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Freedom of Expression and the Public's Right to Know

Genuine democracy, advancement of knowledge, individual self-development, and social justice depend on a society in which freedom of expression and the right to know are a reality for everyone. The Centre for Free Expression works to advance these rights though public education, advocacy, law reform, research, advisory services, policy analysis, assistance to courts, and organizational collaborations.

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Blog November 30, 2016

Filter Bubbles and Fake News. How Free is our Individual Expression on the Internet?

A while back, I made the decision to take a longish vacation from all things social media. The weeks (months… years…) leading up to the last American election saw my various social feeds fill with bile, anger and surprisingly little fact-based discussion. It exhausted me to shovel all that stuff out of the way each day in order to get at the nuggets of book news and friend updates I was actually looking for.
John Degen
Disinformation
Blog November 18, 2016

Hiding From the Bogeyman

My eight-year-old granddaughter told me last week that she was scared. When I asked her why, she told me that Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States, and that everyone in her class was scared too. And yes, she understood that we live in Canada and that Trump does not lead our country.  It seemed to her and other children that the bogeyman had escaped from their nightmares and had been elected to high office.
Danielle S. McLaughlin
Disinformation, Freedom of Expression & Its Limits
News November 14, 2016

CFE Releases Report: Chilling Free Expression in Canada – Canadian Journalists’ and Writers’ Views on Mass Surveillance

A survey conducted by the Centre for Free Expression, in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Journalists and PEN Canada, finds writers and journalists have serious concerns about mass surveillance, resulting in some now self-censoring their own activities. Chilling Free Expression in Canada reports the results of a survey of 129 Canadian writers and journalists between May 27 and June 20, 2016.
Privacy & Surveillance