<![CDATA[Expression: Free Speech Future]]>https://expression.fire.org/s/free-speech-future0e4https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ceab!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0bfe74f-4699-4e60-9741-9261b324ca46_364x364.jpegExpression: Free Speech Futurehttps://expression.fire.org/s/free-speech-future0e4SubstackThu, 17 Sep 2026 00:51:56 GMT<![CDATA[Free Speech Future: Episode III – Cycles of Censorship: Emerging Technologies]]>https://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-iii-cycleshttps://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-iii-cyclesMon, 11 May 2026 16:10:11 GMTEvery transformative technology triggers the same familiar reaction: fear, alarm, and demands for control. From video games to social media — not to mention the printing press — new and disruptive forms of expression are often framed as threats before we even fully understand them.

Today, AI sits squarely in the hot seat. Lawmakers and cultural commentators alike argue this moment is different — that the scale, speed, and influence of modern networks justify new forms of oversight and restriction.

But history suggests a recurring pattern: efforts to curb perceived harms often expand beyond their original aims, reshaping the boundaries of speech and expression in profound and lasting ways. As we confront this latest wave of tech debates, the question is not whether change is coming — it’s here. The question is which lessons we should learn from the past.

On March 24, 2026, at an intimate venue in Manhattan, we brought together some of the voices examining these recurring cycles. Nico Perrino, FIRE’s executive vice president and host of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, places today’s debates in the longer civil-libertarian tradition of resisting censorship. Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom and host of the Tech Policy Podcast, brings a litigator’s skepticism to the latest proposals to regulate online platforms as common carriers. Christopher J. Ferguson, professor of psychology at Stetson University and co-author of Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong, has spent years studying the evidence behind recurring fears about violent media and new technologies. And guiding the discussion is Kmele Foster, co-host of the Fifth Column Podcast and editor-at-large at Tangle News, whose work is defined by intellectual curiosity and a rigorous commitment to open inquiry.

]]><![CDATA[Free Speech Future: Episode II – Regulating AI: Who decides?]]>https://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-ii-regulatinghttps://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-ii-regulatingThu, 16 Apr 2026 18:44:39 GMTIn case you missed it, remember to also check out the first episode in this series, which covers AI and knowledge creation.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the world’s primary engines of knowledge creation. And as this meaning-making system comes online, so too does the inevitable desire for government control. How the First Amendment and other legal principles apply to AI will determine whether the future operating system for the planet acts as a tool for inquiry and expansion of human knowledge and capacity — or for compliance and top-down control. History is blunt on this point: once government acquires durable power over speech and expression, that power only ever expands — and the lure of censorship becomes virtually impossible to resist.

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This discussion — from Jan. 22, 2026 — brings together the individuals tracking and resisting that expansion. Dean Ball — technologist, AI governance analyst, and former White House science and technology adviser — warns that “responsible AI” rhetoric often serves as an on-ramp to permanent regulatory control. Ari Cohn, First Amendment attorney and tech policy expert, brings a free speech lawyer’s clarity to where government proposals cross constitutional lines. Matt Perault, head of AI policy at Andreessen Horowitz, examines how regulatory choices shape the incentives that drive innovation. And guiding the discussion is Kmele Foster of The Fifth Column podcast, whose work is defined by a first-principles approach and an inimitable commitment to curiosity.

Panelists:

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]]><![CDATA[Free Speech Future: Episode I – Knowledge Creation and AI]]>https://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-i-knowledgehttps://expression.fire.org/p/free-speech-future-episode-i-knowledgeMon, 02 Feb 2026 19:58:57 GMTIn a moment when large language models are becoming the engines through which billions make meaning and seek truth, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Yet instead of building systems that prioritize intellectual humility, we are training machines to lie — for self-preservation, or worse, to avoid offense.

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Government efforts to mandate their preferred ideology risk replacing one orthodoxy with another, and laws aimed at preventing “algorithmic discrimination” are already punishing uncomfortable facts. As FIRE has warned, this is the return of speech codes — not just on campus, but in code itself. If we get this wrong, we risk enshrining conformity at the very source of knowledge and silencing the dissent that truth depends on.

In the first episode of Free Speech Future, recorded Sept. 18, 2025, a panel of builders and defenders confronts the risk that emerging technologies will be optimized for harmony at the expense of truth.

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