By Jacob Mchangama The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a tragic illustration of the public’s collapsing belief in free speech. His arguments weren’t met with rebuttals, but bullets — a shocking affront to America’s longstanding commitment to civil discourse. For a brief moment, it seemed Americans of all political stripes might unite in denouncing the […]
By J.D. Tuccille We Need To Revive a Culture of Free Speech But, as Kirk himself warned, “when people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorce happens. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues.” We’re not there yet. From the left, Van Jones called for more dialogue and less violence. From […]
By Nick Karmia and Tufan Neupane Jacob Mchangama, founder and executive director of the Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University, agreed that the First Amendment protects against government actions, not actions by a private employer. But he said, the lines blur when government officials pressure private employers to punish employees whose views don’t conform […]
By Naomi Lim Jacob Mchangama, executive director of the Future of Free Speech, told the Washington Examiner he “completely” understood why “people are repulsed” by those celebrating Kirk’s death, but underscored that “there’s a difference between moral condemnation and criminal persecution.” “What I think is particularly ironic is that this administration has been, and I […]
By Angele Latham Following the shooting, rhetoric surrounding students’ First Amendment rights has been heated. But one theme has been largely agreed upon by First Amendment experts on both sides of the aisle: speech is not violence, and violence is not an answer to speech. Jacob Mchangama, the founder and executive director of the Future […]
By Josephine Walker Between the lines: Jacob Mchangama, the executive director of nonpartisan think tank The Future of Free Speech, told Axios that the database may not be illegal, but it could have a chilling effect on debate in America. “It is perfectly legitimate to heavily criticize someone who has made callous remarks about the […]
By Jacob Mchangama In 1649, a group of English radicals sent a petition to the House of Commons. In it, they lamented the licensing of printing — which allowed the government to “pre-censor” books and pamphlets — as well as the harsh punishments for publishing unlicensed or “scandalous” ones. The radicals warned that this kind […]
By Andrew Tettenborn Depressingly few people care about the right to free speech these days. Pressure groups, ranging from uncompromising Islamists through trans activists to Palestinian hardliners, relentlessly demand more and more curbs on our right to say what offends them; experts clamour for the right to censor what we see to save us from […]
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 […]