Full Description
This book explores the enduring tensions between free expression and regulation in an era of disinformation, surveillance, and digital monopolies. It brings together leading legal scholars, journalists, and media experts to examine the normative justifications for free speech, its role in democracy, personal autonomy, and knowledge production, while addressing its evolving challenges.
The book traces the historical foundations of free speech, from colonial-era censorship to contemporary legal and philosophical debates. It examines the role of global tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter in content regulation, exposing their lack of transparency and accountability. Key discussions include the dangers of algorithmic governance, the weaponization of fake news, and the judiciary's role in interpreting free speech in the context of sedition, gendered struggle, hate speech, digital hate and violence and media freedoms. Additionally, the book features an insightful interview with a veteran Indian journalist on the shifting landscape of press freedom in India.
This book is an essential read for Constitutional law students, political scientists, researchers, policymakers, media professionals, and anyone interested in the future of free speech and expression in the world. It offers a nuanced understanding of how legal frameworks, technology, and politics shape the fundamental right to speech in today's complex internet age.
Contents
PART I: THE EVOLUTION OF FREE SPEECH: LEGAL, LITERARY, AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
Introduction 1. Dancing on a Double-edged Sword: The Paradoxes and Challenges of Free Speech in a Post-truth World
2. Constituent Assembly Debates on Freedom of Speech and Expression: A Historical Perspective 3. Courts, Literature, and Free Speech in India: Lessons from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar PART II: THE NEW FRONTIERS OF FREE SPEECH: MEDIA, ALGORITHMS, AND DIGITAL GOVERNANCE 4. An Epidemiology of Fake News and a Possible Cure 5. The Regulation of Over-the-Top (OTT) Platforms: Free Speech Concerns 6. Free Speech, Hate Speech and the Double-Edged Sword of Algorithmic Regulations: The Indian Perspective 7. Algorithmic Dictatorship in the Era of AI: A Need to Strengthen Indian Legal Regime to Immune Freedom of Expression PART III: FREE SPEECH IN CRISIS: POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND GENDERED DIMENSIONS 8. The Minority Judgement in ADM Jabalpur: Justice Khanna's Fearless Speech. 9. Is Legitimate Criticism Actually Legitimate? Navigating the Legal Landscape of Sedition and National Security in India 10. Hate Speech in Indian Elections and the Role of Election Commission: A Study of Parliamentary Elections Since 2014 11. Unfree in the Digi-Verse: Women in the Online Public 12. Silencing Justice in Digital Space: A Gendered Struggle to Reclaim Free Speech 13. Right to Free Speech in India Today: Dilemmas and Delusions PART IV: THE FOURTH ESTATE AND FREE SPEECH: NAVIGATING CHALLENGES IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA 14. Navigating the Paradoxes of Free Speech: Challenges for Journalists in Contemporary India. (An interview transcript by the editors)
