Episode 53: Are Online Civil Liberties Threatened? With Jacob Mchangama

Social media and other platforms are under growing pressure to moderate and take down content – and big platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are increasingly accused of censoring political opinions. Governments are increasing their mandatory rules on how and how fast platforms should takedown content that is illegal or allegedly illegal, and Europe has over the past years seen a flurry of policies and initiatives that are restricting the freedom of expression online or risk taking us in that direction. Have these policies gone too far? Are freedom-of-expression rights adequately protected? Are big platforms now curtailing the freedom of expression online?

In this episode, Fredrik Erixon and Jacob Mchangama talk about online freedom of speech and regulation.

Jacob Mchangama is a Danish lawyer and expert on the freedom of expression. He is the founding director of Justitia, a judicial think tank promoting the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedom rights. He is also the executive director of the Future of Free Speech Project and the author of several studies on free speech, including Rushing to Judgement: Are Short Mandatory Takedown Limits for Online Hate Speech Compatible with The Freedom of Expression? Jacob is also the host and writer of the podcast series “Clear and Present Danger – A History of Free Speech,” and author of the forthcoming book “Free Speech A History from Socrates to Social Media” (Basic Books US/UK 2022).

This episode was recorded as a live webinar. Click here to watch this conversation on YouTube.