Who’s Afraid of Online Speech?
Join Future Tense on Tuesday, Jan. 30, from 12:00–2:20 p.m. at New America as they assess current fears about online speech and the promise and peril of proposals to address to them.
Free speech has long been a cornerstone of American democracy, but the ubiquity and intimacy of online content is now challenging our society’s once-unshakable belief in the appeal of unfettered speech. In this age of hacks, trolls, fake news, and digital hate speech, lawmakers, citizens, and the tech companies that control our access to the Internet and social media are rethinking how much we should police online content for veracity and for its potential to do harm.
Does the triumph of social media platforms mean we should revisit the protections given to online speech at the turn of the Internet Age? What role should the government play in protecting consumers from disinformation and harassment? Should formidable gatekeepers like Facebook and Google now exercise the type of editorial judgment we expect from The New York Times and Washington Post?
Lunch will be provided.
Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.
Agenda:
12:00-12:10PM: OPENING REMARKS
April Glaser, @aprilaser
Staff writer, Slate
12:10-12:50PM: REGULATING POLITICAL SPEECH IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL DISINFORMATION
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), @amyklobuchar
Chair, Senate Democratic Steering Committee
Ranking Member, Rules Committee
Dan Gillmor, @dangillmor
Director and co-founder, News Co/Lab at Arizona State University
Professor of Practice, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University
Author, Mediactive and We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People
Moderator:
Cecilia Kang, @ceciliakang
National Technology Correspondent, The New York Times
12:50-1:30PM: DOES THE INTERNET REQUIRE US TO RETHINK FREE SPEECH?
Rep. Ted W. Lieu (D-Calif.), @reptedlieu
Member, House Committees on the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs
Jennifer Daskal, @jendaskal
Associate Professor of Law, Washington College of Law at American University
Kate Klonick, @klonick
Future Tense fellow, New America
PhD Candidate, Yale Law School
Resident fellow, Information Society Project at Yale Law School
Moderator:
Cecilia Kang, @ceciliakang
National Technology Correspondent, The New York Times
1:30-2:20PM: HOW CAN PLATFORMS FIX ONLINE SPEECH?
Andrew McLaughlin, @McAndrew
Co-founder and partner, Higher Ground Labs
Executive Director of the Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale
Future Tense fellow, New America
Caroline Sinders, @carolinesinders
Product Analyst, Wikimedia Foundation
Whitney Phillips, @wphillips49
Assistant Professor of Literary Studies and Writing, Mercer University
Author, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Co-author, The Ambivalent Internet
Dipayan Ghosh, @ghoshd7
Public Interest Technology fellow, New America
Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
Former Technology & Economic Policy Advisor, The White House
Former Privacy & Public Policy Advisor, Facebook
Moderator:
April Glaser, @aprilaser
Staff writer, Slate
New America, 740 15th St NW #900, Washington, DC 20005
