Washington Examiner: Bondi Faces Fresh Conservative Backlash Over ‘Hate Speech’ Comments

By Naomi Lim  Jacob Mchangama, executive director of the Future of Free Speech, told the Washington Examiner he “completely” understood why “people are repulsed” by those celebrating Kirk’s death, but underscored that “there’s a difference between moral condemnation and criminal persecution.” “What I think is particularly ironic is that this administration has been, and I […]

Medianama: Counterspeech — Not Censorship — Is The Best Way to Combat Harmful Speech

By Natalie Alkiviadou As you roll out of bed, enjoy your morning coffee, and scroll through the comment sections on social media’s biggest stories, you are confronted with the reality that a lot of false information and bigotry is being posted online.  Although this feeling resonates with many people — including global leaders who believe […]

Persuasion: Don’t Resort to Censorship to Fight Populism

By Jacob Mchangama Last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went on X to announce the immediate revocation of the visa of Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, as well as “his allies on the court [and] their immediate family members.” What drove Rubio to take such a drastic step against leading members of the […]

Tech Policy Press: The AI Election Panic: How Fear-Driven Policies Could Limit Free Expression

By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt As the US and EU shape their AI frameworks, they should consider lessons from recent experiences. The fear-driven narrative surrounding AI and the most recent elections, where AI-created content had limited impact, should caution policymakers against rushing ahead on laws that may unintentionally undermine democratic values. Policymakers crafting the forthcoming US Action […]

The Kathmandu Post: UNESCO Slams Social Media Bill for Overreach, Ambiguity

As the debate over Nepal’s Social Network Bill-2081 intensifies, UNESCO has weighed in with its official review, published on Monday. The initiative is part of UNESCO’s ongoing partnership with the federal parliament of Nepal to enhance the legal framework for media and digital platforms. According to UNESCO Nepal office, the official review was shared with National […]

Persuasion: Europe Has a Free Speech Problem

By Jacob Mchangama Last week, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance shocked an A-list group of European political and military leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany with a blunt message: Europe has gone too far in restricting speech. According to Vance, the main threat against European security does not emanate from Russia or China, but […]

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 […]