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We have been a leading voice on explaining how government over-regulation of online speech threatens free expression, free association, and the open Internet. We’ve explained how increased, and more arbitrary regulation could chill free speech and increase the ability of politicians to manipulate the media, both old and new.
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Opinion Piece
California’s Social Media Bill Flies In The Face Of The First Amendment
California has officially joined the growing list of states attempting to regulate how social media companies run their platforms. The state’s proposed legislation, however, faces a major legal obstacle: the Constitution. California lawmakers are marching ahead with AB 2408, the Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act. On June 28, the Judiciary Committee unanimously ...
Andy Jung
July 19, 2022
Opinion Piece
The Quest for a Better Online “Community”
Remember Justine Sacco? In December 2013, while sitting in Heathrow Airport, she tweeted: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” She had ...
Corbin K. Barthold
May 16, 2022
Opinion Piece
Musk’s Free Speech Crusade
For Elon Musk, coming up with $44 billion was the easy part. What comes next, less so. To the delight of many conservatives, Musk has purchased Twitter and announced that ...
Corbin K. Barthold
April 26, 2022
Opinion Piece
Musk Makes the Mask Slip
Though he has just offered to buy Twitter for around $40 billion, it’s far from clear that Elon Musk knows how to run a social media platform. Speaking about his bid at ...
Corbin K. Barthold
April 17, 2022
Tech Policy Podcast
#322: Noah Phillips
FTC Commissioner
Commissioner Noah Phillips joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion about the Federal Trade Commission. ...
June 2, 2022
Latest Articles
Appearance
Broadband Breakfast on April 6, 2022 — Censorship by a Country, or Censorship by a Tech Platform?
How different is the Great Firewall of China (and now Russia) from being deplatformed by Big Tech? See “Panelists Urge Government Resist Getting Involved in Content Moderation,” Broadband Breakfast, April 14, 2022 Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. You can also PARTICIPATE in the current Broadband Breakfast Live Online event and REGISTER HERE. Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 12 Noon ET — Censorship by a Country, or Censorship ...
Berin Szóka
April 6, 2022
Opinion Piece
Government Is Not Conservatives’ Social Media Friend
At this point, Republicans take it for granted that “Big Tech censorship” is a profound threat to free speech. It’s not just that Facebook and Twitter disfavor conservatives, the thinking runs; it’s that they are despots wielding state-like control over the pathways of communication. The large social media websites’ clout is vastly overstated. Platforms that host heterodox views, such as Substack and Rumble, are thriving. Investors (some more serious than others) are backing efforts ...
Corbin K. Barthold
December 19, 2021
Opinion Piece
Justice Thomas’s Misguided Concurrence on Platform Regulation
After months of delay, on April 5 the Supreme Court finally granted certiorari and ruled in Biden v. Knight—the case, renamed after President Biden took office, concerning whether the First Amendment prevented then-President Trump from blocking his critics on Twitter. The justices vacated the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and instructed the lower court to dismiss the case as moot. That could have been that. But Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurrence in the ...
Berin Szóka and Corbin K. Barthold
April 14, 2021
Opinion Piece
Why we need Section 230 more than ever
The Republican platform, recycled from 2016, promises “free-market approaches to free speech unregulated by government.” Yet now many Republicans want the government to “do something” about “political censorship” by private tech companies. Trumpists have this whole “free speech” thing exactly backwards: The First Amendment protects Twitter’s right to ban Trump just as protects newspapers’ right to reject op-eds, letters to the editor or ads. Nor will the First Amendment allow ...
Berin Szóka
January 15, 2021
White Paper
Section 230: An Introduction for Antitrust & Consumer Protection Practitioners
Introduction Almost every site and service you use on the Internet involves content created by someone other than the operator. Most obviously, social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube rely on their users to create content. But so do Wikipedia and reviews sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor. The vast majority of news and commentary websites allow users to post comments on each article. Email, messaging services, and video chat all empower users to communicate with each other. ...
Berin Szóka and Ashkhen Kazaryan
November 11, 2020
Article
FEC Should Encourage User-Friendly Political Ad Disclosures
WASHINGTON D.C. — On Friday, TechFreedom filed comments with the Federal Election Commission regarding what kind of labeling the Commission should require for online political ads. In March, the FEC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on disclosure requirements for online political advertisements. For small ads, TechFreedom supports a proposal to allow advertisers to include an indicator that informs users that they’re viewing a political ad and provides ...
May 31, 2018
Article
An Internet ‘Fairness Doctrine’ Would Stifle Free Speech, Protect Tech Giants
WASHINGTON D.C. — Tomorrow morning, TechFreedom President Berin Szóka will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the filtering practices of social media platforms. In recent congressional hearings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accused Facebook of suppressing conservative speech, and argued that the site should lose its immunity for user-generated content under Section 230 because its content moderation practices are not politically “neutral.” ...
Berin Szóka
April 15, 2018
Article
Well-Intentioned ‘Honest Ads’ Bill Raises Serious Free Speech Concerns
WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) held a press conference announcing introduction of the Honest Ads Act. Co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the bill would would extend the FEC and FCC’s disclosure rules for broadcasters and other media to online ads, requiring online platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter to retain digital copies of political ads as well as information about whom they were targeted to, when they ran, their ...