Jacob Mchangama

We pitched an ambitious project focused on a global effort to revive free expression by sharing three core First Amendment principles with democratic swing states experiencing a deepening free speech recession.

Warm congratulations to the winners and fellow competitors—so many powerful ideas aimed at strengthening freedom in places that need it most.

Deeply honored to take part in Atlas Network's Smart Bets Pitch Competition. A huge thank you to the Atlas team for giving us the opportunity to share our project.

The Future of Free Speech Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom

Out April 2026.

Pre-Order Now: www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...

The page proofs for my forthcoming book with @jkosseff.bsky.social have arrived!

Here’s a sneak peek at the contents:

Who Has Free Speech? The global fight over a powerful idea.

To read my @foreignaffairs.com piece cited in the clip above, see here: www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/who-...

Last look: Trump and Europe’s clash over free speech | CNN Fareed argues that the Trump administration’s continued attack on European free speech restrictions may have some merit — but it should also be practicing at home what it preaches abroad.

Zakaria also rightly points out that, even though criticisms of European policy from U.S. officials are true, it doesn’t make their hypocrisy on free speech any better.

Watch the full segment here: www.cnn.com/2025/10/26/w...

The efforts to shed light on just how bad things have gotten in Europe are gaining momentum. Another mainstream U.S. news outlet (Fareed Zakaria's GPS at @cnn.com) details the free speech recession we have been warning about for years.

Who Has Free Speech? The global fight over a powerful idea.

“When free-speech restrictions are deemed legitimate only if imposed by the ‘right’ people against the ‘wrong’ ones, then free speech indeed becomes an artificial concept,” writes @mchangama.bsky.social.

Instead, there's mostly a furious denial that Europe is restricting free speech at all (after all, hate speech — as defined by European states and institutions — is not free speech, you simpleton!).

The need for European civil-libertarian free speech groups has never been greater.

Unfortunately, I have seen very little evidence that mainstream European opinion views the steady increase of speech-restrictive laws and policies as a problem.

Fortunately for Americans, the First Amendment protects against such blatant viewpoint discrimination, which is wide open to political abuse.

Meanwhile, European law actively encourages it.

This is the type of proposal that many people would condemn as "authoritarian" if proposed by Trump, but praise as a "defense of democracy" when proposed by EU member states.

Putins All the Way Down How Russia was remade.

In a review of “Our Dear Friends in Moscow” by Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov and “Ideology and Meaning-Making Under the Putin Regime” by Marlene Laruelle, Joshua Yaffa discusses the forces that have shaped the Putin era.

Who Has Free Speech? The global fight over a powerful idea.

🔗 Read the full essay here: www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/who-...

The timing of Dabhoiwala’s criticism of U.S. Free Speech Exceptionalism could not be more ironic as the Trump admin targets progressive ideologies, institutions, and individuals. A stark reminder that free speech, properly understood and robustly defended, benefits us all.

My review argues that Dabhoiwala ignores how free speech, for all its flaws, has been a genuine engine of emancipation—not a cynical cover for power.

In @foreignaffairs.com, I review Fara Dabhoiwala’s "What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea"—a book that treats the First Amendment as chiefly benefiting “propertied white men” and Europe's “balanced” approach as virtuous.

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I encourage you to read these pieces and to keep up the fight to defend free speech in the UK. To stay informed of our work on these and other issues, follow us @futurefreespeech.org and subscribe to our newsletter: futurefreespeech.org/join-our-com...

Europe Learned Nothing From the Danish Cartoon Affair Twenty years later, blasphemy laws continue to stalk free societies.

I also wrote about this case as part of a broader, troubling trend throughout a Europe that has failed to learn lessons 20 years in the making about why we should never give in to the assassin’s veto on speech that offends: www.persuasion.community/p/europe-lea...

The United Kingdom needs a new generation of Levellers The country once boasted a proud tradition of free speech, but it’s being eviscerated one arrest at a time.

At @thefireorg.bsky.social's Substack, I examined the broader free speech crackdown in the UK and called for a new wave of free speech champions to course-correct the country: expression.fire.org/p/the-united...

I recently wrote about this case in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social here and what it means for the UK’s legacy as the birthplace of many free speech defenders www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...

I’m not saying that free speech prevailed in this case because I happen to be in the UK this week. But I’m also not NOT saying it.

In all seriousness, this is a very welcome outcome in a country struggling with a declining commitment to free expression.

Analysis: Trump’s free speech backflip was 250 years in the making | CNN Politics Trump’s complete turnabout on speech is indicative of the contradictions and ironies in the bedrock principle of the American liberties in the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment.

I also explained how today’s attacks on expression echo past attempts to silence dissent.

Free speech isn’t about who controls the reins of power. It’s the foundation of liberty itself.

Read the full piece at @cnn.com: www.cnn.com/2025/10/11/p...

At @cnn.com, I shared with @zbyronwolf.bsky.social that, when it comes to American history, free speech and racial equality are friends, not foes.

From abolitionists jailed for spreading “dangerous ideas” to civil rights leaders who made free speech their shield—America’s most profound moral progress has depended on protecting speech we hate.

That’s the lesson we risk forgetting as we approach the U.S.’s 250th anniversary.

Analysis: Trump’s free speech backflip was 250 years in the making | CNN Politics Trump’s complete turnabout on speech is indicative of the contradictions and ironies in the bedrock principle of the American liberties in the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment.

Read @zbyronwolf.bsky.social's full analysis of the state of free speech in the U.S., with more insights from @mchangama.bsky.social about the legacy of the civil rights movement and crackdowns on free expression in Europe. www.cnn.com/2025/10/11/p...

"Mchangama, on the other hand, hopes the American left will look at the Trump administration today and dial back on efforts to control speech.

"'Power changes hands,' @mchangama.bsky.social said."

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🔗 Be sure to read the full piece here: