So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

Governments around the world have increasingly sought to regulate online speech well beyond their borders. 
If global platforms are forced to comply with the world's most restrictive laws, whose speech standards win? And what happens to a free and open internet when governments apply their censorship rules across borders?
Today we are joined by Preston Byrne, an attorney and expert in international law and emerging technologies. He has spent nearly two decades working at the intersection of law, tech, and policy, and he now serves as counsel to a coalition of internet publishing platforms suing the United Kingdom's internet regulator. Follow him on X and Substack. 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
02:15Preston's background
16:46 What do foreign censorship laws actually target?
22:35 The UK's Online Safety Act
29:39 Free speech cultures: US vs. UK
40:48 The GRANITE Act and protecting Americans from foreign censorship 
1:01:15 Outro
 Don't miss the free speech event of the year! Get your tickets and learn more about the Soapbox Conference here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

Several stories have put government power over speech and technology back in the spotlight.
In this episode, we break down the Pentagon's targeting of the AI company Anthropic, the push for government-mandated age verification technologies, and the Department of Justice's raid on a Washington Post reporter's home.
We are joined by:
Jennifer Huddleston, senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute

Mike Godwin, AI and privacy expert, first staff counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, first full-time general counsel at Wikimedia, and author of two books on internet law and policy

Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO of FIRE

 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
03:19 The Pentagon vs. Anthropic?
22:40 The FTC, Congress, and age verification laws
48:15 Is it unusual for the DOJ to seize a reporter's computer?
59:46 Outro
 
Don't miss the free speech event of the year! Get your tickets and learn more about the Soapbox Conference here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

In the years leading up to the American Revolution, newspapers and pamphlets overflowed with essays signed "Publius," "Brutus," and "A Farmer." Those arguments helped shape a nation, but the authors' real names were nowhere to be found.
Americans have long relied on anonymous speech to challenge the powerful, protect dissenters, and keep the focus on ideas rather than identities. That tradition has endured into America's digital age, even as anonymous speech has become more controversial.
To explore America's history with anonymity, we are joined by Jeff Kosseff, a nonresident senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech and author of The United States of Anonymous. Preorder his forthcoming book, The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom.
 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
02:01 What is anonymity?
04:38 Anonymous speech in Colonial America
15:58 Does the First Amendment protect anonymity?
20:35 Anonymous speech in the Civil Rights Era 
31:17 The internet and anonymity
35:44 Modern anonymity debates: DHS subpoenas, age verification, social media regulation, and VPN bans
51:53 Outro
Read the transcript here. 
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

One year into Trump 2.0, we examine the administration's record on free speech and how it compares to the president's campaign pledge to "bring back free speech to America." 
We also discuss recent ICE protests, including the right to carry a gun and to film law enforcement, and what these encounters reveal about protest rights today.
Today we are joined by:
Clark Neily, senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute

Timothy Zick, professor of government and citizenship at William & Mary Law School and author of the new book Trump 2.0: Executive Power and the First Amendment

Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising senior attorney at FIRE

Zick is also the author of Public Protest and Governmental Immunities, Managed Dissent: The Law of Public Protest, and Arming Public Protests.
 
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
01:47 ICE protests: Alex Pretti, filming police, and the right to carry a gun
13:30 How to hold law enforcement accountable
19:10 Don Lemon's arrest
23:27 Trump's retribution politics and the "domestic terrorist" label
35:05 FCC pressure and attacks on the media 
39:40 Free speech for noncitizens
53:49 Attacks on higher education
58:40 Trump 1.0 vs. Trump 2.0
01:02:25 What reforms are needed?
1:09:13 Outro
Read the transcript here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].

Recent protests in Iran have drawn renewed attention to dissent under the country's authoritarian government. The demonstrations have been met with mass arrests, internet restrictions, and even accusations of murder. 
While large-scale demonstrations appear to have subsided for now, reporting from Iran describes a tense calm, a heightened security presence, and widespread "disappointment and disillusionment" among Iranians.
Today we are joined by Pouya Nikmand, an Iranian-born writer who escaped Iran at 18. He writes about how his experiences have shaped his understanding of expression, freedom, and belonging on his Substack, Outliving Iran.
Timestamps: 
00:00 Intro  
02:17 What's happening in Iran now?
10:47 What does life look like under an authoritarian regime?
20:33 Growing up in Iran 
24:48 The influence of Western media in Iran
32:55 Escaping Iran 
37:05 Life after escape
40:55 Being trafficked to Poland
54:45 Escaping captivity and coming to America
01:01:53 An immigrant's perspective on US immigration
1:07:24 Outro
Read the transcript here.
Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. 
If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email [email protected].