Why free speech is losing ground even in free societies

In this episode, Michael and James talk with Sarah McLaughlin from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. They discuss attacks on free speech internationally, with governments from Washington to Beijing using deportation powers, financial leverage, and anti-terror laws to silence critics. They analyse the censorship impulse across the political spectrum, the threat of social media age bans to internet anonymity, and the failure of even strong legal protections to protect free speech fail when citizens fail to defend their own rights.

You can listen to Why free speech is losing ground even in free societies online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Why free speech is losing ground even in free societies is an episode from The New Zealand Initiative by The New Zealand Initiative.

This episode is 01:06:58 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

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