Stanford Law: Law, Borders, and Speech Conference - Big Picture Panel

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Really fun conference, excellent and diverse participants, provocative policy brawls. Hosted by Stanford Law’s Center for Internet & Society.

The panel set-up: “Which countries’ laws and values will govern Internet users’ online behavior, including their free expression rights? In 1996, David G. Post and David R. Johnson wrote that “The rise of the global computer network is destroying the link between geographical location and: (1) the power of local governments to assert control over online behavior; (2) the effects of online behavior on individuals or things; (3) the legitimacy of the efforts of a local sovereign to enforce rules applicable to global phenomena; and (4) the ability of physical location to give notice of which sets of rules apply.” They proposed that national law must be reconciled with self-regulatory processes emerging from the network itself. Twenty years on, what have we learned? How are we reconciling differences in national laws governing speech, and how should we be reconciling them? What are the responsibilities of Internet speakers and platforms when faced with diverging rules about what online content is legal? And do users have relevant legal rights when their speech, or the information they are seeking, is legal in their own country?”

Speakers:

  • Bertrand de la Chapelle - Co-Founder and Director, Internet & Jurisdiction Project

  • David Johnson - CEO, argumentz.com; Producer, themoosical.com

  • David Post - Professor of Law (ret.), Temple University Law School; Contributor, Volokh Conspiracy

  • Paul Sieminski - General Counsel, Automattic

  • Nicole Wong - Ex-Obama White House, Twitter, Google

  • Me