The author analyses one of the 'Four Freedoms'—the freedom of speech—which is closely connected to political rights. Digitalisation has created a number of opportunities for 'speech' and reduced the barriers in human communication and thought transfer. However, digitalisation is also associated with threats to freedom of speech and the wrong use of it. In this chapter, a legal analysis of the contemporary content of freedom of speech is conducted and the opportunities and threats to this freedom in the age of digitalisation are examined. Moreover, representative national regulations of the EU member states and the USA are presented. The standard set by the 'community of values' is confronted with Poland's practice. The DSA and Digital Market Act are assessed in terms of opportunities and threats to the freedom of speech.
The author analyses the North Atlantic Alliance through the prism of community of values as the foundation of the system of collective self-defence. The starting point of the discussion was the construction of a "security community" by the states of the western hemisphere in order to repel the direct existential threat from the USSR. This constructed 'community' proved to be an institution capable of transformation – after the end of the 'Cold War' – in the face of new security threats. The 21st century has confronted the Allies and NATO with new challenges. These challenges come both from counter-system states – strategic rivals – and from within the Alliance itself, from states rejecting common values. The subjects of an in-depth comparative analysis are: internal challenges, examined in the form of case studies; the "hub and spokes system", treated as a possible alternative to the Alliance; and NATO's internal study – a report on challenges and the possibilities of meeting them. The author presents a catalogue of existential internal challenges with which NATO is confronted and the organisation's search for ways to cope with these challenges. He presents an alternative model of bilateral alliances as a way to ensure security of the western hemisphere in case of NATO's inability to survive. The aim of the study is to answer the question within the framework of the disjunctive alternative: will it be possible to transform (by the parties to the Washington Treaty) NATO into a community of values? Or will it be necessary to replace NATO with a network of bilateral agreements, that is, to replace the plurilateral institution with structured bilateral cooperation? The study is based on the conclusions of a legal survey of primary sources and representative literature on the subject. ; The author analyses the North Atlantic Alliance through the prism of community of values as the foundation of the system of collective self-defence. The starting point of the discussion was the construction of a "security community" by the states of the western hemisphere in order to repel the direct existential threat from the USSR. This constructed 'community' proved to be an institution capable of transformation – after the end of the 'Cold War' – in the face of new security threats. The 21st century has confronted the Allies and NATO with new challenges. These challenges come both from counter-system states – strategic rivals – and from within the Alliance itself, from states rejecting common values. The subjects of an in-depth comparative analysis are: internal challenges, examined in the form of case studies; the "hub and spokes system", treated as a possible alternative to the Alliance; and NATO's internal study – a report on challenges and the possibilities of meeting them. The author presents a catalogue of existential internal challenges with which NATO is confronted and the organisation's search for ways to cope with these challenges. He presents an alternative model of bilateral alliances as a way to ensure security of the western hemisphere in case of NATO's inability to survive. The aim of the study is to answer the question within the framework of the disjunctive alternative: will it be possible to transform (by the parties to the Washington Treaty) NATO into a community of values? Or will it be necessary to replace NATO with a network of bilateral agreements, that is, to replace the plurilateral institution with structured bilateral cooperation? The study is based on the conclusions of a legal survey of primary sources and representative literature on the subject.
