Libertarians tend to admire the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; its protections on the freedoms of speech and the press are generally far more extensive than those found in other countries. Yet the world is becoming smaller and more connected all the time. American multinational corporations are commonly subject to competing rules about free expression in other parts of the world — and yet these same corporations supply the social media venues where many of us prefer to exercise our First Amendment rights. How durable a guarantee does American law supply in our interconnected age? Are we in danger of seeing countries with more restrictive speech regimes gradually erode the freedoms of the free world, and particularly those of the United States? Or does the newly global conversation demand a set of global rules? Do those who seek to limit hate speech have a point after all, particularly online?

For our look at the international dimensions of free speech activism, we’ve invited Danish lawyer and activist Jacob Mchangama to write the lead essay. Responding to him will be Dr. Anthony Leaker of the University of Brighton, Professor Jeremy Waldron of New York University, and Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution.