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Free Speech and Why It Matters

Why It Matters

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Free Speech and Why It Matters

By: Andrew Doyle
Narrated by: Andrew Doyle
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About this listen

Free speech is the bedrock of all our liberties, and yet in recent years, it has come to be mistrusted. A new form of social justice activism, which perceives language as potentially violent, has prompted a national debate on where the limitations of acceptable speech should be drawn. Governments throughout Europe have enacted 'hate speech' legislation to curb the dissemination of objectionable ideas, Silicon Valley tech giants are collaborating to ensure that they control the limitations of public discourse, and campaigners in the US are calling for revisions to the First Amendment.

However well-intentioned, these trends represent a threat to the freedoms that our ancestors fought and died to secure. In this incisive and fascinating book, Andrew Doyle addresses head-on the most common concerns of free speech sceptics, and offers a timely and robust defence of this most foundational of principles.

©2021 Andrew Doyle (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Freedom & Security Politics & Government Freedom

Critic Reviews

"A fantastically timely book written by one of the smartest thinkers in Britain." (Piers Morgan)

"Impassioned, scholarly and succinct." (The Times)
All stars
Most relevant  
A clear headed, same and unpretentious breakdown of the threats faced by liberal democracy and individual freedom. An excellent companion piece to Cynical Theories and to Fashionable Nonsense. Digestible in a single sitting. Lucid and well researched.
Highly recommended.

Essential reading for artists.

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Just when you thought you'd forgotten what it was...
and current zeitgeist is slowly erasing it...

Common Sense

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One of the most important books of this age. A poignant reminder of what free speech is, and how easily it is lost.

"The cost of freedom is that it is open to abuse by an unconscientious minority".

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Essential listening

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