Social Media Bans and the Problem of One-Size-Fits-All Policy
The push to restrict teens’ access to social media is accelerating worldwide, even as the underlying evidence remains uncertain. In recent years, policymakers across various jurisdictions have proposed restricting or banning minors’ access to social media platforms. Governments across a growing number of jurisdictions are considering age-based restrictions, mandatory parental-consent requirements, or outright bans for ... Social Media Bans and the Problem of One-Size-Fits-All Policy
The FCC’s Sleeping Power Over the Press
The Trump administration says it wants to end federal censorship. Its recent statements suggest something else. In the executive order “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” the White House asserted: The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American ... The FCC’s Sleeping Power Over the Press
The 65-Year-Old Law That Still Shapes How You Watch Sports
Earlier this month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr asked a pointed question: what happens to local broadcasting if live sports keep migrating to streaming platforms? In a public notice, the FCC seeks comment on sports-broadcasting practices and market developments. The agency focuses on the growing shift of live sports from national broadcast networks ... The 65-Year-Old Law That Still Shapes How You Watch Sports
COPPA, Age Verification, and the FTC’s Enforcement End Run
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a new plan to “protect children online.” It starts by relaxing enforcement of the very privacy law designed to protect them. In a new enforcement policy statement on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the FTC signals that it will decline to pursue enforcement actions against companies that ... COPPA, Age Verification, and the FTC’s Enforcement End Run
Half a Swipe, Whole Lot of Mess: Platform Economics and the Interchange Fee Cases
Interchange-fee regulation now anchors at least three federal appellate cases. Courts will get them wrong unless they recognize a threshold fact: payment-card networks are multisided platforms. Interchange fees are the amounts card-issuing banks withhold from a transaction before paying merchant-acquiring banks. On a $100 purchase with a 2% interchange fee, the issuing bank keeps $2 ... Half a Swipe, Whole Lot of Mess: Platform Economics and the Interchange Fee Cases
POPA and the Fight Over the Permission-Slip Internet
The fight over how to protect children online under the First Amendment has intensified in the opening weeks of the year. Two product-liability trials recently began asking whether social-media services such as Instagram and YouTube qualify as unsafe products for minors because of allegedly defective design features. At the same time, federal and state lawmakers ... POPA and the Fight Over the Permission-Slip Internet
Netflix, WBD, and the Myth of the Streaming Monopoly
The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) assets by Netflix is already being cast as a landmark antitrust “test case.” If past deals are any guide, the critiques will follow a familiar script: narrow market definitions, selective data points, and headline-friendly market-share claims designed to trigger alarm. Yet in a video ecosystem defined by ... Netflix, WBD, and the Myth of the Streaming Monopoly
Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton last year, I wrote that the “broader war over age verification and parental consent online isn’t over.” As we head into 2026, that prediction looks right. The fight has shifted. Lawmakers have moved their focus from social-media platforms to app stores. But the basic ... Carding the Internet Still Isn’t Constitutional
Google Is Not a Pipe
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, with support from populists on both the political left and right, contends that Google Search is a common-carrier service under Ohio law and should therefore be restricted from prioritizing its own products and services in its search results. After losing at the lower-court level, Yost now brings his suit against ... Google Is Not a Pipe
The Law & Economics of Online Speech Platforms and ‘Unfair’ Product Design
There has been an evolving battle in recent years over how to protect minors on online platforms in a way that would be consistent with the principles of free speech. Given the strictures of both the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the government has very limited ability to restrict either ... The Law & Economics of Online Speech Platforms and ‘Unfair’ Product Design
First Amendment Jurisprudence Should Reflect Economic Reality: Why Red Lion and Pacifica Must Fall
The U.S. legal landscape is riddled with anachronisms, but few are as indefensible and economically nonsensical as the justifications for regulating broadcast content. This bizarre notion that radio and television broadcasters deserve fewer First Amendment protections than newspapers, websites, or cable networks is a vestige of mid-20th-century technological reasoning that has long overstayed its constitutional ... First Amendment Jurisprudence Should Reflect Economic Reality: Why Red Lion and Pacifica Must Fall
California’s LEAD for Kids Act Is Destined to Fail First Amendment Scrutiny
California has sought in recent years to take the lead in protecting children from online harms, but the state’s proposed legislative solutions have repeatedly been held up in courts. Assembly Bill 1064, which is currently on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk after clearing both the state Senate and Assembly, appears destined for the same fate. The ... California’s LEAD for Kids Act Is Destined to Fail First Amendment Scrutiny
