Our guest is David Smokler. He’s the executive director of the K-12 Fairness Center, which is a division of an organization called StandWithUs. StandWithUs is a 24 year-old international nonpartisan education organization that fights antisemitism.

I wanted to talk to David about fee speech in the classroom. Just how much does the First Amendment protect what teachers say, or want to say in the classroom? And what happens if a teacher or student exercises their perceived right to free speech and it puts students or others at risk? These are just a couple of questions we’re going to cover.

Links:

* Teachers' unions are blurring personal activism and professionalism | The Jerusalem Post, By David Smokler

* StandWithUs Supporting Israel And Fighting Antisemitism (website)

Our guest is Mark Joseph. He is Litigation Director at a group in Canada called The Democracy Fund. It’s widely considered the leading voice in the battle for free speech in Canada.

I wanted to talk to Mark about a specific bill under consideration in Canada that would enable the spread of censorship and threaten free speech in that country. It’s called the Online Harms Bill.

Links:

* The Democracy Fund Website

* Online Harms Act (official site)

* Canada Eyes Revival of Online Censorship Bill (Reclaim The Net)

Our guest is David McGarry. He is Research Director at an organization called the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. He is a pundit and a frequent contributor to magazines and news sites on a wide range of topics. He usually writes about things tied to technology, government accountability and consumer impact.

Lately, he’s been weighing in on a new law in Europe that seems targeted toward American companies and Americans online. It’s called the Digital Services Act.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (or DSA) was enacted in 2022 and just went into effect. It seeks to regulate online platforms by addressing illegal content, including hate speech and disinformation. How do you define hate speech and disinformation? That’s one of the things we’ll be talking about today.

The Digital Services Act applies to tech sites that have more than 45 million users in Europe. These sites include Twitter, or X, Meta, and Google. It requires them to conduct more comprehensive “content moderation, transparency in algorithms, and user tools to flag harmful content.”

Companies that don’t comply can be fined up 6% of their global revenue, or they may face bans in Europe.

Links:

* David McGarry at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (website)

* European Technology Policy Mistakes: Lessons for American Lawmakers | National Review by David McGarry

* The EU Wants to Censor the Global Market, Spiked