Do free speech rights apply against private actors?

The School of Law’s Professor Paul Wragg grapples with the meaning and nature of the term ‘free speech’ in his new monograph.

Professor Wragg’s new book Free Speech Theory: A Radical Restatement examines the meaning and nature of the term 'free speech'.

When the state agrees or disagrees with the underlying claim that free speech is at stake, how do we know the state is right?

By what standard do we judge it?

What philosophical principle or value underpins good law in this area?

These are the questions the book answers, not only in terms of direct state action but also on matters involving citizens.  

Professor Wragg says:

As a long-time academic, these are questions I've mulled over for a long time. The term 'free speech' crops up with increasing frequency. It features in political rhetoric. Journalists use it and ask me questions about it. Social media users claim to have it. Employees seek to rely upon it. Meanwhile, major world leaders, and some minor ones too, claim it is under threat. But what are we all talking about when we use it? Are we all talking about the same thing or something different? And if something different, how do we assess competing claims? This is no easy exercise, but it is what the book seeks to do.

Through this examination, the book considers the nature of free speech as an actual or prospective defence or cause of action in claims concerning privacy and reputation, social media platforms, and in employment contexts. 

It thinks not so much about what the law is, but what it should be, on fundamental questions about the term free speech.

The book has chapters on digital speech, public interest speech, and workplace speech, and will have significance for policy makers, practitioners, and commentators around the world.

Bloomsbury, who publish the book through their Hart Publishing imprint, say:

This innovative, rigorously researched, and comprehensive restatement of free speech principle is both topical and important.

Congratulations to Professor Wragg on this timely and important publication.

Professor Wragg is a member of the Centre for Business Law and Practice, and can be found on LinkedIn here.