Free expression is under threat. Social media and "fake news," misinformation, and disinformation have prompted governments to propose new forms of regulation that are deeply challenging to free expression. Hate speech, far-right populism, campus speech debates, and censorship consistently make headlines in Canada and abroad.
Dilemmas of Free Expression offers forward-looking appraisals of ways to confront challenging moral issues, policy problems, and controversies that pay heed to the fundamental right to free expression. The essays in this volume offer timely analyses of the law, policy, and philosophical challenges, and social repercussions to our understanding of expressive freedom in relation to government obligations and public discourse.
Free expression and its limits are multifaceted, deeply complex, inherently values-based, and central to the ability of a society to function. Dilemmas of Free Expression addresses the challenges of limiting free expression across a host of issues through an analyses by leading and emerging voices in a number of disciplines, including political science, law, philosophy, and Indigenous studies.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Challenge and Controversy of Free Expression
Emmett Macfarlane
1. Does Freedom of Expression Have a Future?
Richard Moon
2. Hate Speech, Harm, and Rights
Emmett Macfarlane
3. Process Matters: Postal Censorship, Your Ward News, and s.2(b) of the Charter
Jamie Cameron
4. Freedom of Expression in an Age of Disinformation: Charter Considerations for Regulating Political Speech in Canadian Elections
Erin Crandall and Andrea Lawlor
5. Regulating Expression on Social Media
Carissima Mathen
6. The Right to Protest and Counter-Protest: Complexities and Considerations
Cara Faith Zwibel
7. Positive Rights, Negative Freedoms, and the Margins of Expressive Freedom
Benjamin Oliphant
8. Compelled Speech: A Conscience- and Integrity-Based Approach
Léonid Sirota
9. Balancing Freedom of Expression and Access to the Courts: Assessing Ontario’s Anti-SLAPP Legislation
Byron M. Sheldrick
10. Denial, Deplatforming, and Democracy: Thinking About Climate Change in the Age of Social Media
Christopher Bennett
11. The Tension Between Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Canada: The Ford and Devine Legacy after Thirty Years
Stéphanie Chouinard and Emmanuelle Richez
12. Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’ We Extend the Rafters
David Newhouse
13. Faculty Free Speech in Canada: Trends, Risks, and Possible Futures
Jeffrey Adam Sachs
14. On Silence: Student Refrainment From Speech
Shannon Dea
15. Deplatforming in Theory and Practice: The Ann Coulter Debacle
Dax D’Orazio
About the Author :
Emmett Macfarlane is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.
Review :
" Dilemmas of Free Expression provides a timely overview of the major academic debates on the definition and scope of freedom of expression, and a provocative tour of the challenges of applying the concept online, on campus, in the streets, and beyond."--Michael Pal, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
" Dilemmas of Free Expression is an exceptional anthology, which makes a major contribution to the field. It is a 'must read' not only for constitutional lawyers, legal scholars, and judges, but also anyone interested in how Canada should address freedom of expression as a foundational civil liberty for our democracy."
--Kerri A. Froc, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick
"There is no political ground more hotly contested these days than freedom of expression. What is badly needed at this point in the debates is less heat and more light. This volume does an admirable job of supplying that antidote. It is must-reading for anyone committed to thinking through the complex issues at stake."
--Wayne Sumner, University Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto
