Update

Oxford university launches free speech debate

Oxford University has launched a multilingual platform – Free Speech Debate (www.freespeechdebate.com) - to debate global norms for free expression in the age of the internet and mass migration. The research project is headed by historian and journalist Timothy Garton Ash, with help from a team of graduate students who are native speakers of each of the website’s 13 languages.

At the heart of the endeavour are 10 draft principles for global free speech. Each comes with an explanation and case studies – all for debate. Prominent individuals from a variety of backgrounds are asked to comment. They include Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and free speech; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; and former Formula One head Max Mosley on privacy, with more to come.

We invite individual users to participate in all of our online discussions. You can enter into conversation with users from other countries and cultures, propose new case studies and submit suggestions for our 11th principle, which we have intentionally left open.

With our 13 languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu – we estimate that we can potentially reach more than 80% of internet users. Please join us now.

Maryam Omidi

Online editor

Free Speech Debate