Archive | First Amendment

Kill Switches, Smart Mobs, and Freedom of Speech

By on October 24, 2012 in First Amendment, Internet

As part of the Mary Junck Research Colloquium series, Elon University School of Law Professor Enrique Armijo will give a talk at UNC entitled “Recent Developments in Digital Communications Law and Policy:
Kill Switches, Smart Mobs, and Freedom of Speech.”  He will share his current research on the ways in which government control over communications infrastructure can pose a threat to free speech and discuss the tension between regulation of social media and freedom of expression both domestically and abroad.  He will talk about his work on international media law reform projects in Africa and the Middle East and discuss his approaches for developing research interests into projects.

Armijo is a graduate of the UNC School of Law.  You can read more about him at http://www.elon.edu/e-web/law/faculty/armijo_enrique.xhtml.

The presentation will be from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Freedom Forum Conference Center on the third floor of Carroll Hall.   The event is free and open to the public.

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First Amendment Day

By on October 1, 2012 in First Amendment

UNC will celebrate its fourth-annual First Amendment Day on Tuesday, Oct. 2.  The celebration is organized by the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy with generous funding from Time Warner Cable.  Activities range from a reading of banned books, including Chancellor Holden Thorp reading from The Catcher in the Rye, to a First Amendment trivia contest at Linda’s Bar & Grill.  The full schedule of events is here:  http://firstamendmentday.unc.edu.

Come out and join in the fun!

 

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Twitter and Free Speech

By on September 3, 2012 in First Amendment

Today’s New York Times has a very flattering (but well deserved) profile of Alexander Macgillivray, Twitter’s “chief lawyer.”  It notes Twitter’s efforts to protect Free Speech and remarks that the company thinks this will give it an edge over its rivals.  That’s one of the reasons I use Twitter — and stay away from Facebook, as much as I can — but this competitive advantage argument only works if companies are transparent about what they are doing (re: subpoenas, etc.) and people actually care enough to make that a factor in choosing an online service. I’m not quite so sanguine that either is the case today.

In any event, the profile is worth a read.

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Media law dissertation best in nation

By on May 25, 2012 in First Amendment

A recent Ph.D. graduate of the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication has won the 2012 Nafziger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award for the best dissertation in the field of mass communication.

The winner is Dr. Dean Smith, an affiliated scholar of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy. The dissertation award is given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and will be presented during the association’s national convention in August.

The title of Smith’s dissertation is “Legislating the First Amendment: Statutory Shield Laws as Non-Judicial Precedents.” The work will be published as a book next year by LBF Scholarly Publishing.

Smith’s dissertation adviser was Dr. Cathy Packer, co-director of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy.

In the fall, Smith will join the faculty at N.C. State University as a teaching visiting professor of journalism in the English Department. He also will teach as an adjunct professor at High Point University.

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Student Blogging for Law Conference

By on October 8, 2011 in First Amendment

UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication Ph.D. student Liz Woolery will participate in The Cleveland City Club’s 2011 Conference on Free Speech Oct. 11, 2011. The one-day conference brings together scholars, media practitioners and lawyers to discuss free speech issues facing the fields of politics and journalism. In advance of the event, Liz is blogging about free speech news and issues on the Club’s blog.

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