Commentary

Op-eds, blog posts, presentations, etc. on the future of free speech.

Looking for more commentary from our scholars? Check out The Bedrock Principle

Persuasion: Europe Learned Nothing From the Danish Cartoon Affair

The Telegraph: How Britain Went from A Beacon of Free Speech to A Nation of Blasphemy Law

Nashville Business Journal: Faith in Free Speech Is Collapsing

Expression: The United Kingdom Needs A New Generation of Levellers

Agenda Publica: Social Media And Age Restrictions: A Debate That Doesn’t Deserve Simplifications

Medianama: Counterspeech — Not Censorship — Is The Best Way to Combat Harmful Speech

Persuasion: Don’t Resort to Censorship to Fight Populism

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: AG Bailey’s ‘Jawboning’ Attack on AI Violates The 1st Amendment

Volokh Conspiracy: Hate Speech and The European Court of Human Rights: An Overview of My New Book

Reason: Pride Is A Triumph of the First Amendment

JOTA: Dilemmas of Platform Regulation in Brazil

UnHerd: Criticism of Islam Remains Uniquely Dangerous in Britain

Freedom Forum: AI and 1A: Is Artificial Intelligence Protected by the First Amendment?

Tennessee Lookout: What Tennessee’s PEACE Act Means for Free Speech

MSNBC: Sen. Mike Lee’s Obscenity Bill Is A Free Speech Nightmare

The Conversation: From defenders to skeptics: The sharp decline in young Americans’ support for free speech

NOEMA: Building A Prosocial Media Ecosystem

The Dispatch: A New McCarthyism

Persuasion: The Voice of America Falls Silent

UnHerd: Prosecuting Quran Burners Is Capitulation to Blasphemy Laws

Reason: Survey: Free Speech Support Is Eroding in America

Tech Policy Press: The AI Election Panic: How Fear-Driven Policies Could Limit Free Expression

The Globe and Mail: The Day Free Speech Began to Retreat

O Globo: Alexandre de Moraes and Freedom of Expression

Persuasion: Free Speech Hypocrites

Strasbourg Observers: Hate Speech, Positive Obligations and Free Speech

Persuasion: Europe Has a Free Speech Problem

Politiken: When Amnesty Turns ‘Immigrant Boys’ and ‘Fools’ into Hate Speech, Something Has Gone Wrong

Tech Policy Press: Will the DSA Save Democracy? The Test of the Recent Presidential Election in Romania

Le Point: Repeal the Offense of Apology for Terrorism? A Necessary Debate

Persuasion: Don’t Mourn the Fact-Checkers

WSJ: Banning TikTok Would Violate America’s Free Speech Tradition

CELE: Threatening Dynamics on Internet Governance: The Case of Europe and The Digital Services Act (DSA)

Tech Policy Press: Safeguarding Freedom of Expression in the AI Era

Human Rights Here: Platform Liability, Hate Speech, and the Fundamental Right to Free Speech

Volokh Conspiracy: Book Review: “Fearless Speech” Doesn’t Take First Amendment History Seriously

International Press Institute: Media Freedom and Pluralism in The Republic of Cyprus: An Overview

MSNBC: California’s Solution to Fight AI Disinformation Is Worse than The Problem

Persuasion: Reflections on Right-Wing Cancel Culture

UnHerd: Meta Outshines Musk on Free Speech with ‘From the River to the Sea’ Decision

Tech Policy Press: New United Nations Cybercrime Convention Sets Unprecedented International Anti-Human Rights Standard

The Conversation: Americans Love Free Speech, Survey Finds − Until They Realize Everyone Else Has It, Too

The Tennessean: Nashville Leaders Should Condemn Neo-Nazis But Avoid New Laws That Will Stifle Free Speech

Tech Policy Press: Digital Services Act Roundup: June – July 2024

Tech Policy Press: DSA Showdown: Unpacking the EU’s Preliminary Findings Against X

Verfassungsblog: Prison for Fake News

Lawfare: In NetChoice Cases, SCOTUS Reaffirms Limits to Government Intervention With Online Speech

Tech Policy Press: Most Comments Deleted From Social Media Platforms in Germany, France, and Sweden Were Legal Speech — Why That Should Raise Concerns for Free Expression Online

Media Laws: Will the EMFA Improve Freedom of Expression, Media Pluralism, and Media Independence in Europe?

