FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW REPORT: AI LAWS AND CHATBOTS FACE A GLOBAL FREE SPEECH TEST Study ranks countries’ AI policies and leading chatbots by how they handle lawful but controversial speech NASHVILLE, Tenn. — October 17, 2025 — Does your chatbot respond to prompts about controversial topics — or dodge them? That’s one of the […]
By Joan Barata When we talk about minors and media and communication platforms—and here we can include both traditional media such as radio and television, and even cinema, theater, social networks, messaging systems, and video-sharing platforms—the general tendency, from a political and legal perspective, is to adopt a defensive stance or one of protecting the […]
Photo Credit: Senado Federal By Alexander Barroso The latest ruling by Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has reignited a heated debate about the limits of freedom of expression and the role of justice in Brazilian democracy. On the 21st, Moraes ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro is prohibited from giving […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NASHVILLE, Tenn. — July 14, 2025 — A sweeping new rule proposed by the Missouri Attorney General would turn state regulators into online speech overseers, warns The Future of Free Speech in a public comment submitted Monday. The rule, labeled as a consumer protection measure, in fact mandates ideological balance in content […]
Photo Credit: Palácio do Planalto By Mario Sabino If there were a serious discussion about freedom of expression here, it would be inevitable to look at the book Free Speech: a History from Socrates to Social Media , by Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama, the most notorious defender of freedom of expression on the international stage. […]
By Joan Barata The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court ( STF ) formed a majority to substantially change Article 19 of the Internet Civil Rights Framework — a rule that defines the responsibility of platforms for user content in the absence of a court order. The decision reflects growing pressure from government officials for laws that would force platforms to […]
By Gabby Miller — By the numbers: The Future of Free Speech, an independent think tank at Vanderbilt University, kicked off its comments arguing that conservative voices — including accounts, influencers and news sources — outperform on social media platforms. “From engagement metrics on Facebook to favorable algorithmic treatment on X (formerly Twitter) … the […]
By Jacob Sullum [ . . . ] The FTC’s authority under Section 5 “does not, and constitutionally cannot, extend to penalizing social media platforms for how they choose to moderate user content,” Ashkhen Kazaryan, a senior legal fellow at the Future of Free Speech, argues in a comment that the organization submitted on Tuesday. “Platforms’ content […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NASHVILLE, Tenn. — May 20, 2025 — In a public comment submitted today to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The Future of Free Speech cautioned against efforts to regulate content moderation practices on technology platforms. The public comment comes amid an FTC inquiry into “tech censorship.” The nonpartisan think tank located at […]
By Glen Weyl, Audrey Tang and Jacob Mchangama [ . . . ] We believe, therefore, that it’s time to relearn some of the commission’s lessons and adapt them to our pluralistic, digital age. With a deeply polarizing U.S. election fresh in our minds, the need to redesign platforms that bridge divides has never been more urgent. In a paper this […]