There is indeed much to admire in Areopagitica, and few writers have rivalled the eloquence of its prose. It might seem surprising and disrespectful to name a phenomenon that undermines free speech after the English poet John Milton, who in 1644 defied English censorship and published Areopagitica, his famous plea for press freedom. This selective and unprincipled defense of free speech-which I term "Milton´s Curse"-is nothing new, but has in fact been a recurrent theme throughout the history of free speech. There are also significant partisan gaps when it comes to tolerance of Covid misinformation and protests against racial injustice. Conversely, 57% of Republicans consider disseminating online misinformation about the 2020 Presidential election as consistent with the First Amendment, whereas Democrats´ tolerance drops to 20%. 73% of Democrats find that kneeling or turning away during the national anthem is a legitimate expression of First Amendment rights, compared to a mere 35% of Republicans. According to a 2022 Knight Institute poll 63% of Americans find free speech "Extremely Important" while 28% find it "Very Important." But when the abstract ideal of free speech is put to the test against concrete and (supposedly) conflicting values, partisan cracks appear in the façade of American tolerance. Most Americans seemingly approve of US free speech exceptionalism.
I asked him if he could pass along a guest post related to the book, and he graciously agreed:Īccording to Columbia University president and free speech scholar Lee Bollinger, the United States has become "the most speech protective of any nation on Earth, now or throughout history." Key to this development has been the Supreme Court´s gradual elevation of free speech to "a bedrock principle," barring the government from "prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."
I much enjoyed Jacob Mchangama's podcast on the history of free speech (Clear and Present Danger), so I'm particularly pleased to see his book is now out:
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