The Free Speech Wars, a collection of essays edited by Charlotte Lydia Riley, is no neutral primer on the current debates and arguments over free speech. Instead, it is a largely one-sided intervention, aimed at restricting this most fundamental of freedoms.
Editor and historian Riley sets the tone in her introduction. She presents freedom of speech as merely one principle among many others, and says that it is often in conflict with social-justice objectives. In this sense, she claims, a defence of free speech is frequently a way of providing cover for far-right bigotry.
Almost all of the 22 essays, written by commentators, academics and activists, follow Riley’s lead. That is, they explore how free speech has been weaponised by malign forces, and ask how we might limit it. The only exception to the general attack on the principle of free speech is a single essay written in its defence by Jodie Ginsberg, former CEO of Index on Censorship.
Read Full Article »