Many new ICT tools allow more people to speak and create more freely. On the other hand, repressive governments, corporations, and even individuals are trying to repress free speech and innovation through technical and legal means or old-fashioned intimidation. Now that free speech and creativity are more possible than ever before on a technical level, are we ready?

The list of people imprisoned around the world or fired from their jobs for what they write online continues to grow. MySpace was essential in youth self-organization in the recent immigration rallies around the US, but it is also incredibly feared by adults concerned about young peoples' safety. Many people don't take public wikis seriously precisely because anyone can have their say. Podcast directories come under fire when they list podcasts that promote unpopular or allegedly racist ideas. Some people say that bloggers are only interested in free speech for bloggers they agree with.

Culture and creative technologies -- indirectly political speech -- are increasingly locked down through domestic legislation, lawsuits and international treaties. Documentary filmmakers must self-censor in the face of ubiquitous ambient intellectual property interests and creators of free software media applications are hobbled by a thicket of bad patents.

What are the key legal and political battlegrounds for free speech issues? What are the greatest risks to the free speech needed by nonprofits, NGOs, and individuals? Are the new, social media becoming available changing the very questions that society has to answer about free speech? What new technologies are being created to both facilitate the suppression of free speech and to preserve freedom of speech? If these new technologies have great democratic potential, how can we actualize that potential?