Can the Government Pressure Private Companies to Stifle Speech?

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

On March 18, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo—two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored viewpoints. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation join Jeffrey Rosen to break down both cases. Together they discuss the state action doctrine, explore the line between coercion and persuasion, and interrogate the tension between government speech and private speech. Resources: Murthy v. Missouri (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) NRA v. Vullo (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963) Alex Abdo, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri David Greene, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri David Greene and Karen Gullo, “Lawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!,” EFF (March 15, 2024) Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].  Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.  Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On March 18th, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy versus Missouri and NRA versus Vulu,
0:07.0	two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored speech about COVID and guns.
0:15.2	Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome to We The People,
0:24.8	a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:27.4	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan non-profit chartered by Congress to increase
0:32.0	awareness and understanding of the Constitution
0:34.6	among the American people.
0:36.2	In this week's episode, we'll explore the line between government efforts to coerce
0:40.4	and persuade companies to take down content or avoid conduct that allegedly causes harm.
0:46.0	Joining me to guide this discussion are two of America's leading free speech scholars.
0:51.0	Alex Abdo is the inaugural litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia
0:56.0	University.
0:57.0	He previously worked at the ACLU where he was at the forefront of litigation about
1:01.2	NSA surveillance, anonymous speech and government transparency.
1:05.4	Alex filed a brief in support of neither party
1:07.8	in Murthy versus Missouri.
1:09.5	Alex, it's wonderful to welcome you back to We The People.
1:12.1	Thanks so much for having me, Jeff.
1:14.2	And David Green is a senior staff attorney
1:16.4	and civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
1:19.9	He's also an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
1:23.7	David filed a brief in support of neither party in Murphy versus Missouri.
	...

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