The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Jeff Kosseff: Why False Speech Deserves First Amendment Protections


Listen Later

Over the past decade, no legal scholar has pushed arguments for free speech as far or as influentially as today's guest: Jeff Kosseff, a former journalist who now teaches cybersecurity law at the U.S. Naval Academy. In previous books, he defended Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet and stood up for anonymous speech in The United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online Speech.

His new book is his boldest yet. It's called Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation and I liked it so much that I blurbed it, calling it "a smart, wry, deeply researched and utterly convincing defense of legal protections for 'misinformation' in an age when we are less likely to agree on basic facts than ever before."

We talk about why "misinformation"—however defined—should be legally protected, how the boundaries between private companies and government are getting blurrier and blurrier, and why so many journalists are calling for limits on the First Amendment.

Today's sponsors:

  • DonorsTrust. DonorsTrust is the oldest and largest donor-advised fund made for people who live out with their charitable giving the idea of free minds and free markets. If you don't know about donor-advised funds, you should, especially here at the end of the year. A fund gives you a simple, tax-advantaged way to support the charitable causes you care about. There are lots of providers of donor-advised funds, but DonorsTrust is the one that understands you the best. DonorsTrust is a great friend of Reason and all other nonprofit groups like it. Go find out yourself at donorstrust.org/nick. Watch a short video on how it works and request information to get started.
  • The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview with Nick GillespieGo here to listen to past Speakeasy events and go here to learn about upcoming ones, including one on Tuesday, December 12 with Stanford historian Jennifer Burns, whose new book is The Last Conservative, a highly praised biography of Milton Friedman.
  • The post Jeff Kosseff: Why False Speech Deserves First Amendment Protections appeared first on Reason.com.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    The Reason Interview With Nick GillespieBy The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    707 ratings


    More shows like The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

    View all
    Cato Podcast by Cato Institute

    Cato Podcast

    959 Listeners

    The Glenn Show by Glenn Loury

    The Glenn Show

    2,255 Listeners

    The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table by Comedy Cellar Network

    The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table

    27 Listeners

    The Fifth Column by Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch

    The Fifth Column

    2,847 Listeners

    The Reason Roundtable by The Reason Roundtable

    The Reason Roundtable

    1,502 Listeners

    The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg by The Dispatch

    The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

    6,464 Listeners

    The Political Orphanage by Andrew Heaton

    The Political Orphanage

    972 Listeners

    Quillette Podcast by Quillette

    Quillette Podcast

    806 Listeners

    The Soho Forum Debates by The Soho Forum Debates

    The Soho Forum Debates

    192 Listeners

    Blocked and Reported by Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal

    Blocked and Reported

    3,764 Listeners

    The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan by Andrew Sullivan

    The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan

    819 Listeners

    Honestly with Bari Weiss by The Free Press

    Honestly with Bari Weiss

    8,721 Listeners

    The Reason Rundown With Peter Suderman by The Reason Rundown With Peter Suderman

    The Reason Rundown With Peter Suderman

    59 Listeners

    Why We Can't Have Nice Things by Why We Can't Have Nice Things

    Why We Can't Have Nice Things

    130 Listeners

    The Best of Reason Magazine by The Best of Reason Magazine

    The Best of Reason Magazine

    17 Listeners

    Conversations With Coleman by The Free Press

    Conversations With Coleman

    377 Listeners

    Just Asking Questions by Reason

    Just Asking Questions

    100 Listeners

    Breaking History by The Free Press

    Breaking History

    665 Listeners

    The Moynihan Report by 2WAY

    The Moynihan Report

    115 Listeners