Author Archive | David Ardia

2026 Hargrove Colloquium–The Regulator’s Dilemma: Innovation and Global Competition

By on March 26, 2026 in FCC, Internet

On April 6, the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy will host the 2026 Hargrove Media Law and Policy Colloquium, featuring Kevin Martin, vice president and head of global policy at Meta and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Titled The Regulator’s Dilemma: Innovation and Global Competition, the event will explore how regulators and industry leaders can respond to rapid technological change while fostering innovation and maintaining competitiveness in an increasingly global media and communications marketplace.

Mr. Martin brings a rare combination of senior government, private practice, and global policy experience to this conversation. He served two terms as commissioner and chairman of the FCC during a period of significant transformation in telecommunications, broadband, and media regulation. Before joining the FCC, he worked at the White House as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and as a member of the National Economic Council staff, where he focused on commerce and technology policy. He also represented the United States on the G‑8 Digital Opportunity Task Force, addressing how the digital revolution could expand opportunity in developing countries. After leaving government service, Mr. Martin was a partner and co-chair of the telecommunications practice at an international law firm before joining Meta, where he now leads global engagement with policymakers on privacy, connectivity, trade, and related issues.

In addition to delivering prepared remarks, Mr. Martin will sit down for a conversation with Julia Ambrose, who clerked for Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and now leads the media law practice at Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP. Their discussion will examine the practical and philosophical tensions between regulation and innovation, the growing importance of international policy considerations, and the role lawyers play in advising clients amid regulatory uncertainty and global competition.

Designed for lawyers, media and technology industry leaders, policymakers, and students, the evening will offer a thoughtful and timely examination of the regulatory choices shaping the future of media and communications. The event will also highlight the enduring relevance of media law and policy education at a moment when regulatory decisions increasingly influence innovation, democratic values, and economic growth worldwide.

The colloquium will take place on April 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center, 130 DuBose Home Lane, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. The event is free and open to the public, though advance registration is encouraged due to limited seating. Registration is available here.

For more information on the Colloquium, please visit our event page.

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Sealed Justice: Federal Courts’ Inconsistent Record-Sealing Rules and Their Impact on Judicial Transparency

By on January 12, 2026 in First Amendment, Transparency

My article titled “Sealed Justice: Federal Courts’ Inconsistent Record-Sealing Rules and Their Impact on Judicial Transparency” recently came out in the Journal of Free Speech Law. In the article I argue that federal district courts are doing a poor job of  protecting the public’s right of access to court records. Despite the longstanding presumption that court records are open for public inspection, parties frequently attempt to “seal” documents in order to hide them from public view. Empirical research reveals that the sealing of court records is extensive and increasing. This project is the first to comprehensively examine whether federal district courts provide clear and consistent local rules for sealing court records in civil and criminal cases. It also evaluates whether these local rules align with established Supreme Court and circuit court precedent concerning the public’s right of access to judicial records.

Here is the full abstract:

Public access to court records is a cornerstone of democratic governance, enabling public oversight of the judiciary and fostering confidence in the rule of law. Despite a strong presumption in favor of openness under both the First Amendment and common law, the sealing of federal court records has become widespread, often with minimal judicial scrutiny. Recent investigations have revealed that excessive court secrecy shields government and corporate misconduct, conceals vital public-safety information, and erodes public confidence in the courts.

This Article presents the first comprehensive analysis of the local rules governing sealing in all 94 federal districts, reviewing more than 700 provisions in both civil and criminal rules. The findings are concerning: Nearly half of all districts lack general sealing rules, many fail to reference the controlling legal standard, and basic procedural safeguards—such as public notice, consideration of alternatives to sealing, and case-specific identification of harms—are frequently absent. These deficiencies have created a patchwork of inconsistent, often toothless rules that enable secrecy to spread largely unchecked.

Without changes to federal rules, court-ordered secrecy will continue to erode public trust and obscure the work of the federal courts. This Article proposes three core principles to guide this reform. First, substantive clarity: Every rule governing sealing should expressly affirm the presumption of public access and incorporate, at a minimum, the common law’s requirements for sealing. Second, procedural rigor: Rules should require public notice of sealing requests, an opportunity for objections, identification of specific harms, consideration of less-restrictive alternatives, and mechanisms for periodic review and unsealing. Third, administrative efficiency: Rules should require parties to limit the frequency and narrow the scope of their sealing re-quests, explore redaction as an alternative, and certify their efforts to minimize the need for sealing.

You can download the article from SSRN or from the Journal of Free Speech Law.

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Second Annual Aspiring Free Speech Scholars Workshop

By on November 26, 2025 in First Amendment

Second Annual Aspiring Free Speech Scholars Workshop
jointly sponsored by the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (ASU)
and the Hoover Institution (Stanford University)

Posted on behalf of Eugene Volokh and James Weinstein:

Are you a law student, judicial law clerk, lawyer, or beginning academic hoping to publish a journal article on free speech law? Would you like the opportunity to get advice about your draft from leading free speech scholars?

