Debate can help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. But are there limits to what free speech and debate can accomplish?

Social media has allowed more people to connect and share their perspectives than ever before. That has led to an immense amount of learning and progress—but it’s also led to an uptick in hate speech and misinformation, online and IRL. Today, anyone can have a platform—but should they? Is everything up for debate, or should some things be out of bounds?

Jacob Mchangama, founder and executive director of The Future of Free Speech think tank, argues that free speech and open debate are the only ways to build and secure open and tolerant societies. He thinks we should all be able to speak our minds, and says that engaging with people and perspectives we disagree with can help sharpen our own opinions or help us learn something new.

Author and journalist David Stubbs says that unlimited free speech tends to favor extreme voices and that certain ideas, like climate denial, don’t deserve a platform and are “just plain wrong.”

Watch Doha Debates Podcast as these experts discuss the limits of debate and the future of free speech.

Subscribe to the Doha Debates Podcast here:

Subscribe
Executive Director at  
 + Recent

Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).