Volume 101

Michael Conklin

Debates over free speech have become increasingly polarized, with public discourse often framed in stark terms of either unchecked permissiveness or urgent regulatory intervention. Against this backdrop, Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff provide much-needed clarity in their new book, The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy’s Most Essential Freedom. The book will hopefully serve as a powerful catalyst to spark interest in effective free speech advocacy. This Book Review highlights the book’s principal strengths, focusing on the author’s honest assessment of both sides, the unintended consequences of censorship, powerful examples of how bad speech is overcome by more speech, and the pragmatism of taking a global perspective. It also offers a set of modest, constructive critiques aimed at sharpening the book’s normative claims and clarifying several important doctrinal and policy distinctions.

For scholars, policymakers, and advocates grappling with the future of speech regulation in an increasingly global and technologically mediated public sphere, this book offers both a powerful warning and a constructive framework for thinking more clearly about what is at stake when societies choose censorship over liberty. Through international comparisons, historical context, and practical anecdotes of free speech triumphing over censorship, the authors provide a powerful and much-needed framework for free speech advocacy.

Full book review available here.