The High Costs of ‘Free Speech’ in the Digital Age ft. Dr. Mary Anne Franks

What and whose speech does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protect in the digital age? Misinformation about the First Amendment and notions of censorship are being used to distort policy debates and legislative interventions aimed at addressing the rampant spread of false information and online harms. The confusion arises when people believe they have the right to be heard without opposition. “People think that they have freedom of reach as opposed to freedom of speech,” says Dr. Mary Anne Franks, who joins Liana Keesing and Dr. Carah Ong Whaley to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court’s opinions in Murthy v. Missouri, Moody v. Netchoice. Dr. Franks also explains how provisions under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 impact social media platform liability debates and the urgent need for policy change to strengthen democratic discourse and create a safer and more responsible online world.

Dr. Mary Anne Franks is the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law at the George Washington University Law School. She is also a member of Issue One’s Council on Responsible Social Media and is the Co-Chair of our Section 230 Task Force.  

Links in this episode: 

• Cyber Civil Rights Initiative
• Mary Anne Franks, George Washington Law
• Section 230: An Overview, Congressional Research Service, January 4, 2024