A Heretic Reprieved
Academic freedom is most vital when contested work is controversial or liable to cause offence.
Abhishek Saha
· 13 min read
Free Speech
A collection of 235 posts
Liberalism v The Rule of Law
Two recent Australian Federal Court judgments illustrate the good things that the rule of law may confer on a society, even when it conflicts with ideals like freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
Helen Dale
· 21 min read
The Post-Kirk Clampdown
The current frenzy of right-wing cancel culture recalls the progressive lunacy that followed the murder of George Floyd. But the current iteration is more dangerous because it is backed by state power.
Patrick Frey
· 21 min read
Can We Regulate Online Hate Without Killing Free Speech? With Dr Andre Oboler | Quillette Cetera Ep. 50
As antisemitism surges online and in the streets, online hate researcher Dr Andre Oboler joins Zoe to examine how conspiracy thinking, political ideology, and institutional complacency are fuelling hate—and what can be done to stop it.
Zoe Booth
· 31 min read
Blasphemy, Censorship, and the Future of Free Expression in Britain
Pamela Paresky speaks with former Quillette editor Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union and recently appointed member of the House of Lords, about the current state of free expression in the United Kingdom.
Pamela Paresky, Toby Young
· 16 min read
Podcast #283: Free Speech in Australia
Iona Italia talks to Alan Davison about censorship, self-censorship, the Online Safety Act and other threats to free speech in Australia.
Quillette, Alan Davison
· 42 min read
Have We Forgotten Weimar?
This is not the first time Germany has resorted to censorship in the mistaken belief that the state can contain dangerous ideas. The last time they tried this, it facilitated the rise of the Nazis.
Jay Sophalkalyan
· 12 min read
The Fight for Academic Freedom in the UK
How the battle for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act was fought, won, and nearly lost again.
Abhishek Saha
· 34 min read
Burning the Quran
Are we going to defend liberty, openness, and democracy, or are we going to allow radical theocrats and their ideological allies to try to crush our hard-won freedoms?
John Aziz
· 6 min read
Corporate Cancellations
Josh Bornstein appears to view the world as a good Left/bad Right binary. This assumption limits both his diagnosis of the problem and the creativity of his solutions.
Holly Lawford-Smith
· 9 min read
Misinformation: A Flawed Concept
“Believe those who seek the truth,” André Gide once wrote, “doubt those who find it.” The same can be said of falsehoods.
Angel Eduardo, Adam Goldstein
· 6 min read
Feminism and Free Speech
Victoria’s proposed hate speech legislation forces feminists to choose which is more important to them: the restriction of misogynistic speech, or the protection of their own political speech.
Holly Lawford-Smith
· 5 min read
The Amy Wax Affair
A tenured scholar has paid a high price for bluntly expressing uncomfortable truths.
Charles Murray
· 7 min read
Misinformation Is Bad. Prohibiting It Is Worse
A proposed Australian law aimed at blocking false content would likely be applied selectively—and thereby further erode public trust in mainstream information sources.
The Quillette Editorial Board
· 9 min read
Answers to 12 Bad Anti-Free Speech Arguments
How to effectively counter some perennial arguments against free speech.
Greg Lukianoff
· 14 min read