Content Moderation - The Basics

Guiding Questions

• How has the evolution of online content moderation challenged traditional First Amendment frameworks, and what lessons can we draw from cases like Miami Herald v. Tornillo for today's digital platforms?
• What role should government play in regulating content moderation practices, given both constitutional constraints and practical challenges of platform governance?
• How do different approaches to Section 230 reflect broader tensions between platform autonomy, user rights, and state interests in content regulation?

Guest

Alan Rozenshtein

Required 

Facts

• [Pages 1-4, 8-9 (enforcement)] David Inserra, A Guide to Content Moderation for Policymakers, Cato (May 21, 2024)
• [skim part II, read part IIIA and IIIB pp. 1630-1649] Kate Klonick, The New Governors: The People, Rules, and Processes Governing Online Speech, 131 Harvard Law Review 1598 (2018).
• Kenan Malik, The Twitter Files should disturb liberal critics of Elon Musk – and here’s why, The Guardian (Jan. 1, 2023).

Law

• Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Section 230 Isn't the First Amendment for the Internet, LAWFARE (Sept. 11, 2024).
• [read “Common Interpretation”] Geoffrey R. Stone and Edward H. Levi, Freedom of Speech and the Press, ACC.
• [pp. 44-64] NetChoice, L.L.C. v. Paxton, 49 F.4th 439 (5th Cir. 2022).

Application

• [pp. 1-6] Moody v. NetChoice, L.L.C., 598 U.S. (2024).
• [read Syllabus, read Chief Justice Burger's opinion from Section III (starting at "The challenged statute..." through Section IV “...it is so ordered"] Miami Herald Pub. Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974).

Optional

• Kyle Langvardt and Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Moody v. NetChoice is a Blow to Silicon Valley’s Litigation Strategy, LAWFARE (Jul. 26, 2024).
• Susanna Granieri, Eugene Volokh on Section 230, Generative AI and the First Amendment, FIRST AMEND. WATCH (July 23, 2024).