The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Free Speech

Free Speech Unmuted: From Brandenburg to Britain: Rethinking Free Speech in the Digital Era with Prof. Eric Heinze

Jane and I speak with Eric Heinze (Queen Mary University of London) about how the digital age has transformed the meaning and limits of free expression, from Britain’s recent Lucy Connolly case—involving online incitement and hate speech—to the philosophical and legal contrasts between the American Brandenburg standard and the U.K.’s more interventionist approach.

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Prof. Heinze argues that democracies must rethink free speech in an era dominated by opaque, powerful platforms like Twitter and Facebook, where risk, harm, and accountability are far harder to define. He and Jane and I debate whether governments—or tech companies—should bear responsibility for regulating speech online, and what "freedom" really means when algorithms, not citizens, shape public discourse.

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