Overview
- Written by a policy practitioner for policy advisors, regulators, NGO researchers and journalists
- Analyses practical and moral challenges of regulating free speech in a digital age
- Presents counter-speech strategies as alternatives and complements to censorship and criminalisation
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About this book
Hateful thoughts and words can lead to harmful actions like the March 2019 terrorist attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. In free, open and democratic societies, governments cannot justifiably regulate what citizens think, feel, believe or value, but do have a duty to protect citizens from harmful communication that incites discrimination, active hostility and violence.
Written by a public policy advisor for fellow practitioners in politics and public life, this book discusses significant practical and moral challenges regarding internet governance and freedom of speech, particularly when responding to content that is legal but harmful. Policy makers and professionals working for governmental institutions need to strike a fair balance between protecting from harm and preserving the right to freedom of expression. And because merely passing laws does not solve complex social problems, governments need to invest, not just regulate. Governments, big tech and the private sector, civil society, individual citizens and the fourth estate all have roles to play, and counter-speech is everyone’s responsibility.
This book tackles hard questions about internet governance, hate speech, cancel culture and the loss of civility, and illustrates principled pragmatism applied to perplexing policy problems. Furthermore, it presents counter-speech strategies as alternatives and complements to censorship and criminalisation.
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Keywords
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Regulating Harmful Digital Communication
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Front Matter
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Hate, Harm and the Limits of Censorship
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Front Matter
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Authors and Affiliations
About the author
David Bromell worked in senior policy advice roles in New Zealand’s central and local government from 2003 to 2020. He is a Senior Associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington, and an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury. His research on hate, harm and the limits of censorship was conducted as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies in Bochum, Germany, from October 2020 to March 2021.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Regulating Free Speech in a Digital Age
Book Subtitle: Hate, Harm and the Limits of Censorship
Authors: David Bromell
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95550-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-95549-6Published: 12 February 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-95552-6Published: 13 February 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-95550-2Published: 11 February 2022
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXI, 229
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Political Communication, Media and Communication, Public Policy