The compact between free speech and democracy is often presumed to be inviolable. That is no longer the case. Globally, as well as in India, infringements on free speech have acquired menacing proportions. Interestingly, the modus operandi of this assault has changed too. Muzzling the voice of dissent remains a preferred option. But what is also noticeable is the mischievous propensity among polarising constituencies to disseminate divisive rhetoric citing their right to free speech. The Supreme Court’s recent, unambiguous separation of the two must thus be welcomed. The apex court declared that the right to free speech is not inclusive of hate. Incidentally, the court made this remark while restraining the police of four states from arresting an individual who was instrumental in getting a social media influencer arrested for her communal post regarding the terror strike in Pahalgam. The irony of defenders of free speech and social amity being targeted by the enforcers of law in a secular republic must not go unnoticed. Perhaps such an anomaly is consistent with the shifting ground in New India which, according to data from India Hate Lab, an international research entity, witnessed a rise in anti-minority hate speeches by an astonishing 74% in 2024, the year of a general election.
But the crisis of free speech transcends its contamination by hate. The foundational tenet of regimes endorsing free speech, as was pointed out in a recent talk by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, one of India’s foremost public intellectuals, has traditionally been rooted in a milieu of trust between State and citizens. That trust is now being eroded. The rise of ‘authoritarian’ democracies, the centrality of identity — especially religious identity — in a nation’s social and political life, the changing modes of technology are all having an impact. This reiterates the need on the part of the custodians and the adherents of free speech to be aware of the changing nature of the threat. Their interventions to keep speech free, with legally and constitutionally stipulated restraints, must also be nimble; not fixed. Ultimately, the health of the right to free speech is shaped by and, in turn, shapes the health of a democracy. Democracy’s global retreat in today’s world has thus brought free speech under pressure.