The resources and materials listed on this page offer a useful starting point for those who wish to explore issues of free speech in more depth.
Please note that this webpage provides illustrative examples of resources, and there are many other resources available.
Imperial Essentials: Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom
In this overview, we will introduce two foundational principles and freedoms that are essential to the integrity of our research, teaching and public engagement: Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom.
Speak Freely, Think Critically: The Free Speech Balance Act from Deep Teaching Solutions
A self-taught course covering the importance of open discourse, free speech in the age of AI and social media, strategies for fostering understanding across divides, and engaging with different perspectives.
Heterodox Academy: All Minus One
Heterodox Academy has produced and published two editions of the illustrated book, All Minus One, based on John Stuart Mill’s famous essay, On Liberty. Both editions bring Mill’s work to life by making it accessible and relevant to modern readers, making the liberal democratic case for free speech and viewpoint diversity.
Constructive Dialogues Institute: Perspectives
The Constructive Dialogues Institute's Perspectives programme consists of six lessons which help learners develop the mindset and skills essential for engaging in constructive dialogue across differences.
OfS Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom's speech transcript
Arif Ahmed, the Higher Education regulator’s Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, argues that universities must actively protect lawful freedom of speech and academic freedom, treating them as essential “process values” that enable genuine inquiry, debate, and democratic citizenship. He outlines the legal basis of his role, critiques common objections to free speech protections, and defends open debate as vital for education and democratic society.
Book: Free Speech: Ten principles for a connected world by Timothy Garton Ash
Drawing on a lifetime of writing about dictatorships and dissidents, Timothy Garton Ash argues that in this connected world that he calls cosmopolis, the way to combine freedom and diversity is to have more but also better free speech. Garton Ash argues that across all cultural divides we must strive to agree on how we disagree and proposes a framework for civilized conflict in a world where we are all becoming neighbours.
Book: In Defense of Free Speech in Universities: a study of three jurisdictions by Amy Lai
Amy Lai examines the origin, history, and importance of freedom of speech in the university setting. Looking at numerous free speech disputes in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, the book argues for the equal application of the free speech principle to all expressions to facilitate respectful debates.
Book: Free Speech: a history from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama
Jacob Mchangama traces the long, contested history of free speech, beginning with its origins in classical Athens, revealing how the free exchange of knowledge and ideas underlies all scientific and literary achievement, and outlining how it has enabled the advancement of civil rights across the globe. Mchangama argues freedom of speech has far more often served the cause of the oppressed than the cause of the oppressors, and demonstrates how much humanity has gained from this essential principle - and how much we stand to lose if we allow it to erode.
Book: The War On Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech - And Why They Fail by Greg Lukianoff and Nadine Strossen
Lukianoff and Strossen offer a defence in the face of attempts from both the political left and right to limit individual expression and threaten the exercise of viewpoint diversity.