ABC: Jacob Mchangama, freedom of expression and AI

By César Antonio Molina In 1975, the Helsinki Final Act was signed . Its main purpose was to ease Cold War tensions. The Soviets proposed the inviolability of borders, as well as non-interference in internal affairs. The West reiterated its commitment to human rights and freedoms of thought, conscience, opinion, expression, religion, ideas, and beliefs. Solzhenitsyn said […]

Reason: How a Bill Banning AI Companions for Kids Could Usher in Widespread ID Checks Online

By Elizabeth Nolan Brown Sen. Josh Hawley’s Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act advanced out of the Senate Judiciary committee last week. “A Trojan horse for universal online ID checks,” is how Jibran Ludwig of Fight for the Future described it. The bill would require anyone using an AI chatbot to provide proof of […]

The Hill: Senate Panel Advances Bill to Curb AI Chatbot ‘Companions’ for Kids

By Miranda Nazzaro The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced a bill Thursday to ban minors from artificial intelligence companions and prevent AI chatbots from exposing children to sexual or harmful content. The Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act, cosponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), would prohibit AI companions […]

Swiss Info: Swiss Government Minister Files Digital Abuse Complaint Against AI Chatbot Grok

By Benjamin Von Wyl Switzerland’s finance minister, Karin Keller-Sutter, has lodged a formal complaint over online abuse linked to the Grok AI chatbot. It is a bold signal against digital abuse and marks a clear break from the US understanding of free speech. Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence model Grok has courted controversy in recent months. […]

GNET: AI-led Content Moderation Tools: Are They The Answer To Combatting Online Extremism in Canada?

By Arunita Das and Cole Hennig | Global Network on Extremism & Technology How can we incentivise social media companies to implement AI tools for content moderation? With routine auditing and updating, we can continue to build precise AI-led tools to complement content moderation that targets extremism. The next challenge, however, is to encourage social […]

Medill On The Hill: As Section 230 Turns 30, AI Emerges As New Fault Line in Online Speech Debate

By Andre Hiroki [ . . . ] Panelists focused on whether AI-generated outputs should be considered speech under existing legal frameworks, and what that means for Section 230 liability. Miers argued that a blanket rule denying Section 230 protection to AI systems could have consequences beyond chatbots, potentially affecting long-standing online practices such as […]

Tallahassee Democrat: First Amendment Fights over AI, Campus Speech Loom in 2026

By Stephany Matat Age verification, artificial intelligence, and academic freedom dominated First Amendment debates in 2025. As the calendar turns to 2026, constitutional scholars say those disputes are poised to intensify – and to produce consequential legal outcomes. [ . . . ] The Supreme Court is expected to continue to draw lines between the […]

Persuasion: Don’t Jawbone AI Companies

How to fight back against government censorship of chatbots. By Jacob Mchangama “Well, then you need to shut it down.” That was Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn’s reaction when a Google executive explained during a recent Senate hearing that large language models (LLMs) sometimes “hallucinate” and generate false information. The Tennessee senator was outraged that Google’s […]

Lawfare: China’s AI Governance Ambitions and Their Implications for Free Expression

China is exporting its AI governance model; democracies must act now or risk letting others define the future of speech. By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt and Jacob Mchangama “China is going to win the AI race,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warned recently. In a follow-up statement released shortly after making that bold proclamation, Huang softened his tone, […]

The Future of Free Speech Hosts Expert Roundtable on Generative AI and Free Expression at Örebro University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ÖREBRO, Sweden — December 16, 2025 — As generative AI becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, it is paramount that it protects the ability to speak, question, and share freely. Otherwise, it risks restricted or biased outputs corroding the public discourse on which democracy relies. On December 1, 2025, The Future of […]