Policy Forum 

# What Europe Can Teach the United States about Free Speech 

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Date and Time 

April 18, 2018 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute 

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##### Featuring 

![Jacob Mchangama](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-02/Jacob%20Mchangama.jpg?itok=G3Jt8LIJ) 

Jacob Mchangama 

Author and Founder and Executive Director, The Future of Free Speech

[ 

](https://twitter.com/JMchangama) 

Russell A. Miller 

[![john-samples-cropped-final.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-08/john-samples-cropped-final.jpg?itok=YC0xH8Hf)](/people/john-samples) 

[John Samples](/people/john-samples)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](mailto:jsamples@cato.org) 

Featuring **Jacob Mchangama**, Director, Justitia (Copenhagen); with comments by **Russell A. Miller**, J. B. Stombock Professor of Law, Washington and Lee Law School; moderated by **John Samples**, Vice President, Cato Institute.

After three decades of constant gains, global respect for free speech has been in decline since 2004. In the recent past even Europe’s liberal democracies have contributed to the decline by adopting increasingly restrictive measures in the name of national security, the countering of hate speech, and, most recently, standing against “fake news.” Does Europe’s model of “militant democracy” offer promising lessons for embattled democracies or a dangerous abandonment of first principles? Should the United States follow the European lead or remain true to its exceptional protection for extreme and disturbing speech? Please join us for a candid and intriguing discussion of issues that have once again put freedom of speech on the agenda of developed nations.

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