NYU Law Forum: Social Media, Government Jawboning, and the First Amendment

Recent issues of major public concern (the COVID pandemic; threats to the secure administration of federal elections) have engendered a wave of mis- and disinformation, often spread virally through social media platforms. This has highlighted a vital but unsettled question in US law: When can the government act to persuade social media companies to alter their content moderation policies and/or take down certain speech, and when do those efforts cross into violations of the First Amendment? The debate over this practice, often called government “jawboning,” will come to a head in Murthy v. Missouri, set to be argued before the Supreme Court on March 18.

Murthy poses a number of questions that defy easy answer, driving at the heart of how we wish to construct and regulate what some consider to be the modern public square. At this Forum, experts with experience in government lawyering, private platforms, and free speech advocacy examined major issues raised by the case and what’s at stake.

This Forum was co-hosted by the Reiss Center on Law and Security and Just Security.

This event has been approved for 1 New York State CLE credit in the category of Areas of Professional Practice. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional; it is appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024
1:10 – 2:25 p.m. EST
Hybrid Event

Speakers:

• Jameel Jaffer, Executive Director, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University; Executive Editor, Just Security
• Kathryn Ruemmler, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Goldman Sachs; former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama
• Colin Stretch, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Etsy; former General Counsel, Facebook (now Meta)
• Ryan Goodman (moderator), Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law, NYU School of Law; Faculty Co-Director, Reiss Center on Law and Security; Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief, Just Security