By Joan Barata The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court ( STF ) formed a majority to substantially change Article 19 of the Internet Civil Rights Framework — a rule that defines the responsibility of platforms for user content in the absence of a court order. The decision reflects growing pressure from government officials for laws that would force platforms to […]
By Anam Baloch Free speech isn’t just ink on parchment in Pakistan’s constitution under Article 19, but it is the very essence of democracy in states. With the emergence of the internet, we’ve witnessed a nexus between the ‘online and offline’ and now speech as we see it has also become digital. As users of […]
By Gürkan Özturan As the Future Free Speech project released its latest report, the findings on Turkey paint an interesting image. Turkish society seems to predominantly have a strong sense of support for freedom of expression, in principle. Yet experiences lived in the country deeply contradict this support, as the reality shows that freedom remains […]
Photo Credit: Frankie Fouganthin By Jacob Mchangama In 1793, Thomas Paine launched a furious assault on Christianity with The Age of Reason. “What is it the Bible teaches us?” he asked. “Rapine, cruelty, and murder.” He didn’t stop there. “What is it the Testament teaches us? — to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman […]
Jacob Mchangama was a young lawyer and blogger in 2005 when his country, Denmark, was thrust into the global spotlight after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad—a practice widely considered taboo among many Muslims. Mchangama’s fascination with free speech began as a worldwide conversation erupted about a complicated topic made even […]
Originally published in The Conversation. By Jacob Mchangama For much of the 20th century, young Americans were seen as free speech’s fiercest defenders. But now, young Americans are growing more skeptical of free speech. According to a March 2025 report by The Future of Free Speech, a nonpartisan think tank where I am executive director, support […]
By Paulo Silva Pinto and Leo Garfinkel Joan Barata, a freedom-of-expression scholar at Vanderbilt University in the United States, says the right to voice an opinion must be preserved even when it makes others uncomfortable. “The right to freedom of expression includes the right to shock, disturb, and offend—three very strong verbs. You have the […]
By Jacob Mchangama The battle of the airwaves was vital for promoting freedom during the Cold War. Trump abandons it at our peril. On February 21, 1990, Václav Havel, the Czechoslovakian dissident turned president, received a rapturous welcome from a packed U.S. Congress. In his speech, Havel recalled that just months earlier he had been arrested by […]
By Jacob Mchangama In February, 50-year-old Hamit Coskun was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” to the Islamic faith after burning a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London. A KC told the National Secular Society that the charges were “plainly defective”, while the NSS accused prosecutors of reintroducing a blasphemy law “by the back door”. […]
By Jacob Mchangama Last month, Vice President J.D. Vance lectured European leaders about their troubling retreat from free speech, calling their actions “shocking to American ears” and a threat to democracy itself. Yet new global survey data reveal a troubling incongruity in Vance’s own backyard: Despite boasting the world’s strongest constitutional protections, Americans’ support for free speech […]