About this episode

The episode discusses the decline of free speech in various societies and the factors contributing to this trend.

In this episode, Michael and James talk with Sarah McLaughlin from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. They discuss attacks on free speech internationally, with governments from Washington to Beijing using deportation powers, financial leverage, and anti-terror laws to silence critics. They analyse the censorship impulse across the political spectrum, the threat of social media age bans to internet anonymity, and the failure of even strong legal protections to protect free speech fail when citizens fail to defend their own rights.

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