We travel from America to Europe, Russia, China, and more places to answer the question: Is there a global free speech recession?
Guests:
- Sarah McLaughlin: FIRE senior scholar, global expression
- James Kirchick: FIRE senior fellow
- Jacob Mchangama: FIRE senior fellow
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:52 Free speech global surveys
07:49 Freedom of expression deteriorating
11:43 Misinformation and disinformation
18:05 Russian state-sponsored media
24:55 Europe’s Digital Services Act
29:26 Chinese censorship
34:33 Radio Free Europe
54:57 Mohammad cartoons
01:04:14 Outro
Read the transcript here.
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Show notes:
- Authoritarians in the academy: How the internationalization of higher education and borderless censorship threaten free speech Sarah McLaughlin (2025)
- “The First Amendment created gay America” So to Speak (2022)
- “Secret city: The hidden history of gay Washington” James Kirchick (2022)
- “Who in the world supports free speech?” The Future of Free Speech (2025)
- “V-DEM democracy report 2025: 25 years of autocratization — democracy trumped?” V-Dem Institute (2025)
- Global risks report 2024 World Economic Forum (2025)
- “Gay reporter kicked off Kremlin network after protesting anti-gay law” Washington Free Beacon (2013)
- Free speech: A history from Socrates to social media (paperback) Jacob Mchangama (2025)
- Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) (2022)
- Careless people: A cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025)
- “The Voice of America falls silent” The New York Times (2025)
- Text of Havel’s speech to Congress The Washington Post (1990)
- Voice of America wins in court, for now, as judge blocks Trump administration from firing staff AP News (2025)
