By Conor Friedersdorf American officials are waging a multifront attack on Europe’s approach to free speech. This month, a congressional delegation traveled to Dublin, Brussels, and London to probe and decry European regulations on digital speech. A State Department human-rights assessment issued last week pointed to objectionable “restrictions on freedom of expression” in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. All of […]
By J.D. Tuccille Last week, while visiting the U.K., United States Vice-President JD Vance warned Foreign Secretary David Lammy that his country’s government shouldn’t proceed down the “very dark path” of restricting speech. This week, the U.S. State Department released its latest reports on human rights practices around the world, calling out several European countries, particularly France, Germany, and […]
By Jacob Mchangama Last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went on X to announce the immediate revocation of the visa of Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, as well as “his allies on the court [and] their immediate family members.” What drove Rubio to take such a drastic step against leading members of the […]
Photo Credit: Senado Federal By Alexander Barroso The latest ruling by Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has reignited a heated debate about the limits of freedom of expression and the role of justice in Brazilian democracy. On the 21st, Moraes ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro is prohibited from giving […]
By Ashkhen Kazaryan and Ashley Haek A 2023 complaint filed by Missouri, Louisiana, and other individual plaintiffs against the Biden administration argued that executive branch officials “coerced, threatened, and pressured social-media platforms to censor disfavored speakers and viewpoints by using threats of adverse government action,” thus violating the First Amendment. That lawsuit alleged that the […]
By Erich Thomas Mafra The global decline in freedom of expression isn’t limited to authoritarian states, but is also affecting established democracies. This assertion comes from one of the world’s most respected voices on the topic of freedom of expression: Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama . According to him, “democracies are increasingly restricting freedom of expression. […]
Photo Credit: Palácio do Planalto By Fernanda Trompcynski Last week, the global debate over freedom of expression took on even more serious and worrying dimensions. US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of a 50% tariff on imports of all Brazilian products, generating concerns about the national economy, as the US is Brazil’s second-largest trading […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NASHVILLE, Tenn. — July 14, 2025 — A sweeping new rule proposed by the Missouri Attorney General would turn state regulators into online speech overseers, warns The Future of Free Speech in a public comment submitted Monday. The rule, labeled as a consumer protection measure, in fact mandates ideological balance in content […]
By Erich Thomas Mafra The Danish Jacob Mchangama, considered a global reference in the defense of freedom of expression and author of the work “Freedom of expression: from Socrates to social media”, will be in Brazil next week for a masterclass on the subject . In an exclusive interview with Gazeta do Povo , the […]
Photo Credit: Palácio do Planalto By Mario Sabino If there were a serious discussion about freedom of expression here, it would be inevitable to look at the book Free Speech: a History from Socrates to Social Media , by Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama, the most notorious defender of freedom of expression on the international stage. […]