You Can't Read This Book

Does unrestricted access to online information, and social media expediting the fall of dictators, mean we live in an unprecedented era of freedom/liberty? Not at all, argues Nick Cohen. We are subject to ever-tightening strictures on what we say, think and do. Privacy laws let the wealthy censor the press; protest against oppression is slammed as bigotry; voices of dissent can't be heard over the clamour hailing the internet as the saviour of democracy. While we seem more informed then ever before, "You Can't Read This Book" shows that if we want to preserve free speech, we ignore history at our peril.