Ep. 245: The Supreme Court's decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Release Date: 06/27/2025
Ep. 271: Minecraft, censorship, and threats to press freedom with Clayton Weimers
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Editorial note: This conversation was recorded on Friday, April 24, the day before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Both Nico and Clayton attended the event, where a gunman breached security and opened fire before being apprehended. No one was seriously injured, but the incident serves as a reminder of the threats reporters can face in the course of their work. Since we recorded the conversation before the shooting, Nico and Clayton do not address it, but the incident underscores the stakes of their discussion. — In 2020, Reporters Without Borders launched the Uncensored Library, a...
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FIRE Reacts: Comey, Kimmel, ABC & the FCC
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
We break down the legal case against James Comey over an alleged “true threat” and how far the government can go in prosecuting speech. Plus, we examine renewed FCC pressure on ABC and Jimmy Kimmel. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Does the DOJ have a viable case against James Comey? 04:51 “True threats” and Comey’s case 06:36 Threats against U.S. presidents and Watts v. United States 09:55 Was it a mistake for Comey to take down the “8647” seashell image? 11:18 Can the case be dismissed before it goes to trial? 12:38 Can Comey’s case be considered a selective prosecution? 13:23...
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Ep. 270: The fight for privacy and free speech in the surveillance age
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
The early internet opened unprecedented avenues for speech, creativity, and connection without traditional gatekeepers. But it also raised civil liberties questions: Do our offline freedoms exist online? And if so, how far do they extend? Today, those questions are more urgent than ever. Advances in AI have given governments powerful new tools to track, monitor, and analyze our behavior, raising fundamental concerns about the future of free expression in the digital age. Today we are joined by Cindy Cohn, the executive director for the . She has spent thirty years as a civil liberties attorney...
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Ep. 269: Is free speech declining worldwide?
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
Free speech has long been a cornerstone of democratic society. But today, its principles face increasing pressure. Around the world, governments are expanding speech restrictions in the name of combating misinformation, hate speech, and extremism, while new technologies make it easier to monitor and control public discourse. Many free speech advocates warn that these efforts risk eroding democracy itself. Joining the show to discuss this “global free speech recession” is Jacob Mchangama, a senior fellow at FIRE and the founder and executive director of The Future of Free Speech at...
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Ep. 268: News and misinformation in early America
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
In 18th century America, news traveled slowly across the Atlantic. Newspapers reprinted secondhand reports, private letters, and unverified stories from abroad, leaving readers with multiple versions of reality. In a world educated by an unverifiable news cycle, how did misinformation shape early American life? To explore how news, rumor, and misrepresentation influenced the course of the American Revolution and the nation that followed, we are joined by Jordan Taylor, a historian of American history and the author of . Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:05 How colonists...
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Ep. 267: Social media = cigarettes?
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
In March, juries in California and New Mexico delivered seminal verdicts holding Meta and YouTube liable for failing to protect young users from harm. Both verdicts found that the companies were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms and that each company knew their platforms could be dangerous when used by a minor. The courts found that the design elements of the platforms could be separated from the content hosted on the platforms, thus removing the need to consider the First Amendment or Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Joining us to break down the...
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Ep. 266: How foreign censors target American speakers
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...
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Ep. 265: Anthropic, age verification laws, and press freedom
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
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...
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Ep. 264: Anonymity from the founding to the digital age
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
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...
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Ep. 263: Free speech in Trump 2.0
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
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 Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising...
info_outlineFIRE staff responds to the Court's decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton that addresses a Texas law requiring age verification for accessing certain sexual material online.
Joining us:
Will Creeley — Legal director
Bob Corn-Revere — Chief counsel
Ronnie London — General counsel
Timestamps:
01:21 How the case wound up at the Supreme Court
06:57 Bob’s experience with arguing strict scrutiny in the courts
09:32 Ronnie’s perspective on the ruling
10:22 Brick + mortar stores vs. online sites
12:07 Has the Court established a new category of partially protected speech?
13:36 What speech is still subject to strict scrutiny after the ruling?
15:55 What does it mean to address the “work as a whole” in the internet context?
17:24 What modifications to the ruling, if any, would have satisfied FIRE?
18:06 What are the alternatives to address the internet’s risks toward minors?
20:16 For non-lawyer Americans, what is the best normative argument against the ruling?
22:38 Why is this ruling a “canary in the coal mine?”
23:36 How is age verification really about identity verification?
24:42 Why did the Court assume the need to protect children without citing any scientific findings in its ruling?
26:17 Does the ruling allow for more identity-based access barriers to lawful online speech?
28:04 Will Americans have to show ID to get into a public library?
29:30 Why does stare decisis seem to mean little to nothing to the Court?
32:08 Will there be a problem with selective enforcement of content-based restrictions on speech?
34:12 Could the ruling spark a patchwork of state laws that create digital borders?
36:26 Is there any other instance where the Court has used intermediate scrutiny in a First Amendment case?
37:29 Is the Court going to keep sweeping content-based statutes in the “incidental effect on speech” bucket?
38:14 Is sexual speech considered obscene?
40:33 How does the ruling affect adult content on mainstream social media platforms like Reddit and X?
43:27 Where does the ruling leave us on age verification laws?
Read the transcript here: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-reacts-supreme-courts-decision-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton
Show notes:
- Supreme Court ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1122_3e04.pdf
- FIRE statement on FSC v. Paxton ruling: https://www.thefire.org/news/fire-statement-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton-upholding-age-verification-adult-content
- FIRE’s brief for the Fifth Circuit: https://www.thefire.org/news/supreme-court-agrees-review-fifth-circuit-decision-upholding-texas-adult-content-age
- FIRE’s amicus brief in support of petitioners and reversal: https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/amicus-brief-support-petitioners-and-reversal-free-speech-coalition-v-paxton