There are no federal speech police, but law enforcement is not the only way that executive officials and agencies take aim at disfavored speech and speakers. In recent months, officials have pressed social-media companies to ban those accused of spreading Covid or election-related “misinformation,” announced a task force to investigate parents speaking out at local school-board meetings, and looked on as financial service providers dropped controversial clients their regulators might find presented “reputational risk.” Meanwhile, agencies increasingly wield broadly-worded anti-discrimination laws to encourage institutions and businesses to police speech by students, faculty, and employees. Is officials’ use of “soft power” over speech a new phenomenon, or is it merely more visible in the age of social media and regulatory oversight? And what role should the First Amendment play when officials stop short of punishing speech?
Featuring:

Prof. Enrique Armijo, Professor of Law, Elon University School of Law
Mr. Mark Chenoweth, President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Mr. Joe Cohn, Legislative and Policy Director, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
Mr. Michael Ellis, General Counsel, Rumble
Moderator: Hon. Britt C. Grant, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit