ABSTRACT
Freedom of speech is essential for liberal democracies. However, oligopolies and monopolies in mass media tend to reduce pluralism – which, in turn, causes distributive and deliberative problems. This essay aims to demonstrate that regulation is an appropriate mechanism to refine democracy and guarantee fundamental human equality. Aside from the lack of research on the theme from these two theoretical perspectives, especially in Brazil, there is a tendency to associate regulation with censorship within the national public debate. I begin by analyzing the relationship between regulation and deliberative democracy. In light of egalitarian liberalism, I demonstrate in the second part the role of regulation in the equitable distribution of freedoms of speech. Finally, I analyze the difference between censorship and regulation based on the harmonization between those philosophical premises and the 1988 Constitution. I seek to demonstrate the need for regulation to amplify citizens’ equal freedom of expression.
freedom of speech; regulation; deliberative democracy; equal liberalism; censorship