Scan barcode
thethom's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
matthew_p's review against another edition
3.0
Thought-provoking and well-structured set of principles for free speech. Especially interesting was how free speech intersects with personal responsibility.
gigiivid's review against another edition
4.0
Really fascinating and well written argument for a libertarian version of free speech, particularly online. Sometimes the author's seemingly conservative leanings got in the way of the full argument but overall really great stuff and will be using in my thesis!
amanda_'s review against another edition
4.0
"Thus a sleazy little video posted on YouTube by a convicted fraudster in Southern California had dictated the agenda of the US president, secretary of state and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; prompted YouTube to exercise arbitrary private censorship; given the Salafists a card to play against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; become the occasion or pretext for violent demonstrations in many countries, resulting in the death of more than 50 people; and brought a $100,000 price on the filmmaker's own head, offered for transparently political reasons by a Pakistani government minister. That in turn led a British-based Pakistani politician from the same party to demand 'a once-for-all stop for this blasphemous action' ... Welcome to cosmopolis."
Welcome, indeed.
The free speech debate has been going on for a very long time, but for most of that time the speech was limited to what a person could express verbally (often to a limited number of people), and then what a person could write and distribute to others, in physical form. With radio and television a large number of people could be reached, but only a few had access to be the speaker. With the internet, this changed. Albeit with various limitations, anyone with an internet access could suddenly share what they thought or wished to say to anyone else with an internet access. On the internet, everyone is your neighbor.
With this in mind, Garton Ash sets out to understand what free speech means, and when. When your virtual neighbor lives in a different country, perhaps even on a different continent, with its own set of laws and norms regarding free speech, how do we deal with these differences in the online world? What is legal in one country might not be legal in another. Or what might be socially acceptable to express in one country might not be in another.
Wether or not you agree with his arguments or ten principles, Garton Ash forces you to consider your stance on free speech, both in general but also in specific cases. The author is clear that his standpoint is liberal; that some laws might not need to be laws, that instead of prosecuting 'bad speech' we ought to counter it instead with more 'good speech' or 'better speech' and that we should all be legally allowed to express ourselves. It is a compelling argument he makes, although one I suspect not everyone will agree with, for various reasons. Nevertheless, it's a discussion worth having. Garton Ash is also careful to address the differences between West and other parts of the world, and that, while all perspectives might not be equal, they are worth engaging with to reach a better understanding of each others positions.
One of the best parts however, in my opinion, is in the beginning of the book, before reaching the actual principles. One obvious discussion is what counts as free speech and what isn't or shouldn't be. But Garton Ash brings up the important question: how should free speech be? As Garton states
"A right to say it does not man that it is right to say it. A right to offend does not entail a duty to offend."
In fact, Garton Ash contends that the two questions can't be separated, and to discuss one, we have to consider the other.
While Garton Ash has done a remarkable job taking into account many different aspects of free speech, I felt it fell a little short in some aspects. I would've preferred more examples on how some of the principles would work in practice. I also wished he'd taken a deeper look on disinformation and propaganda on the internet, both coming from states, corporations, other groups, and individuals. Besides that though, Free Speech is a comprehensive, at times quite funny, book on the issues that we face in a connected world with several different viewpoints on what free speech is and how it should be.
euan's review against another edition
4.0
One of the cover blurbs for this book described it as comprehensive and it is certainly that. Garton Ash covers all aspects of free speech in our highly connected age and his understanding of the issues, and our possible responses, is fascinating.
Despite the comprehensiveness it is still a really readable book with some wonderful turns of phrase such as: “a blancmange of ecumenical waffle“ and “In a highly competitive field Britain takes the gold medal for confusion”.
Despite the comprehensiveness it is still a really readable book with some wonderful turns of phrase such as: “a blancmange of ecumenical waffle“ and “In a highly competitive field Britain takes the gold medal for confusion”.
More...