Op-eds etc.
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 […]
By Jacob Mchangama Democracy, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warns, is on the brink. The culprit? A wave of “disinformation powered by generative AI,” poised to “pollute our information ecosystems like never before.” With the 2024 election looming, Newsom and California Democrats argue that artificial intelligence-generated content threatens to warp public perception. In response, the Golden State has swiftly enacted two bold […]
By Jacob Mchangama “The Left started it.” That was the common retort from right-wing X accounts like Libs of TikTok and their supporters, who attempted and often succeeded at getting people fired for making tasteless social media posts about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump back in July. Most of their victims weren’t public figures […]
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 […]
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 […]
By Jacob Mchangama and John G. Geer Americans’ views on free speech change directions every so often. One of those times was during the protests at U.S. universities about the Israel-Hamas war. As scholars of free speech and public opinion, we set out to find out what happened and why. The Supreme Court itself, as […]
By Jacob Mchangama A recent spate of neo-Nazi demonstrations in Nashville has heightened tensions in an already polarized political environment. Fortunately, there has been bipartisan condemnation of these vile and obscene efforts to promote hatred in our community. However, some Tennessee public officials want to go beyond condemnation, claiming that “hate speech is not free […]
By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt Overview: The European Commission issued the first-of-its-kind preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act (DSA). X was accused of employing a deceptive user interface, failing to adhere to advertising transparency requirements, and failing to provide researchers with adequate access to data. X now has the opportunity to respond to these preliminary findings. […]
By Jordi Calvet-Bademunt Last Friday, the European Commission shared with X its preliminary view that it is breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), Europe’s online safety rulebook. Following the announcement, some media were quick to say that the Commission had charged “Elon Musk’s X for letting disinfo run wild.” In a conspiratorial tone, Elon Musk […]
By Natalie Alkiviadou A Proposal to Criminalize Fake News in Cyprus In Cyprus, a new legislative proposal introduces a prison sentence of up to five years on those spreading fake news. I argue that criminally punishing fake news is absolutely horrifying for free speech, for media pluralism, and for democracy. Criminalizing fake news is, to say […]