A former UK Supreme Court Justice has predicted a "waning" influence of liberal democracy in society in coming years.
Lord Jonathan Sumption told Q+A that this has been brought on by a growing intolerance of dissent and opposing opinions.
Social media has played a large part in this by accentuating dissent through associating people with opinions they already agree with, producing "instant outrage" that historically took much longer to arise, he said.
He suggested people become more "savvy" about how social media works and more "sceptical" about the appearance of "unanimous outrage" that social media can generate.
When asked about the criminalisation of hate speech, Sumption said he believes asking if the speech has the intention to provoke public disorder should be the principle rather than if the speech is offensive to certain groups.
"It is inherent in any kind of free speech that it will include the right to say things other people don't want to hear."
He acknowledged that any minority group is entitled to some degree of protection but said that he would not distinguish their position from the wider public.
"An awful lot depends on the circumstances in which you speak, the way you speak and to whom you are speaking."
He also criticised New Zealand's Covid-19 response which he said did not take into consideration the "enormous collateral cost" of lockdowns.
"Targeting the entire population, including people whose risk of getting seriously ill or dying was very small, was a big mistake. The young were the people who were least at risk but who suffered the most from this."
Sumption described two kinds of social cohesion — mutual support and coercive conformity.
"Far too many governments are concentrated on the second type, which is fundamentally pernicious and inconsistent with basic democratic principles. It's the government's responsibility to foster the kind of social cohesion that makes people help each other.
"It's not their responsibility to promote fear, even if that produces conformity."
Q+A with Jack Tame is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ On Air
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