Bowers Distinguished Speaker Series

Speaker: Kate Starbird
Date:4/26/2024
Abstract: Disinformation has become a hot topic in recent years. Depending upon the audience, the problem of pervasive deception online is viewed as a critical societal challenge, an overblown moral panic, or a smokescreen for censoring conservatives. Drawing upon empirical research of U.S. elections (2016 and 2020), in this talk, I’ll describe how disinformation “works” within online spaces, show how we’re all vulnerable to spreading it, and highlight three (interrelated) reasons for why it’s such a difficult challenge to address. The first, noted by scholars and purveyors of disinformation across history, is that disinformation exploits democratic societies’ commitments to free expression. The second is that online disinformation is participatory, taking shape as collaborations between witting agents and unwitting crowds of sincere believers. And the third is that working to address disinformation is adversarial — i.e. the people who benefit from manipulating information spaces do not want that manipulation addressed. I’ll note how the latter has recently manifested as efforts that redefine “censorship” to include a broad range of activities — from academic research into online mis- and disinformation, to platform moderation, to information literacy programs — that are themselves, speech. I’ll conclude by presenting a range of potential interventions for reducing the impact of harmful disinformation that respect and support free expression while also empowering people and platforms to be more resilient to exploitation.

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Speaker: Jeff Kosseff
Abstract: From lies about vaccines to false claims that elections are rigged, misinformation poses serious challenges for the United States. But the First Amendment protects a great deal of speech that could broadly be considered to be misinformation. In this talk, Jeff Kosseff, a cybersecurity law professor at the United States Naval Academy and author of the recent book, Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation, argues that the First Amendment should continue to provide strong protections for false speech. The harms of misinformation, while substantial, pale in comparison to the potential abuse that would come with greater government control over speech. Kosseff argues that non-regulatory solutions, such as media literacy and revitalized local media, are preferable to increased censorship.

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Speaker: Dr. Mary Anne Franks
Abstract:  The prevailing American conception of free speech is reductionist, consumerist, and antidemocratic. While the First Amendment in theory is neutral with regard to the content of the speech it protects, in practice it is invoked most visibly and effectively in the service of powerful antidemocratic interests, including misogyny, racism, and religious zealotry. The fetishization of reckless speech is not contained to the United States, but has rapidly taken hold around the world due to the influence of the Internet and related technologies. No industry has benefited more from the convergence of civil libertarianism and economic libertarianism than the tech industry, which sells the promise of free speech to billions of people around the world in order to surveil, exploit, and manipulate them for profit. In the name of free speech, the tech industry has accelerated and incentivized serious abuses— including “revenge porn,” doxxing, and deepfakes— that inflict life-destroying and irreparable harm on vulnerable communities.

Read more in the Chronicle.