Big Tech S3E19: Jameel Jaffer On Free Speech in the Digital Era

August 5, 2021

Listen to this week’s new episode of Big Tech, where Taylor Owen speaks to Jameel Jaffer, the Executive Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University on the meaning and scope of free speech in the digital era of platforms.

Liberal democracies around the world have protections for free speech, such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or, more famously, the US First Amendment. Many of the free speech activities that are protected by law, such as the right to organize and protest, have moved onto social media platforms. But, as we have seen, the power of social media to amplify content can have disastrous impacts.

Nations looking to reform and enact online protection regulations to address issues of terrorism, human trafficking and hate speech, among others, are experiencing pushback from those who fear they will infringe on civil liberties.

In this episode of Big Tech, Taylor Owen speaks with Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Previously, Jaffer served as deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was involved in several monumental cases, including a challenge to the USA PATRIOT Act, a lawsuit against the National Security Agency and access to information requests on secret torture and drone programs.