Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media

Free speech around the world today is in retreat. Authoritarian and nationalist figures from Narendra Modi in India to Viktor Orbán in Hungary are silencing dissenting voices in an effort to entrench power. Even in democracies, where it is hailed as the “first freedom” and a bedrock democratic value, the free speech debate is weaponized by the political left and right, as different groups aim to curtail it on college campuses, in classrooms, and on digital platforms—undermining the very culture of tolerance and open mindedness on which this freedom ultimately depends.