Unfree Speech

An urgent manifesto for global democracy from Joshua Wong, the 23-year-old phenomenon leading Hong Kong’s protests – and Nobel Peace Prize nominee – with an introduction by Ai Weiwei

With global democracy under threat, we must act together to defend out rights: now.

When he was 14, Joshua Wong made history. While the adults stayed silent, Joshua staged the first-ever student protest in Hong Kong to oppose National Education — and won.

Since then, Joshua has led the Umbrella Movement, founded a political party, and rallied the international community around the anti-extradition bill protests, which have seen 2 million people — more than a quarter of the population — take to Hong Kong’s streets. His actions have sparked worldwide attention, earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, and landed him in jail twice.

Composed in three parts, Unfree Speech chronicles Joshua’s path to activism, collects the letters he wrote as a political prisoner under the Chinese state, and closes with a powerful and urgent call for all of us globally to defend our democratic values.

When we stay silent, no one is safe. When we free our speech, our voice becomes one.