Time to taco 'bout tech policy š®
Forgive us for that atrocious (but festive) Cinco de Mayo pun. This week, we had lots to say about proposed social media regulations, Elon Musk's plans for content moderation, rural broadband, & more!
Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends of TechFreedom! What started as a commemoration of the Mexican armyās victory in the Battle of Puebla has evolved into a joyous tradition of tacos and margaritas. And with restaurants in D.C. operating at 100 percent capacity for the first time in two years, we hope everyone enjoys the festivities safely and responsibly. For those of you in the area, check out these food and drink specials around the city or drop by Surfsideāone of our longtime favorite establishments (especially for fish tacos).
If Cinco de Mayo celebrations are a little too Americanized for you, check out D.C.ās long-awaited embassy open houses, starting this weekend! On Saturday, over 30 embassies (including Mexicoās!) will open their doors to welcome guests with free food, drinks, and cultural demonstrations. If youāre more in the mood for puttanesca than pozole, you can make your trek next weekend, when the European Union embassies open to the public.
Social Media. This week, Berin and Ariās two-part piece on Elon Muskās goals to āunlock Twitter's potentialā by treating the platform like a public forum was featured in Techdirt. In part one we explained why the First Amendment doesnāt get Musk to where he seemingly wants to be: If Twitter were truly, legally the ātown squareā (i.e., public forum) he wants it to be, it couldnāt carry out certain plans of his, such as cracking down on spam, authenticating users, or banning things equivalent to āshouting fire in a crowded theatre.ā Twitter also couldnāt do the things it clearly needs to do to continue to attract the critical mass of users that make the site worth buying. For the purchase to make sense, Twitter needs to attract some of the eight times as many Americans who donāt use Twitter every day. In part two, we explain why none of these reforms would achieve what seems to be Muskās real goal: politically neutral outcomes. That's definitely not what the First Amendment means by neutrality. Given clear differences in user behavior across the political spectrum, ensuring purely neutral results would actually require non-neutral moderation. Check out our Twitter threads for the full breakdown.Ā
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committeeās Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee held a hearing on the impact of social media. Ariās Twitter thread on the hearing pointed out the fundamental disconnect between the First Amendment and the recycled rhetoric being tossed around by committee members.Ā
Last week, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral arguments in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 7072, Floridaās social media speech regulation. We were among the first to explain why SB 7072 violates the First Amendment. The trial court agreed with us, and weāre very interested to see whether the appeals court affirms. The same day the appeal was argued, Vox cited a paper on the case that Corbin published as a Legal Backgrounder for Washington Legal Foundation.
Broadband. Over the weekend, Fox Business quoted Jim on the implications of FCC policy for rural broadband access. Jim notes that setting aside satellites only for extremely rural areas is a doomed business model; Starlink and other companies still need a subscriber base to include the suburbs and urban areas. For more of Jimās FCC work, check out his recent reply comments regarding efficient ways to regulate Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) satellite systems.Ā
Philosophy. Yesterday, Jason was cited in Reason on the idea that rights must be "deeply rooted in history" in order to be valid. Jason explains that this concept implies that the rights of some people will always be less important than the rights of others. It also raises the question: How far back do the roots of our rights really go?Ā
Follow us on Twitter! Corbin @CorbinKBarthold; Bilal @BilalKSayyed; Andy @AndyJungTech; Jason @JasonKuznicki; me (Rachel) @MillionthRachel; Berin @BerinSzoka; Ari @AriCohn.