Guest lecture by Dr. Hannu Nieminen of the University of Helsinki: What is the price of freedom of speech?

WHEN: 14. May at 4 p.m.

WHERE: lecture room 21, UL FSS

Recent reports reveal that the level of freedom of expression (FoE) is declining globally. To better understand the causes of this phenomenon, Dr. Hannu Nieminen will present a critical review of FoE based on a political economy approach. In the first part of his lecture “What Is the Price of Free Speech? An Introduction to the Political Economy of Freedom of Expression in Two Steps.” he will talk about the differences and connections between three forms of freedom: expression, speech, and the press. He will conclude with a presentation of the four circles of FoE (the center, the mediation zone, the periphery, and the zone of exclusion or “non-zone”).

In the second part, he will discuss the materiality of FoE and present a value chain analysis. By applying this model, he will demonstrate how digitization—with the recent spread of platformization and artificial intelligence—has transformed media production processes, first through changes in content creation and then through new forms of media use and consumption. He will link these developmental processes to changes related to the United States’ global economic leadership and global ideological-political power, and demonstrate their relationship to FoE and its global decline. In conclusion, he will discuss how the global state of FoE relates to our understanding of democracy, and what needs to be done to improve the current situation. 

--------------------

Dr. Hannu Nieminen is a researcher and professor of media and communication at the University of Helsinki in Finland and a member of the Euromedia Research Group. His work focuses on the fields of media and democracy, epistemic and communication rights, theories of the public sphere, and (European) media policies and regulation. He is the author and co-author of numerous academic articles, book chapters, and monographs.