andrew Solomon stood by the decision, saying that the controversy was a reminder that […]
By Jacob Mchangama and Jordi Calvet-Bademunt Google recently made headlines globally because its chatbot Gemini generated images of people of color instead of white people in historical settings that featured white people. Adobe Firefly’s image creation tool saw similar issues. This led some commentators to complain that AI had gone “woke.” Others suggested these issues resulted from faulty efforts […]
By Jacob Mchangama It is undeniable that the proliferation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on college campuses and in the workplace has contributed to a censorious atmosphere throughout U.S. culture. Some employees fear reprisal for speaking about certain issues in the office while college faculty and guest speakers have been shouted down, condemned, disinvited, or […]
“Even open democracies have implemented restrictive measures,” finds a global report. By J.D. Tuccille [ . . . ] If you think free speech is under attack in the United States—and it is—you should see its besieged status in the rest of the world. Open contempt for unrestricted debate prevails in even many supposedly “free” […]
By Jacob Mchangama and Jules White The brave new world of Generative AI has become the latest battleground for U.S. culture wars. Google issued an apology after anti-woke X-users, including Elon Musk, shared examples of Google’s chatbot Gemini refusing to generate images of white people—including historical figures—even when specifically prompted to do so. Gemini’s insistence on prioritizing diversity […]
In 1766, Sweden enacted its landmark Press Freedom Act, becoming the first country in the world to implement such protections. In 1770, Denmark outpaced this achievement by formally abolishing all forms of censorship. Despite intermittent setbacks, these pioneering acts cultivated a vibrant culture of free expression. The Scandinavian countries evolved into global symbols of democracy, freedom, […]