Speech that Offends, Shocks or Disturbs

Benoit Frydman introduces a special issue examining the legal status of blasphemy and other offensive speech in modern European democratic societies, employing a pragmatic legal methodology to analyze "hard cases" and borderline applications of freedom of expression. The work explores how European jurisprudence, particularly from the Strasbourg Court, handles the tension between protecting offensive discourse and limiting speech that wounds or shocks, demonstrating that despite rhetorical commitments to free expression, significant hidden constraints restrict public debate. Frydman argues that the true extent and limits of freedom of expression must be understood through concrete case analysis rather than abstract legal principles, and that new technological developments have complicated traditional media regulation regimes.