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

Posted on by Natalie Alkiviadou in Digital Regulation, Global Free Speech, Hate Speech, News, Online Content Moderation, Our Perspectives

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

Posted on by Natalie Alkiviadou in Digital Regulation, Disinformation, Global Free Speech, News, Our Perspectives, Press Freedom

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

Posted on by Jeff Kosseff in AI, Digital Regulation, Disinformation, First Amendment, In the news, News, Online Content Moderation

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

Posted on by Jeff Kosseff in AI, Culture, Digital Regulation, Disinformation, First Amendment, In the news, News, Online Content Moderation

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

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in AI, Digital Regulation, Disinformation, First Amendment, In the news, News, Online Content Moderation

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

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Culture, Digital Regulation, Global Free Speech, Online Content Moderation, Our Perspectives

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 […]

Reason: The Soft Totalitarianism of the Political Class

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Digital Regulation, Global Free Speech, In the news, News

By J.D. Tuccille It’s no secret that governments around the world are chiseling away at people’s liberties. Rights advocates document a nearly two decade decline in freedom. Civil liberties activists warn of a worldwide free speech recession. And while American restrictions on government power hold the line better than pale equivalents elsewhere, the political class seems determined […]

Tech Policy Press: New United Nations Cybercrime Convention Sets Unprecedented International Anti-Human Rights Standard

Posted on by Joan Barata in Digital Regulation, Global Free Speech, News, Online Content Moderation, Our Perspectives

By Joan Barata After two years of intense negotiations, the new United Nations (UN) Convention on “Strengthening international cooperation for combating certain crimes committed by means of information and communications technology systems and for the sharing of evidence in electronic form of serious crimes” (also known as the Cybercrime Convention) was adopted by consensus by […]

Mother Jones: Trump Is Threatening to Jail Political Enemies. He’s Not Alone.

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Culture, Digital Regulation, Free Speech Book, Free Speech History, In the news, News, Press Freedom

By Jeremy Schulman In December, Trump adviser Kash Patel set off alarm bells when he said that if the former president returns to the Oval Office, his new administration might prosecute media figures and others “who lied about American citizens.” “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media,” Patel told Steve […]

Reason: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s Arrest Is Part of a Global War on Free Speech

Posted on by Jacob Mchangama in Digital Regulation, Global Free Speech, In the news, News, Online Content Moderation

By J.D. Tuccille It’s appropriate that, days after the French government arrested Pavel Durov, CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, for failing to monitor and restrict communications as demanded by officials in Paris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that his company, which owns Facebook, was subjected to censorship pressures by U.S. officials. Durov’s arrest, […]