Age verification, AI, & killer robots…So to Speak; I (finally!) share the best advice I’ve ever received; Win-Win episode w/ yours truly; & more!
Bringing you the latest free speech news (3/15/26)
Story of the week
This week, at the invitation of So to Speak host & FIRE EVP Nico Perrino, I joined Cato’s Jennifer Huddleston and Mike Godwin, a pioneering cyber-libertarian and the namesake of Godwin’s Law. Among other topics, we discussed the push for online age verification, and why I, co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind, oppose age verification laws for social media.
This week in ERI
This week in Expression
Iran war triggers calls for censorship in UK as higher ed regulator seeks to monitor ‘extremism’ by Sarah McLaughlin
The Pentagon is violating Anthropic’s First Amendment rights
Northern Ireland to consider abolishing blasphemy law by Sarah McLaughlin
Though these kinds of blasphemy laws are rarely or sporadically enforced in some nations that maintain them, it’s still important to abolish them to ensure they cannot be used in the future, and to signal that blasphemy must not be treated as a crime. This is especially notable at this moment in the UK, where asylum seeker Hamit Coskun just successfully defeated prosecutors’ efforts to punish him for burning a Quran in front of London’s Turkish embassy. Coskun was not charged under a blasphemy law, but civil liberties observers have rightfully warned that prosecutors may be seeking to enforce a quasi-blasphemy law under other statutes.
This week on So to Speak
This week, Nico Perrino was joined by his colleagues, Director of Faculty Legal Defense Zach Greenberg, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives (and ERI’s own EIC) Adam Goldstein , and Legislative and Policy Director Carolyn Iodice, to talk about the latest news in free speech land, including the Pentagon vs. Anthropic, cancel culture, the rights of non-citizens, and Soapbox!
This week in FIRE’s blog
This story represents another chilling development regarding free speech in Texas. Whether it’s shuttering an art exhibit at the University of North Texas, ordering a philosophy professor to remove Plato excerpts from his philosophy course, or canceling a psychology course because the professor refused to censor his teaching, these cases are no doubt just the tip of the iceberg. And that’s really disturbing. Because when universities start scrubbing courses of politically controversial ideas, the lesson students learn isn’t one of history or psychology — it’s fear.
International free speech stories of the week
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday announced the creation of a tool to track hate speech on social media and hold them accountable, in his latest measure targeting tech giants.
The tool “will make it possible to systematically measure the presence, evolution and reach of hate speech on digital platforms” with “recognised academic criteria”, Sanchez told a Madrid forum dedicated to the topic.
Germany uses anti-Nazi law to investigate critic of, er, Hitler (The Times) by Oliver Moody
Two protesters charged on first day of Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ ban (The Guardian) by Andrew Messenger
Greg on the Run!
Podcast of the week
Check out the latest episode of Win-Win with Liv Boeree feat. yours truly!
" . . . when universities start scrubbing courses of politically controversial ideas, the lesson students learn isn’t one of history or psychology — it’s fear." And this historian can only add, that never ends well for anyone. Thank you!