Verfassungsblog: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Violence in Cyprus: The EP’s Resolution on the Impact of the Turkish Invasion on Cypriot Women and the Expressive Dimension of Justice

Posted on by Natalie Alkiviadou in Culture, Global Free Speech, Our Perspectives

By Natalie Alkiviadou On 8 July 2026, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on the Impact of the 1974 Turkish Invasion on Cypriot Women and Girls and the Crimes Committed by Turkish Forces and Consequences on Gender Equality. The Resolution acknowledges that Cypriot women’s experiences of violence during 1974 are “often being excluded from official historical, […]

Telepolis: Geiert Wants to Overturn Special Protection for Friedrich Merz

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Germany, Global Free Speech, In the news, News

By Philipp Fess Saxony’s Justice Minister Constanze Geiert is calling for an end to insulting politicians. She argues that protecting Chancellor Merz is hardly justifiable to the public. The law against “insulting a monarch” is once again under scrutiny. Telepolis had already reported on the visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Irene Khan in […]

Foreign Affairs: The End of the Open Internet: How Europe Lost the Plot on Online Speech

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Digital Regulation, Disinformation, Featured News, Global Free Speech, Hate Speech, News, Online Content Moderation, Our Perspectives

By: Jacob Mchangama At this year’s Munich Security Conference, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed Europe’s “long tradition in freedom of speech.” Then she drew a redline. “We are very clear with digital sovereignty . . . that what is forbidden offline is forbidden online,” she added. Von der Leyen’s maxim would have […]

Persuasion: The European Court of Human Rights Is Betraying Its Purported Values

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Digital Regulation, Featured News, Global Free Speech, News, Online Content Moderation, Our Perspectives

By Jacob Mchangama Irakli Miladze, a food courier in Tbilisi, spent long shifts dodging not only the weather, but also fines for using bus lanes. They were the same bus lanes that government officials sped down in their fancy vehicles with impunity. In late 2022, Miladze did what citizens in a modern democracy are supposed […]

Carnegie Europe: Taking the Pulse: Are Western Democracies Failing Free Speech?

Posted on by Natalie Alkiviadou in Global Free Speech, Hate Speech, In the news, News

By Rym Momtaz, ed. The battle over free speech has taken center stage since U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused Europe of censorship. From travel bans to social media regulation, especially around the Israel-Palestine conflict, are liberal democratic governments weaponizing free speech? [ . . . ] Natalie Alkiviadou Senior Research Fellow, The Future of […]

Human Rights Centre Blog: Censorship in Colour: Why Artistic Freedom Is a Bedrock Principle

Posted on by Natalie Alkiviadou in Culture, Global Free Speech, News, Our Perspectives

By Dr. Natalie Alkiviadou and Katia Pau Recent controversies in Bangkok, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom demonstrate that disputes surrounding artistic expression remain deeply embedded in contemporary political, religious, and social life. In Bangkok, criticism and public backlash emerged following the display of artworks considered offensive to religious and cultural sensibilities, triggering debates about the limits of artistic freedom […]

Schweizer Monat: Democratic Governments that Censor Not Only Harm Their Own Citizens, But Also Courageous Opposition Figures in Autocracies

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff in Disinformation, Free Speech Book, Global Free Speech, News, Our Perspectives

By Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff On March 4, 2022, two days after the European Union banned the Russian state media outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, Russia blocked access to Western media such as the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America. The Russian government declared this was “only the beginning of retaliatory measures in an […]

ABC: Jacob Mchangama, freedom of expression and AI

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in AI, Free Speech Book, Global Free Speech, In the news, News

By César Antonio Molina In 1975, the Helsinki Final Act was signed . Its main purpose was to ease Cold War tensions. The Soviets proposed the inviolability of borders, as well as non-interference in internal affairs. The West reiterated its commitment to human rights and freedoms of thought, conscience, opinion, expression, religion, ideas, and beliefs. Solzhenitsyn said […]

The Freeman: The Future of Free Speech

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Digital Regulation, Disinformation, First Amendment, Free Speech Book, Free Speech History, Global Free Speech, Hate Speech, In the news, News

By Katrina Gulliver Last week, I had the great pleasure of welcoming to Atlanta Jacob Mchangama, who came to talk to me about his book. We had a standing-room-only crowd of Freeman readers as I asked him what he thought about the past—and future—of free speech. (The conversation below has been edited for length.) One […]

UnHerd: Banning Unite The Kingdom Speakers Harms Free Speech

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Global Free Speech, Hate Speech, News, Our Perspectives

By Jacob Mchangama In 1977, the Danish film director Jens Jørgen Thorsen was turned away at Heathrow on the orders of Home Secretary Merlyn Rees, after a campaign by the Christian campaigner Mary Whitehouse. Thorsen was carrying the script for a long-planned film about the sex life of Jesus — a project that had already […]