By Danielle Smith A recent study by Vanderbilt University found that Americans generally love free speech, but their views change occasionally. One instance of this occurred during the protests at U.S. universities about the Israel-Hamas war. John Geer, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, said the study replicated a 1939 poll that asked about […]
By Jacob Mchangama “The Left started it.” That was the common retort from right-wing X accounts like Libs of TikTok and their supporters, who attempted and often succeeded at getting people fired for making tasteless social media posts about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump back in July. Most of their victims weren’t public figures […]
By Jeremy Schulman In December, Trump adviser Kash Patel set off alarm bells when he said that if the former president returns to the Oval Office, his new administration might prosecute media figures and others “who lied about American citizens.” “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” Patel told Steve […]
By Jacob Mchangama A recent spate of neo-Nazi demonstrations in Nashville has heightened tensions in an already polarized political environment. Fortunately, there has been bipartisan condemnation of these vile and obscene efforts to promote hatred in our community. However, some Tennessee public officials want to go beyond condemnation, claiming that “hate speech is not free […]
By Elizabeth Amato Reviewed: Liar in a Crowded Theater by Jeff Kosseff How can we defend free speech to those who show little interest in preserving an unfettered “marketplace of ideas”? In March 2020, Waylon Bailey posted on Facebook a joke about zombies, and how his local sheriff’s office in Forest Hill, Louisiana had orders […]
At WGCU Radio in Southwest Florida, Mike Kiniry recently interviewed Jacob Mchangama about current threats to free speech and his book Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. ___ After the United States Constitution was ratified, Congress adopted ten amendments which were then ratified by three-fourths of the states, and these ten amendments […]
The article discusses the challenges of governing free speech, hate speech, and web censorship in the age of the internet, and cites the views Jacob Mchangama. Mchangama’s proposals for balancing the need to protect free expression with the harms caused by hate speech and misinformation are highlighted, and the article suggests that his principles could […]
Author Salman Rushdie spent years hiding because Iran’s religious leaders wanted him dead for a book they didn’t like. Rushdie remained a fierce defender of free speech. In 2015, when gunmen killed 12 at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, he spoke out. WBUR is a nonprofit news organization. Our coverage relies on your financial support. If […]
The health of free speech depends more on a culture of free speech than on laws. By Jacob Mchangama and Jonathan Rauch. Is free speech under threat? What do we even mean when we talk about free speech? Jacob Mchangama, a Danish lawyer and human rights advocate, tackles those questions in his new book, Free Speech: A History from […]