Ideas on Tap community conversation at Concord’s newest brewery, Feathered Friend Brewing

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(Concord, NH) June 2022 – New Hampshire Humanities invites the public to its next Ideas on Tap program, This Post Has Been Flagged: Free Speech & Social Media, on Monday, June 27, 5:30-7:30 pm at Feathered Friend Brewing, 231 South Main Street, Concord. Ideas on Tap is a series of “bite-sized conversations about big ideas.” Tickets are $15 per person and include appetizers and one beverage (beer, wine, or non-alcoholic beverage). For more information, visit www.nhhumanities.org/ideas.

Who should regulate online speech—states or social media companies? This spring, Texas passed a law preventing companies like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok from discriminating against online expression by removing content, generating broader questions about states’ powers to regulate speech on social media platforms. In court, these tech companies argued that the law was unconstitutional because they exercise editorial discretion, as publishers, protected under the First Amendment. While the Supreme Court blocked the law from taking effect in an emergency ruling, the case has been appealed, and continues to make its way through the courts. The final decision will carry significant implications for proposed legislation in other states, including New Hampshire.

At this Ideas on Tap, we’ll unpack these tangled issues in conversation with legal experts and legislature watchers. Our panelists will help us think about states’ obligations to their citizens, whether they can regulate social media companies, and if state laws can limit companies’ First Amendment rights.

Panelists include Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition; John Greabe, director of the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service; Nick Capodice, co-host of NHPR's Civics 101; and Anna Brown, Director of Research & Analysis at Citizens Count. The program will be moderated by Meg Mott, Ph.D., Professor of Politics Emerita and Town Moderator, Putney, VT.

The Ideas on Tap series is made possible by the Mellon Foundation.