SpeechMatters

TikTok is banned (and then not). Meta eliminates fact-checking. Policy-makers debate how to moderate content and provide a safe online experience. So much is happening in the world of online speech, which is why we invited John Perrino, Senior Policy and Advocacy Expert at Internet Society to join the pod. He will help clarify what’s at stake, why it matters and how using technology in moderation can improve our lives.

Episode Resources:

• The Global Impact of a US TikTok Ban - Internet Society 
• Using 'safety by design' to address online harms 
• An overdue idea for making the internet safer just got the funding it needs
• Push for Independent Research in Tech Accountability Legislation

2025 is hardly underway, and it’s already clear that the new year and new administration will spell changes for how the federal government regulates higher education. Joining us to discuss  the demise of the Chevron doctrine, the nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education and the role we can play in promoting the value of higher education is Jonathan Fansmith, the American Council on Education’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations and National Engagement. 

Episode Resources:

• ACE’s dotEDU Live Podcast: Higher Education’s Path Forward in Trump’s Second Term
• “The Only Certainty Is Uncertainty” by Jon Fansmith in Inside Higher Education

In the final episode of Season 3, Michelle sits down with Dr. Mary Anne Franks, a leading First Amendment scholar, to discuss her new book “Fearless Speech: Breaking Free From the First Amendment.” Dr. Franks unpacks the concepts of "fearless speech" and “reckless speech,” and delves into how her book reimagines free speech as a practice rooted in courage, candor and accountability.

Episode Resources:

• Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment by Mary Anne Franks
• Amicus Podcast from Slate featuring Mary Anne Franks: https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2024/11/trumps-justice-pick-matt-gaetz-is-a-portrait-of-maga-misogyny 

Internationally renowned election law expert, Rick Hasen, joins SpeechMatters to reflect on last week’s election, the role of disinformation in the lead up to it, and the types of challenges our democracy may face under the new administration. 

Episode Resources:

• The Safeguarding Democracy Project: https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/safeguarding-democracy-project
• Election Law Blog: https://electionlawblog.org/

Too often the conversation about expression in higher education centers on the social sciences, humanities and the law, which is why this month we are speaking with Dr. Catherine Lucey, executive vice chancellor and provost at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). We discuss the history of advocacy and community engagement at UCSF and how she thinks about current speech challenges.

Episode Resources:

• UCSF Med School Differences Matter: https://medschool.ucsf.edu/differences-matter
• UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach: https://diversity.ucsf.edu/
• UCSF Institutionalizing Rest in Response to Racial and Sociopolitical Trauma: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38847650/
• NY Times: "In San Francisco, Doctors Feud Over ‘Do No Harm’ When It Comes to War Protests:" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/us/israel-hamas-war-sf-doctors.html

Piya Bose, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UC San Diego, was part of the UCSD team that weathered an encampment, the cancellation of the school’s annual Sun God Festival, and the occupation of a campus Starbucks last academic year. She joins SpeechMatters to discuss lessons learned, how to apply them in the new year and remind us of the transformative power of a college or university education.

Episode Resources:

• Voter Engagement Resource Page: https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/programs-and-resources/resource-materials-voter-engagement/ 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court closed out its blockbuster term with expression-related decisions that affect the national regulatory and higher education landscape. Leading constitutional scholar and UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky joins SpeechMatters to share both his insights on this Supreme Court term and his reflections on the tumultuous past year on campus.

Episode Resources

• NY Times Opinion: "The First Amendment is Out of Control" by Tim Wu
• ACLU: "Why is the ACLU Representing the NRA Before the US Supreme Court" by Anthony D. Romero
• Freedom Forum: First Amendment Supreme Court Cases: 2023-2024 Term

Last season, as generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots dominated the national headlines, we explored the impact of new technologies on teaching, research and learning at colleges and universities. This year, we return to the topic of AI, with a focus on how the technology is affecting our election and information systems. Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause, joins us to discuss election protection, including the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), Common Cause’s newest effort to fight technology based-threats to democracy.

Episode Resources:

• CITED – California Initiative for Technology and Democracy
• CITED Report: Democracy on Edge in the Digital Age
• CA Common Cause – Three Bills Addressing Dangers of AI to Elections Pass Assembly Floor
• LA Times “Opinion: AI is turbocharging disinformation attacks on voters, especially in communities of color”
• Washington Post “In Arizona, election workers trained with deepfakes to prepare for 2024” 
• Center on Technology Policy at UNC Chapel Hill Report: The new political ad machine: Policy frameworks for political ads in an age of AI

The anti-Gaza war protests and encampments that have taken place at universities across the country have drawn the attention of everyone from the President to the media and members of Congress, provoking comparisons with the student movements of the 1960s. Robert Cohen, the foremost expert on UC Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement (1964) and its famed orator Mario Savio, joins us to discuss what we can learn from the past and the present in order to be prepared for what lies ahead. 

Episode Resources:

• LA Times “Opinion: Today’s protests are tamer than the campus unrest of the 1960s. So why the harsh response?”
• 94.2 KPFA “A History of Student Movements”

Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), discusses the wide and deep impacts that ongoing legislative attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, officers and trainings have on higher education.

Episode Resources:

• Chronicle of Higher Ed DEI Legislation Tracker
• NADOHE Legislation Resources
• NADOHE Communication Guide
• "DEI Isn't Scary; Political Purges Are by Ryan A. Miller