So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Ep. 172 What does the First Amendment protect on social media?
Oct 05, 2022
Does the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protect a private social media company’s right to moderate content on its platform?
A new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says it does not, and that a Texas law preventing viewpoint discrimination on social media platforms is constitutional.
The issue is likely bound for the Supreme Court, setting up what is arguably the most consequential First Amendment legal case in a half-century.
Institute for Free Speech Chairman and Founder Brad Smith and George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin join us to debate the ruling and the future of free speech on the internet.
Does the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protect a private social media company’s right to moderate content on its platform?
A new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says it does not, and that a Texas law preventing viewpoint discrimination on social media platforms is constitutional.
The issue is likely bound for the Supreme Court, setting up what is arguably the most consequential First Amendment legal case in a half-century.
Institute for Free Speech Chairman and Founder Brad Smith and George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin join us to debate the ruling and the future of free speech on the internet.
Show notes:
- Texas social media law, HB 20
- 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in NetChoice v. Paxton
- 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in NetChoice v. Attorney General, State of Florida
- Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996
- Pruneyard Shopping Center et al v. Robins et al. (1980)
- Masterpiece Cakeshop, LTD. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
- “Governor Newsom Signs Nation-Leading Social Media Transparency Measure”
- Packingham v. North Carolina (2017)
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So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Ep. 171 Nature Human Misbehavior
Sep 29, 2022
“Should academic journals appoint themselves social justice gatekeepers?”
That is the question journalist and author Jonathan Rauch asks in responding to new ethics guidance from the academic journal Nature Human Behaviour. The journal introduces the guidance by ominously noting that “although academic freedom is fundamental, it is not unbounded.” It then goes on to discuss ways it will restrict publishing research that allegedly harms, stigmatizes, or otherwise “undermines the dignity or rights of specific groups” — even inadvertently.
Rauch joins the show, along with University of Southern California professor Anna Krylov.
“Should academic journals appoint themselves social justice gatekeepers?”
That is the question journalist and author Jonathan Rauch asks in responding to new ethics guidance from the academic journal Nature Human Behaviour. The journal introduces the guidance by ominously noting that “although academic freedom is fundamental, it is not unbounded.” It then goes on to discuss ways it will restrict publishing research that allegedly harms, stigmatizes, or otherwise “undermines the dignity or rights of specific groups” — even inadvertently.
Rauch joins the show, along with University of Southern California professor Anna Krylov.
Show notes:
- “Science must respect the dignity and rights of all humans” by Nature Human Behaviour (editorial announcing ethics guidelines)
- “Nature Human Misbehavior: politicized science is neither science nor progress” by Jonathan Rauch
- “The Peril of Politicizing Science” by Anna l. Krylov
- “The Doctrine of Academic Freedom” by Sandra Y.L. Korn (article advocating for “academic justice” in lieu of academic freedom)
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So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Ep. 170 Free speech and the American Founding
Sep 15, 2022
This Saturday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day. It was on this day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed America’s Constitution. And while the First Amendment was not ratified until 1791, discussions over the role of free speech and expression in a democratic society were alive long before then.
This Saturday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day. It was on this day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed America’s Constitution. And while the First Amendment was not ratified until 1791, discussions over the role of free speech and expression in a democratic society were alive long before then.
Pepperdine University professor and author Gordon Lloyd joins the show this week to explore how the American conception of free speech came to be, from the colonial era to the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
Drawing from over 40 years of research, Lloyd discusses examples of free speech and expression during the founding, ranging from 1641, when the Massachusetts Body of Liberties — the earliest known protection of free speech in the colonies — was published; to 1776, when free speech aided the decision to declare independence from Great Britain; to the late 1780s, when federalist and anti-federalist publications sparked, in Lloyd’s words, “the greatest pamphlet war the world has ever seen.”
Show notes:
- Transcript
- The Bill of Rights Online Exhibit on AmericanFounding.org
- “The Essential Bill of Rights: Original Arguments and Fundamental Documents” edited by Gordon Lloyd and Margie Lloyd
- The Federalist Papers by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and edited by George W. Carey and James McClellan
- “The Essential Antifederalists” edited by William B. Allen and Gordon Lloyd
- “Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787” by James Madison and edited by Gordon Lloyd
- “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media” by Jacob Mchangama
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So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Ep. 169 The Art of Insubordination
Sep 01, 2022
What can Charles Darwin teach us about dissent? What do the professional basketball careers of Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry tell us about conventional wisdom?
On today’s show, George Mason University Professor Todd Kashdan helps us understand the value of principled dissent: what it is, how to do it, and the pitfalls to avoid. He is the author of “The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively.”
What can Charles Darwin teach us about dissent? What do the professional basketball careers of Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry tell us about conventional wisdom?
On today’s show, George Mason University Professor Todd Kashdan helps us understand the value of principled dissent: what it is, how to do it, and the pitfalls to avoid. He is the author of “The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively.”
Show notes:
- Transcript
- Todd’s “Provoked” newsletter: “Enjoy new psychological angles on conventional practices.”
- Study: “Sexual Healing: Daily Diary Investigation of the Benefits of Intimate and Pleasurable Sexual Activity in Socially Anxious Adults”
- Study: “Is Martin Luther King or Malcolm X the more acceptable face of protest? High-status groups’ reactions to low-status groups’ collective action”
- “Brief, face-to-face canvassing reduces transgender prejudice, study says”
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So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Ep. 168 Assassin’s veto comes for Rushdie
Aug 17, 2022
Last week, a would-be assassin attacked Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses,” in an apparent attempt to carry out the infamous fatwa placed on Rushdie’s life. Fortunately, Rushdie survived the attack. Vice News Tonight correspondent and “The Fifth Column” podcast co-host Michael Moynihan joins the show to discuss what happened, what it means for free speech, and the history of “The Satanic Verses” controversy.
Last week, a would-be assassin attacked Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses,” in an apparent attempt to carry out the infamous fatwa placed on Rushdie’s life. Fortunately, Rushdie survived the attack. Vice News Tonight correspondent and “The Fifth Column” podcast co-host Michael Moynihan joins the show to discuss what happened, what it means for free speech, and the history of “The Satanic Verses” controversy.
Show notes:
- Transcript
- Lara Bazelon’s keynote address at FIRE’s 2022 Student Network Conference
- “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy” by Emily Bazelon
- “From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Aftermath” by Kenan Malik
- Kenan Malik BBC Newsnight clip arguing that “The Satanic Verses” “wouldn’t even be written today, let alone published.”
- “The Tyranny of Silence” by Flemming Rose
- “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought” by Jonathan Rauch
- “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media” by Jacob Mchangama
- “Private Opinion in America,” a national quantitative survey from Populace Insights that reveals Americans’ private opinions about sensitive topics
- “The Jewel of Medina: A Novel” by Sherry Jones
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