Jacob Mchangama: What do the Catholic Church, England under Henry VIII, The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and the European Union have in common?Ĭertainly not much in terms of ideology, ethics, or philosophy. Part 16: Would censorship have stopped the rise of the Nazis?Īssertion: Disinformation (and misinformation) about such vital topics as elections and COVID must be censored because it constitutes an existential threat to democracy and individual/public health.Part 15: Is counterspeech the best answer to bad speech?.Part 14: Shouting down speakers is mob censorship.Part 13: Does free speech lead inevitably to truth?.Part 12: Free speech isn’t free with a carveout for blasphemy.Part 11: ‘New’ justifications for censorship are never really new.

Part 10: Why 'civility' should not trump free expression.

Part 9: Free speech fosters cultural diversity.

Part 8: Is free speech just a conservative talking point?.

Part 7: Does free speech assume words are harmless?.

Part 5: You can shout ‘fire’ in a burning theater.

Part 4: Free speech is bigger than the First Amendment.

Part 1: Free speech does not equal violence.

For this entry, I asked Jacob Mchangama, author of the excellent book, “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media,” to provide his answer. The great Nadine Strossen - former president of the ACLU from 1991 to 2008, and one of the foremost experts on freedom of speech alive today - saw the series and offered to provide her own answers to some important misconceptions about freedom of speech. In May 2021, I published a list of “ Answers to 12 Bad Anti-Free Speech Arguments ” with our friends over at Areo.

Free speech jacob mchangama