By Natalie Alkiviadou Introduction Article 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), commonly referred to as the ‘abuse clause,’ provides that: “Nothing in [the] Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the […]
By Jacob Mchangama In January 2015, Islamic terrorists murdered 12 people at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for depicting the Prophet Muhammad. When PEN America honored the magazine with its Freedom of Expression Courage Award that same year, the organization received backlash from prominent members. Then-PEN president Andrew Solomon stood by the decision, saying that the controversy was a reminder that […]
By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt “When we started this work, we were curious. Now, we have real concerns.” The CEO of the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), the British antitrust regulator, was referring to the competition risks her team has identified in the foundation models industry. Foundation models are a type of generative AI. Popular models include OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s […]
By Jacob Mchangama Free speech pessimism is on the rise among America’s elites. “Free Speech Is Killing Us,” read a 2019 op-ed in The New York Times. Recently, an article in The New York Times Magazine concluded, “It’s time to ask whether the American way of protecting free speech is actually keeping us free.” George Washington University Law […]
By J.D. Tuccille You have to respect anybody willing to tell powerful government officials to get stuffed, and tech titan Elon Musk is pretty good at doing exactly that. While sometimes thin-skinned himself and not always consistent in his free speech principles, the head of social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is the best of […]
By Jacob Mchangama and Jordi Calvet-Bademunt Google recently made headlines globally because its chatbot Gemini generated images of people of color instead of white people in historical settings that featured white people. Adobe Firefly’s image creation tool saw similar issues. This led some commentators to complain that AI had gone “woke.” Others suggested these issues resulted from faulty efforts […]
By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt Overview: The Digital Services Act (DSA), Europe’s online safety rulebook, finally became applicable to all companies on February 17, 2024. Until then, it only applied to the so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs). February 17th was also the date EU Member States were required to designate […]
By Susanna Granieri The rise of generative artificial intelligence has led to questions about its First Amendment implications — like its use by journalists or its application in defamation law — but it remains unclear how the nation’s courts will consider its potential impacts on the marketplace of ideas. The technology itself does not have rights, […]
By Jacob Mchangama It is undeniable that the proliferation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on college campuses and in the workplace has contributed to a censorious atmosphere throughout U.S. culture. Some employees fear reprisal for speaking about certain issues in the office while college faculty and guest speakers have been shouted down, condemned, disinvited, or […]
By Jacob Mchangama 2024 is a pivotal year for the future of global democracy, as some two billion—about half the adult population of the globe—will have the chance to vote. Even though more people will cast a ballot in 2024 than any previous year, the prevailing mood seems more fearful than celebratory. In the words of […]