Lawless

Nicolas P. Suzor, Lawless: The Secret Rules that Govern Our Digital Lives (Cambridge University Press, 2019). 

Rampant abuse, hate speech, censorship, bias, and disinformation -- our internet has problems. It is governed by technology companies -- search engines, social media platforms, and infrastructure providers -- whose hidden rules influence what we are allowed to see and say. In Lawless, Nicolas P. Suzor presents gripping examples of exactly how tech companies govern our digital environment and how they bend to pressure from governments and other powerful actors to censor and control the flow of information online. We are at a constitutional moment -- an opportunity to rethink the basic rules of how the internet is governed. Suzor offers a vision of a vibrant, diverse, and flourishing internet that can protect our fundamental rights from the lawless rule of tech. The culmination of more than ten years of original research, this groundbreaking work should be read by anyone who cares about the internet and the future of our shared social spaces. 

-Publisher's Description

African Americans and the First Amendment

Timothy C. Shiell, African-Americans and the First Amendment: The Case for Liberty and Equality (State University of New York Press, 2019).
Timothy C. Shiell utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that a strong commitment to greater inclusion and participation. This crucial connection is evidenced throughout US history, from the days of colonial and antebellum slavery to Jim Crow: in the landmark US Supreme Court decision in 1937 freeing the black communist Angelo Herndon; in the struggles and victories of the civil rights movement, from the late 1930s to the late '60s; and in the historical and modern debates over hate speech restrictions. Liberty and equality can conflict in individual cases, Shiell argues, but there is no fundamental conflict between them. Robust First Amendment values protect and encourage demands for racial equality while weak First Amendment values, in contrast, lead to censorship and chilling demands for racial equality.

-Publisher's Description

Hate Speech and Democratic Citizenship

Eric Heinze (University of London), Hate Speech and Democratic Citizenship (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016). 

"Most modern democracies punish hate speech. Less freedom for some, they claim, guarantees greater freedom for others. Heinze rejects that approach, arguing that democracies have better ways of combating violence and discrimination against vulnerable groups without having to censor speakers. Critiquing dominant free speech theories, Heinze explains that free expression must be safeguarded not just as an individual right, but as an essential attribute of democratic citizenship. The book challenges contemporary state regulation of public discourse by promoting a stronger theory of what democracy is and what it demands. Examining US, European and international approaches, Heinze offers a new vision of free speech within Western democracies." 
—Publisher's description