Tech Policy Press: Digital Services Act Roundup: April – May 2024

Tech Policy Press: The Digital Services Act Meets the AI Act

Human Rights Here: Article 17 of the ECHR and the Run-Down to Lenis v Greece

The Daily Beast: PEN America Is Right to Stay Out of Gaza War Activism

Tech Policy Press: Generative AI Developers Should Commit to Free Speech and Access to Information

Reason: Should Free Speech Pessimists Look to Europe?

The Conversation: AI Chatbots Refuse to Produce ‘Controversial’ Output − Why That’s A Free Speech Problem

Tech Policy Press: Digital Services Act Roundup: February – March 2024

Naples Daily News: Florida Abandons Free Speech Principles to Combat DEI Excesses

Persuasion: How to Fight Misinformation Without Censorship

WSJ: J.K. Rowling Is Right to Protest Hate-Speech Laws

Schweizer Monat: Censorship Doesn’t Prevent Hatred

amaBhungane: There is a Global Free Speech Recession and South Africa is not immune

Lawfare: Have Trouble Understanding Section 230? Don’t Worry. So Does the Supreme Court.

TIME: The Future of Censorship Is AI-Generated

Tech Policy Press: Digital Services Act Roundup – July 2023 – January 2024

Unherd: Beware the WEF’s new misinformation panic

NYT: Social Media Is a Mess. Government Meddling Would Only Make It Worse.

Foreign Policy: Evidence Is Growing That Free Speech Is Declining

Daily Beast: Anti-Blasphemy Laws Are Great for Tyrants, but Terrible for Dissidents

Persuasion: Free Speech Defenders Must Be Consistent

DSA Obersvatory: The Out-of-court Settlement Mechanism under the DSA – Questions and Doubts

Reason: Denmark May Ban Burning the Quran

TIME: Denmark and Sweden’s Commitment to Free Speech Is Wilting in the Face of Quran Burnings

Wired: The Internet Speech Case That the Supreme Court Can’t Dodge

Unherd: Sweden and Denmark bow to pressure over Quran book burnings

Foreign Policy: Free Speech Social Media Doesn’t Exist

Social Media Age Requirements Are Anti-Free Speech

Time: How to Kill Online Free Speech

Tech Policy Press: Regulating Online Platforms Beyond the Marco Civil in Brazil – The Controversial “Fake News Bill”

Opnio Juris: Hate Speech by Proxy – Sanchez v France and the Dwindling Protection of Freedom of Expression

The Daily Beast: The First Amendment Is the Greatest Defense for the Powerless and Marginalized

New York Times: What Protects Fox News Also Protects Our Democracy

Wired: It’s Time to Stop Arresting People for Trolling the Government

Foreign Policy: U.S. Conservatives Are Threatening Global Free Speech

Reason: Privileging Blasphemy Norms Over Open Inquiry Plays Into the Hands of Religious Fundamentalists

Los Angeles Times: Don’t be too tempted by Europe’s plan to fix social media

TIME: What Elon Musk Gets Wrong About Free Speech

The Daily Beast: U.K.’s Crackdown on Anti-Royal Protests Makes U.S. Free Speech Look Good

TIME: In A War of Ideas, Banning Russian Propaganda Does More Harm Than Good

StrasbourgObserver: A joke-telling lawyer: The case of Simic v. Bosnia and Herzegovina

New York Daily News: The larger legacy of Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’

Taz: Gut gemeinte Zensur

Human Rights Here: Banning Russia Today and Sputnik in Europe is a bad idea

Cato Institute: What We Can Learn from the History of Free Speech

Persuasion: Banning Hate Speech Won’t End Extremist Violence

PBS The Open Mind: March of the Autocracies

Spectator Australia: Don’t mention the swastika

NZZ Magazine: Auf Twitter soll bald wieder totale Meinungsfreiheit herrschen. Ist das gut?

The Independent: What will Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter mean for free speech?

Foreign Policy: The Real Threat to Social Media Is Europe