Jawboning
Gary Waters

Blog

Jawboning

The First Amendment imposes stringent constraints on the government’s power to regulate speech, but the question of when the First Amendment prohibits jawboning—informal government efforts to persuade, cajole, or strong-arm private platforms to change their content-moderation practices—warrants more attention than it’s received thus far. Some forms of jawboning are probably best understood as a legitimate aspect of governance. Others are probably best understood as illegitimate, and possibly unconstitutional, efforts to manipulate or censor public discourse. 

This blog channel highlights the Institute’s ongoing research and education efforts related to jawboning.

Event

Event

Surveillance Ascendant, Democracy in Free Fall

A convening addressing the threats to speech and privacy enabled by commercial surveillance in our quickly shifting democratic landscape

 

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Research

Essays and Scholarship

Protecting Immigrant Activists From U.S. Government Retaliation: Lessons From First Amendment Litigation

Immigrant activists in the U.S. face legal and structural barriers when fighting First Amendment retaliation. 

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Event

Event

Digital Authoritarianism and the Fight for Democracy

How new tools of surveillance and censorship are fueling rights violations around the world

 
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Litigation

Lawsuit

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York v. USDA

A case challenging USDA’s purge of climate-related webpages.

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