Governing Digital Speech: Political, Legal, and Moral Perspectives on Platform Regulation

This workshop examines the tension between platform regulations and free speech through political, legal, and moral lenses. Digital platforms now shape public discourse, yet their power to amplify, moderate, and suppress content raises fundamental questions about expression in democratic societies.
Politically, regulation is framed as essential to counter disinformation, hate speech, and electoral interference, protecting social cohesion and democratic processes. Critics, however, caution that such measures can enable state overreach, silence dissent, and favor particular narratives. Platform governance has become a geopolitical arena, with competing models—from U.S. intermediary protections to the EU’s Digital Services Act—reshaping the global information space.
Legally, the workshop addresses rights and liabilities. U.S. frameworks such as Section 230 and First Amendment doctrine shield platforms from third-party content liability while affirming their editorial discretion. Other jurisdictions impose duties to remove illegal material and balance free expression against competing rights, including in the context of algorithmic amplification and generative AI. Participants will explore jurisdictional challenges, extraterritorial reach, and the limits of existing doctrines.
Morally, the discussion centres on the ethical weight of harmful speech, the responsibilities of private platforms that function as public squares, and the balance between open inquiry and the protection of vulnerable groups. Key questions include whether platforms should remain neutral conduits or act as moral gatekeepers, and what duties users, companies, and societies share in sustaining healthy discourse.
By integrating these perspectives, the workshop seeks to clarify trade-offs, surface underlying values, and advance more coherent approaches to governing digital speech.