CELE: Threatening Dynamics on Internet Governance: The Case of Europe and The Digital Services Act (DSA)

By Joan Barata  As part of their research on the topic, CELE has characterized a threat of regulation as “any kind of public or private utterance or action by public officials who hold regulatory power over others in which they express, suggest, or imply, clearly or veiledly, their desire to see their subject’s conduct move […]

Tech Policy Press: Safeguarding Freedom of Expression in the AI Era

By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt  The European Union (EU) adopted the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act in June 2024. Hailed as “the world’s first comprehensive AI law,” the AI Act includes a set of obligations for high-impact general-purpose AI models, which will start applying next year. Models are presumed to have a “high impact” when they have a certain amount of computation power. According […]

The Future of Free Speech Joins The Global Network Initiative (GNI)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NASHVILLE, Tenn. October 31, 2024 — Today, The Future of Free Speech is excited to announce its membership in the Global Network Initiative (GNI), joining an influential community of organizations dedicated to advancing free expression and privacy in the digital space. The Global Network Initiative sets a global standard for responsible company […]

Human Rights Here: Platform Liability, Hate Speech, and the Fundamental Right to Free Speech

By Natalie Alkiviadou  Introduction The rise of social media has fundamentally altered the landscape of information dissemination, bypassing traditional editorial and governmental controls. This has allowed for rapid global information sharing but has also raised concerns about the influence of social media platforms, even in democratic societies. Legislative responses, such as Germany’s Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) […]

International Press Institute: Media Freedom and Pluralism in The Republic of Cyprus: An Overview

By Natalie Alkiviadou  Introduction  The piece gives an overview of the situation of media freedom and pluralism in the Republic of Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus has de jure sovereignty over the entirety of the island. In practice, however, its governance is confined to the southern region while the northern part of the island is administered by the self-proclaimed […]

Sacramento Bee: Judge Temporarily Blocks New California Election Deepfake Law, Citing First Amendment

By Gillian Brassil California’s new law that allows people to sue over election deepfakes was temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The judge, in granting a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, wrote that the law likely violates the First Amendment given its broad scope, even if digitally-altered media such as by artificial intelligence poses “significant” risks. […]

Ars Technica: Elon Musk Claims Victory after Judge Blocks Calif. Deepfake Law

By Ashley Belanger Upholding the First Amendment, a senior US district judge has blocked California’s deepfakes law, AB 2839, which was designed to stop deceptive AI-generated content from impacting election outcomes. [ . . . ] A First Amendment scholar and senior fellow with the non-partisan think tank The Future of Free Speech, Jeff Kosseff praised […]

Techopedia: 50% of U.S. States Enact Deepfake Laws To Protect 2024 Elections

By Ray Fernandez 19 U.S. states have enacted laws regulating the use of generative AI in election communications, and seven more are considering bills. With no federal mandate, more than half of American states have enacted or are exploring laws designed to criminalize the creation and distribution of deepfakes in election-related content. [….] Deepfake laws […]

UnHerd: Meta Outshines Musk on Free Speech with ‘From the River to the Sea’ Decision

By Jacob Mchangama X is the bastion of free speech on the Internet. At least that’s what Elon Musk and his raucous supporters would like you to believe any time one dares to point out his hypocritical, arbitrary, and often self-serving content moderation actions after taking over the social media platform. This week’s decision from […]