Bucharest PPE Lectures Series: Freedom of speech as a political weapon: between absolute liberty and a limited fundamental right (with Bogdan Dima)

June 4th, 6 PM

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Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of individual autonomy. Alongside freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, it safeguards the unique and authentic expression of individuals, both within communities and as citizens of the state. 

Nowadays, the freedom of speech (or freedom of expression) tends to be used not as a neutral legal/constitutional concept, but mostly as a corrupted political concept with some sort of ideological objectives. It tends to support a perverse tendency towards the concentration of economic and political power that undermines the core values of constitutional democracy. 

Moreover, considering the new AI driven algorithms of content creation, selection and recommendation on social media platforms (the new masters of public opinion making), one can observe a profound substantial and procedural change of the concept of freedom of speech. 

Our discussion will focus on the inherent tension within the concept of freedom of speech between a limited positive right and an absolute negative liberty. 

In addition, we shall discuss the risks of using freedom of speech as a political weapon either for promoting or for protecting against populist/illiberal/authoritarian tendencies. 

 

·       Can freedom of speech be used as a neutral ground for democratic dialogue?

·       Where the line should be drawn between protection and restriction of freedom of speech? Case-studies from different countries and ECHR case-law. 

·       Is the current use of freedom of speech in AI driven algorithms of social platforms a form of democratic expression or a threat to constitutional order?

 

 

 

Bogdan Dima is PhD Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, where he teaches Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Political Institutions. He is also teaching Constitutional Democracy at the PPE Master at the Faculty of Philosophy since 2020. His professional background is highly diversified and focuses on constitutional and legislative affairs, political and electoral strategies, legislative analysis and institutional building processes.  He worked for the Presidential Administration in Romania (counsellor within the Department of Institutional and Constitutional Reform), Romanian Government (personal adviser to several prime-ministers), and the Romanian Senate (director of the group of advisers for the President of the Senate).  He also had many collaboration as political consultant with NGOs, major companies and political parties in Romania.  He is author of `Conflict between the Palaces. Power relations between the Parliament, Government and President in Post-Communist Romania` (Hamangiu, 2014), as well as `Systems of Government in Democracies from Central and South-Eastern Europe` (Hamangiu, 2015).  Recently, he coordinated together with Professor Vlad Perju the volume `After 30 Years. Constitutional Justice in Romania` (Humanitas, 2023).  He is also author of many articles and book chapters published in Romanian and foreign journals.