The Paradoxes of Free Speech

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.

Pallavi Devi serves as a Constitutional Law teacher at the Department of Law, Gauhati University, Assam. Her work explores the intersections of law, justice and societal structures fostering cross-cultural dialogues and promoting an inclusive understanding of constitutional principles and culture. Over the past five years, she has actively collaborated with leading legal and social science scholars, organizing two national level seminars in Assam: “Understanding the Dynamics and Interface of Freedom of Speech and Expression under the Constitution of India”, supported by ICSSR-NERC, MAKAIAS-Kolkata, Oil India Limited (OIL), and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and “Violence Against Women: Issues and Challenges”, funded by ICSSR-NERC. Her contributions to legal education and advocacy were recognized with the prestigious Freedom Fighter Kunteswari Dutta Memorial State Award (2022), presented by the Women’s Cell of Cinnamara College, Jorhat, on International Women’s Day. In 2024, she was selected as a ‘Youth Delegate’ at the World Policy Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. This global platform enabled her to engage with world-class speakers, participate in dynamic policy dialogues, and contribute to workshops focused on fostering international cooperation and leadership development.

Alankar Kaushik, a faculty member at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at EFL University, Shillong Campus, has spent over a decade immersed in the fields of Communication and Social Change. His research passion lies in Participatory and Community Media, with a focus on amplifying the voices of marginalized groups through creative media tools. Between 2012 and 2019, he collaborated with UNICEF on transformative participatory media projects across Assam and Meghalaya, empowering economically disadvantaged children to share their stories and advocate for their rights. One of his notable initiatives, Children in Media Experiments (CHIME), introduced in Meghalaya, encouraged young voices to engage with participatory videos. His recent publication, a co-edited book ‘Narratives and New Voices from India: Cases of Community Development for Social Change’ (Springer, 2022), offers an in-depth look at community-driven development in India. Currently, he is authoring an upcoming book titled ‘Tuning into Northeast India’s Grassroots Community Radio’, slated for release by Springer in 2026, which explores the evolving role of community radio in connecting and empowering rural communities across Northeast India.