INTRODUCTION.

The article introduces the symposium issue of the "New York Law School Law Review" which brings together a small group of prominent defamation law practitioners and scholars from Europe, Australia and the U.S. to explore developments in defamation, free speech and privacy law both inside and outside of the U.S. It presents an overview of several articles which focus on developments related to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan in other countries. The articles reveal how freedom of speech in each society is rooted in history and subject to evolving legal and social norms.