The Answer to Hate Is Free Speech, Not Censorship

June 12, 2018

Book Launch—Hate: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (June 5, 2018)

We live in an era in which offensive speech is on the rise. The emergence of the alt-right alone has fueled a marked increase in racist and anti-Semitic speech. Given its potential for harm, should such speech be banned or at least punished?

In her book Hate: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship, Nadine Strossen aims to dispel the many misunderstandings that have clouded the perpetual debates about hate speech vs. free speech. At an event marking the book’s launch, Strossen was joined, and challenged, by Richard Ashby Wilson, a legal scholar currently researching incitement and hate speech in the United States since 2016.

Listen to the audio above.

Topics

Discrimination

Standing Up to Big Brother

Q&A: A Big Step for Global Privacy Rights

Two people stand with a grey octopus cutout balancing mobile phones

By ruling against a government intelligence agency, one of the most powerful courts in Germany has struck a blow for data privacy and free expression.

July 20, 2020

Freedom’s Front Lines

France’s War on Protest

Demonstrator facing a riot police officer

By allowing the continued militarization of its police forces, the government in France risks normalizing authoritarianism and diminishing civil liberties. Recent confrontations between police and protestors only further emphasize the peril.

July 12, 2019 | Peter Matjašič

Voices

The Theater Challenging One of the World’s Most Repressive Governments

The Belarus Free Theatre has long been a monument to democracy and human rights—and the target of one of the world’s worst dictatorships. Cofounder Natalia Kaliada explains why, despite the persecution, the show goes on.

October 23, 2017 | Rashida Bumbray

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