Showcase Panel II: Private Control Over Public Discussion [2021 National Lawyers Convention]

The 2021 National Lawyers Convention took place November 11-13, 2021 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The topic of the conference was "Public and Private Power: Preserving Freedom or Preventing Harm?". The second day of the conference commenced with a showcase panel on "Private Control Over Public Discussion."

Online platforms host a growing share of public discussion and debate. As private businesses, they have been free to develop and implement their own content moderation policies, free of First Amendment constraints. But as the amount of speech hosted on a few platforms has grown, the resulting concentration of control over that speech has sparked questions about the power of private companies to stifle lawful expression. Do these corporations have a protected expressive interest in declining to carry speech which is lawful but which they find objectionable? How should we think about the digital platform model? Should the concentration of private power over speech change how we think about public and private threats to free expression?

Featuring:

- Prof. Jane Bambauer, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

- Prof. Randy E. Barnett, Georgetown University Law Center

- Prof. Adam Candeub, Michigan State University College of Law

- Prof. Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law

- Moderator: Judge Barbara Lagoa, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.