To Tell the Truth? Self-Censorship and Public Discourse

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What are the social and psychological forces that shape what we dare— or hesitate— to say in public? When “senders” deliver public messages, “receivers” must often discern hidden meanings and motivations. But what happens when “senders” write between the lines and self-censor their truest commitments? Drawing from his book, Self-Censorship (2025) and using theoretical insights from information economics, economist Glenn C. Loury discusses how social pressures and cultural norms can lead individuals to silence themselves on politically sensitive topics, limiting public debate and shaping contemporary discourse.

Loury explains that when the risks of upsetting a portion of the audience are too great, genuine moral discourse on difficult social issues can become impossible, leading to a reliance on euphemism and platitude. In such conditions, self-censorship proliferates and public discourse and policy not only suffer but also grow impossible to criticize. The solution, Loury argues, is for as many of us as possible to take a risk and unapologetically “live within the truth.”

Speaker:

Glenn C. Loury is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences, Emeritus, at Brown University, and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. As an academic economist, he has published widely in the general area of applied microeconomic theory. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economics Association, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and a Member of the American Philosophical Society. As a public intellectual, he has published hundreds of essays and reviews, mainly on the themes of race, inequality and social policy. He is host of The Glenn Show, a popular podcast, and author of the widely-reviewed memoir, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative. His most recent book is the essay, Self-Censorship.

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