ABSTRACT
Governments, concerned to limit the opportunities for criticism of their activities, have long sought to regulate freedom of expression, and in particular the freedom of the media, either through systems of licensing or the use of the criminal law, and sometimes by a mixture of both. Traditional justifications for limiting freedom of expression fell foul of Enlightenment thinking, and suspicion of governments’ motives for doing so has continued to fuel arguments for freedom of expression and demands that it should be guaranteed by law. In recent times, however, doubts have been expressed in certain quarters about disregarding the traditional justifications for control, particularly because the wide dissemination of disinformation is seen by many as threatening democracy. Nonetheless, if it is decided that some form of control is required, the question of what form this should take remains open, which is why the philosophical arguments considered in this chapter remain relevant today.
