Free Speech. Jonathan Seglow

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Free Speech

      Matteo Bonotti

      Jonathan Seglow

      polity

Copyright Page

      Copyright © Matteo Bonotti and Jonathan Seglow 2021

      The right of Matteo Bonotti and Jonathan Seglow to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First published in 2021 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

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      Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

      Polity Press

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      Medford, MA 02155, USA

      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2644-4

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2645-1 (pb)

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Bonotti, Matteo, author. | Seglow, Jonathan, 1968- author.

      Title: Free speech / Matteo Bonotti, Jonathan Seglow.

      Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2021. | Series: Key concepts in political theory | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A compact guide to the major debates about what restrictions, if any, should be placed on free expression”-- Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2020048713 (print) | LCCN 2020048714 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509526444 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509526451 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509526482 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Freedom of speech--United States.

      Classification: LCC JC591 .B683 2021 (print) | LCC JC591 (ebook) | DDC 323.44/30973--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048713

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048714

      by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

      The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

      For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

Introduction

      The 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States and re-election campaign in 2020, the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and further afield, the current wave of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and the hate speech targeting people of Chinese origin during the COVID-19 pandemic have brought freedom of speech to the forefront of public and academic debate, together with the question of whether hateful expression ought to be regulated. The tension between freedom of speech and offensiveness also continues to elicit controversy, as shown for example by the 2006 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and, more recently, by the attacks on Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris in 2015 and 2020. The growing availability of Internet pornography has reignited long-standing debates between liberal and feminist thinkers concerning the permissibility of censorship and the tension between individual freedom and harm to women. Last but not least, recent phenomena such as fake news, trans wars and race culture wars have spurred new controversies regarding whether, when and how online speech should be regulated.

For example, in June 2020 Joanne K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, posted the following tweet in response to a headline about ‘people who menstruate’: ‘“People who menstruate”. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’.¹ Soon Rowling became the target of countless tweets accusing her of transphobia.² In another example, in September 2020 US President Donald Trump attacked the Black Lives Matter movement and stated that ‘[l]eft-wing mobs have torn down statues of our founders, desecrated