Jacob Mchangama

An incisive examination of free speech's global decline and a framework for preserving expression in democratic societies. The Future of Free Speech confronts a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across the globe. Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff present a panoramic view of how we arrived at this pivotal moment. The authors examine a century in which speech rights expanded dramatically—including postwar democratic revolutions and the sweeping protections of the First Amendment—only to find those rights unraveling in the face of new political, technological, and cultural pressures. Today, liberal democracies are imposing speech controls, authoritarian regimes are cloaking censorship in democratic language, and digital platforms wield unprecedented power over global discourse. This book examines the backlash against free speech from all sides: governments criminalizing dissent in the name of national security; lawmakers and activists demanding tighter controls on misinformation, hate speech, and offensive content; and AI systems removing speech at a scale and speed that dwarfs historical forms of censorship. At the same time, faith in free speech itself is waning, even in the very societies that once championed it. The Future of Free Speech argues for a reinvigorated, global commitment to open dialogue. Mchangama and Kosseff advocate nonpartisan, civic-minded solutions that resist both government overreach and corporate silencing. They offer a compelling case for how free speech can meet modern challenges without abandoning its foundational role in sustaining democracy, human rights, and shared understanding.

The first global history of free speech shows we need to understand the past to address the challenges of the future.

The first global history of free speech shows we need to understand the past to address the challenges of the future.

"The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free speech ever made." --P.J. O'RourkeHailed as the "first freedom," free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat.In Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea. Through captivating stories of free speech's many defenders--from the ancient Athenian orator Demosthenes and the ninth-century freethinker al-Rāzī, to the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells and modern-day digital activists--Mchangama reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. Yet the desire to restrict speech, too, is a constant, and he explores how even its champions can be led down this path when the rise of new and contrarian voices challenge power and privilege of all stripes.Meticulously researched and deeply humane, Free Speech demonstrates how much we have gained from this principle--and how much we stand to lose without it.

Lige siden Muhammedkrisen i 2006 har ytringsfriheden været det store debatemne både i Danmark – og der er ingen grund til at tro, det vil ændre sig foreløbig. MEN – ytringsfrihedens historie i Danmark er et stykke enestående eksempelhistorie, hvor man for første gang samlet kan læse om den til alle tider hårde kamp for den frie debat. Fra den Luthersk ortodoksis undertrykkelse af papister, kryptocalvinister og pietister. Og til trykkefrihedskampene der fører frem til grundloven i 1849. Men også den nyere historie er beskrevet. Forsøgene på at gøre arbejder- og bondebevægelsen tavse, og de mange diskussioner om blasfemi- og racismeparagraffen, er samlet i dette storværk. Vi hører om den nationale sikkerhed kontra ytringsfrihed, og bliver grundigt indført i Muhammed-krisen, og de efterveer som vi i dag stadig er påvirkede af. Alt dette er beskrevet i et storværk, skrevet af to af største kapaciteter på området, som i bogens afsluttende del, kortlægger de aktuelle fronter i den standende konflikt om ytringsfriheden. Et uomgængeligt værk for den politiske interesserede læser, som uden tvivl vil vække debat i offentligheden.

FRI OS FRA FRIHEDEN er et hårdnakket forsvar for den personlige frihed og en skarp kritik af, hvad Jacob Mchangama ser som de sidste årtiers løbende politiske underminering af netop den personlige frihed. I præcise og urovækkende kapitler viser chefjurist Jacob Mchangama, hvordan vi siden slutningen af 1960’erne lever støt mere regulerede liv, hvor staten har fået større og større råderum til at gribe ind og detailstyre eller som et minimum overvåge, hvordan vi lever – det gælder lige fra, hvordan vi spiser, over hvordan vi bor, til hvem vi sover med eller taler i telefon med.