Ep. 240: Is there a global free speech recession?

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)