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Free Speech

A History from Socrates to Social Media

Jacob Mchangama

Basic Books, 2022
First Edition: 2022

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Freedom of speech has nurtured democracy since ancient Athens, though rulers and some religions suppressed it for centuries. The Reformation and the printing press made free speech almost impossible to restrain, explains author and podcaster Jacob Mchangama, the founder and executive director of the Future of Free Speech Project. With the 1700s French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the ratification of the US Constitution’s First Amendment, freedom of speech and the press became intrinsic to Western democracy. However, autocrats suppress these freedoms, and technology challenges them. As the author explains, people and governments must treasure free speech and use it with care.

Summary

The ancient Athenians promoted democracy and free speech.

The ancient world wasn’t a bastion of free speech. Hittite laws, for example, held that people who judged their king would have their houses destroyed. The Bible asserts that people who deride “God and King” should be stoned to death. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese weren’t much more liberal, and limits on speech for enslaved people and women were strict everywhere.

The legendary Greek orator Demosthenes regarded free speech as the foundation of freedom and democracy, and stridently defended it. A coup in 411 BC ended Athenian democracy and led to the violent suppression of free speech.

While Athenian democracy was direct and populist, Roman democracy was “hierarchical and elitist.” Roman thinkers regarded Athenian democracy as chaotic and prone to hijacking by the vulgar and ignorant. The philosopher and orator Cicero argued that only the political elite should enjoy free speech.

The printing press – and Martin Luther’s Reformation – opened new possibilities for free speech.

By the 12th century, philosophical inquiry and scholarship thrived in Islamic regions and...

About the Author

Jacob Mchangama is the founder and executive director of the Future of Free Speech Project. He hosts the podcast Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech.

Free Speech

A History from Socrates to Social Media

Read or listen offline

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Summary

The ancient Athenians promoted democracy and free speech.

The printing press – and Martin Luther’s Reformation – opened new possibilities for free speech.

About the Author

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