Photo by Gage Skidmore In memory of David Boaz (Vanderbilt Class of 1975), former Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute, The Future of Free Speech is honored to receive a generous gift that will further its mission to promote and protect free expression worldwide. Mr. Boaz, author of The Libertarian Mind, was a strong […]
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 Ashkhen Kazaryan Key Takeaways The First Amendment protects people’s, corporations’ and other legal entities’ free speech rights from government restriction, but no court has found that AI programs themselves have the same free speech rights. AI-generated content is generally afforded the same First Amendment protections as content created by people or corporations and other […]
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 […]
Jacob Mchangama was a young lawyer and blogger in 2005 when his country, Denmark, was thrust into the global spotlight after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad—a practice widely considered taboo among many Muslims. Mchangama’s fascination with free speech began as a worldwide conversation erupted about a complicated topic made even […]
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 Ashkhen Kazaryan A new Tennessee law with the unassuming acronym “PEACE” might appear, on the surface, to be a mundane update to the state’s criminal code. But tucked into the legislation’s language is a clear and deliberate threat to the First Amendment freedoms of Tennesseans. On Friday, Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 30, the Protecting […]
By Jacob Mchangama and Ashkhen Kazaryan A new bill in Congress threatens to dictate what Americans can read, watch and say online. On May 8, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., introduced the “Interstate Obscenity Definition Act” (IODA) — a recycled attempt to ban online pornography nationwide. While concerns about pornography, including moral and religious ones, […]
Originally published in The Conversation. By Jacob Mchangama For much of the 20th century, young Americans were seen as free speech’s fiercest defenders. But now, young Americans are growing more skeptical of free speech. According to a March 2025 report by The Future of Free Speech, a nonpartisan think tank where I am executive director, support […]
By Elizabeth Nolan Brown Who could possibly oppose legislation to get tough on AI-generated revenge porn? For one, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, one of two nays in Monday’s House vote on the TAKE IT DOWN Act. For another, a whole bunch of civil liberties advocates, including folks with groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic […]