Freedom for Sale
The government funds institutions that stretch across American society. The Trump administration is demanding the relinquishment of constitutional rights to keep the money flowing.
Spring 2025
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Terrorism Investigations on Campus and the New McCarthyism
Federal law enforcement is under pressure to launch specious terrorism investigations into pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses, based solely on their public statements.
Arguments on the Left: Free Speech
Five short essays by Brian Morton, K-Sue Park, Katha Pollitt, Natasha Lennard, and Asad Haider.
A Modest Exercise in Freedom
The left is at its most intelligent and most ethical when it believes—and vigorously promotes the belief—that everyone has the right to be heard.
Whose Free Speech?
Free speech, like any freedom struggle, is about power.
A Struggle, Not a Debate
Liberal appeals to truth will not stop fascists.
Social Media’s Sad Passions
The more acceptable it is to denounce people because of their speech, the more likely it is that it will eventually happen to you.
The Left Needs Free Speech
What gives leftists the space to promote unpopular positions is the respect most Americans give to free speech.
Content Control
An interview with Jillian C. York, the author of Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech under Surveillance Capitalism.
The New Tech Culture Wars
In our extremely online political times, content moderators have been cast as central players in the fight for democracy, whether as its antagonists or its delinquent guardians.
Standing Up to a 171-Year Prison Sentence—For Facebook Posts
Prawais Praphanukul, a longtime human rights lawyer in Thailand, faces life in prison for a series of Facebook posts allegedly insulting the king. His decision to fight the charges is testing the limits of repression under the country’s increasingly authoritarian regime.
How the Slants Reclaimed Their Name
Simon Tam, frontman of the Asian-American dance-rock band, says the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing the group to keep their name affirms that “ultimately communities should be able to determine what’s best for themselves.”
Why Protecting Journalists is Critical for Mexico’s Democracy
Javier Valdez was the sixth journalist murdered in Mexico so far this year. What will it take for his killers to see justice?
It Doesn’t Take a Dictator to Smother a Free Press
As the leaders of Hungary and Poland have shown, the right combination of political and financial muscle is enough to control the media.
A Radical History of Free Speech 
With the rhetoric of free speech increasingly captured by the right, a new book tells the story of the radicals who first championed freedom of expression as a substantive political right.
