The Hoover Institution Center for Revitalizing American Institutions webinar series features speakers who are developing innovative ideas, conducting groundbreaking research, and taking important actions to improve trust and efficacy in American institutions. Speaker expertise and topics span governmental institutions, civic organizations and practice, and the role of public opinion and culture in shaping our democracy. The webinar series builds awareness about how we can individually and collectively revitalize American institutions to ensure our country’s democracy delivers on its promise.

The sixth session will discuss How Foreign Speech Restrictions Affect American Free Expression with Jacob Mchangama and Eugene Volokh on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, from 10:00 - 11:00 am PT.

Much of our speech to each other uses technology created by companies that operate throughout the world such as Google, Meta (Facebook), X, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. Because these companies operate worldwide, they are potentially vulnerable to pressures from the countries in which they operate—if Google has assets or people in Germany or Turkey, then the German or Turkish government can force them to comply with German or Turkish law.

So long as countries have tried to regulate what tech companies do in their countries (e.g., what information Google shows to readers in Germany or Turkey), foreign restrictions end up having relatively little effect on what Americans can say to other Americans. But foreign countries are increasingly asking for worldwide restraints on things that are said on various multinational platforms (for instance, anything said anywhere about those countries’ citizens or politicians), sharply risking undermining American’s free speech rights.

WATCH THE WEBINAR

How Foreign Speech Restrictions Affect American Free Expression

Upcoming Events

Thursday, April 3, 2025
Banks and Beyond
Banks and Beyond
The Hoover Institution hosts Banks and Beyond on April 3-4, 2025.  Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Taiwan
Trump And Taiwan: A Big, Beautiful Relationship Or The Deal Maker’s Ultimate Bargaining Chip?
Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region hosting Trump and Taiwan: A Big, Beautiful Relationship or the Deal Maker’s Ultimate Bargaining Chip? on Tuesday,… Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building
Thursday, April 10, 2025 12:00 PM PT
Black and white photograph of a US Navy Seabee exploring a monument on Okinawa durring WWII
Sightseeing At Wars End: WWII Okinawa As Seen In The Bellantoni Papers
A gallery talk about the photographs of US Navy Seabee Natale Bellantoni, taken on Okinawa at the end of WWII, will be presented free to the public… Lou Henry Hoover Gallery, Hoover Tower
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