If so, send us your draft by Sunday, August 16, 2026. (This should still be a draft article, not an article that’s already published or expected to be published within six months.) We plan to select the submissions that we think are particularly promising, and invite their authors to a workshop where they can present their papers and get helpful feedback on them. The workshop will be Saturday, October 24, 2026 (with dinner the night before) at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in Phoenix, and we will inform the selected authors by Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

We have funds to pay for transportation and lodging for the selected authors’ trips. Eligibility is limited to people who have so far published three or fewer law-related journal articles.

We also plan to officially recognize zero to three of the top articles among those we review. If the authors wish, they can also have their articles reviewed for publication in the Journal of Free Speech Law (http://JournalOfFreeSpeechLaw.org), presumably after they revise the articles in light of the workshop feedback.

If you’re interested, please submit your draft at http://tinyurl.com/aspiring-free-speech (Google logon required). Please single-space, and format the article nicely, so we can more easily read it.

Please do not include your name or law school affiliation in the document or document filename, and please do not include an author’s note thanking your advisors and others. Please make your filename be the title of your article (or some recognizable subset of the article title). We want to review the article drafts without knowing the authors’ identities.

If you have questions, please check http://tinyurl.com/aspiring-free-speech-faq; if your question isn’t answered there, please e-mail volokh@stanford.edu.

Many thanks to the Stanton Foundation for its generous support.

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James Weinstein, Dan Cracchiolo Chair in Constitutional Law and Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

Eugene Volokh, Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution (Stanford University), and Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law

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New Article on Popular Sovereignty and a Right to Know About the Government

By on September 12, 2025 in First Amendment, Transparency

My recent article on Popular Sovereignty and a Right to Know About the Government just came out in the Arizona Law Review. In the article I argue that a right to know is not only implied by the First Amendment but is fundamental to the Constitution’s system of checks and balances and is rooted in the principle of popular sovereignty. The Framers’ commitment to self-government requires that citizens have access to information about their government if they are to exercise their sovereign authority over the government. Recognizing a right to know as a constitutional imperative, rooted in the people’s sovereign authority, establishes a durable foundation for limited government.  Here is the full abstract:

Imagine that a future U.S. President, upset about negative press coverage and plummeting approval ratings, issues an executive order instructing all federal agencies to henceforth provide no public access to executive branch records and meetings. Imagine further that the President’s party controls both chambers of Congress, which rescinds all statutory disclosure obligations imposed on the executive branch, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Government in the Sunshine Act, and Presidential Records Act. Is the public’s ability to understand the actions of government solely a matter for their elected representatives to decide? Disturbingly, many courts and scholars seem to think so.

If the government attempts to keep its citizens in the dark, or even actively misleads them, how can this not strike at the very heart of the Constitution? I argue in this Article that a right to know about the government is fundamental to the Constitution’s system of checks and balances. While past scholarship has largely grounded the right to know in the First Amendment, this Article advances a more foundational claim: the Framers’ unwavering commitment to popular sovereignty demands that the people have a right to know about their government. Recognizing a right to know as a constitutional imperative, rooted in the people’s sovereign authority, establishes a durable foundation for limited government—one that ensures that citizens can hold their leaders accountable and fully exercise their role in self-government.

Implementing a right to know about the government will present many challenges. Fortunately, we can draw guidance from the Supreme Court’s cases applying a public right of access to the courts, and we have decades of experience with open government statutes such as FOIA and the Sunshine Act. Building on this foundation, I lay out three core principles that should guide the development of a right to know about the government. First, a right to know should be limited in scope and extend only so far as is necessary to fulfill the needs of democratic self-government. Second, even when a right to know applies, it should yield when countervailing interests are sufficiently weighty. Third, the government must have leeway in designing access policies and procedures that account for the practical realities of providing public access.

You can download the article from SSRN.

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2024 Hargrove Colloquium: Media Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By on April 13, 2024 in Copyright, Defamation, Internet, Journalism

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On April 16, 2024, the Center for Media Law and Policy will be hosting the 2024 Hargrove Colloquium.  The topic for this year’s colloquium is Media Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Come hear from David McCraw, deputy general counsel at The New York Times Co. and author of the book Truth in Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts, as well as Ruth Okediji from Harvard Law School, who served as a member of the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology and Policy Committee on the Impact of Copyright Policy on Innovation in the Digital Era.

Our distinguished panel of experts will examine efforts at the federal and state level to prevent potential abuse of AI and will delve into the impact of generative AI on critical areas of media law, offering insights and sparking thought-provoking discussion. Key areas of focus will include:

  • Copyright Law: Who owns the creative output generated by AI? What is the impact on copyright holders when their work is used in training AI systems? How will existing copyright frameworks adapt to accommodate generative AI?
  • Defamation and Tort Law: Who, if anyone, can be held liable for harmful or defamatory content that AI generates? What are the legal implications for users and platforms employing AI-powered algorithms to curate and publish information?
  • Political Communication: How is AI being used in political campaigns and advertising? What are the potential risks and safeguards around AI-powered misinformation and voter manipulation?
  • Journalism: How is AI transforming the news industry? What are the legal and ethical considerations surrounding AI-generated news? How can journalists leverage AI while upholding journalistic integrity?

The Colloquium will take place at 7:00 PM at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center at the University of North Carolina and is free and open to the public. Visitor parking is available in the Rams Head Parking Deck.

You can read more about the colloquium on our event page.

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