434: The Free Speech Recession

In this episode of the Tech Policy Podcast, host Corbin Barthold engages in a deep and urgent conversation with Jakob Moshengama and Jeff Kasev, co-authors of the new book *The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom*. They argue that democracies worldwide are experiencing a 'free speech recession'—a growing trend of speech-restrictive policies driven by both elite panic and populist retaliation. While authoritarian regimes have long weaponized censorship, the real threat now comes from liberal democracies themselves, which increasingly view free speech as a liability rather than a cornerstone of democracy. The guests trace this shift from the early internet optimism of the 1990s—when figures like Bill Clinton saw censorship as futile—to today’s reality, where laws like the EU’s Digital Services Act and U.S. state-level AI and child safety regulations erode free expression under the guise of protecting democracy. They warn that selective tolerance, whether from the left or right, inevitably leads to abuse of power and the erosion of neutral, principled free speech protections. The discussion delves into real-world examples: German police arresting an Israeli Jewish woman for a protest sign in Berlin, British police arresting over 500 people for supporting a group labeled a terrorist organization, and campus protests where students demand heckler’s vetoes. The authors counter with evidence that free speech has historically been a force for peace and pluralism, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedents like *Terminiello* and *Brandenburg*, and highlighting successful counter-speech strategies in Taiwan and New Zealand. They advocate for decentralized platforms, anti-SLAPP laws, and radical transparency as alternatives to top-down censorship. While acknowledging a deep cultural crisis in free speech values—especially among younger generations—the guests remain cautiously optimistic, believing that overreach by current administrations may spark a backlash that reinvigorates civil libertarian principles. The episode ends with a call to action: defend free speech not just as a tool for order, but as a moral imperative essential to human dignity and democratic resilience.