The Eternal Return of Common Carriage

In this week’s episode of Exformation, Will and Caden talk about the latest CGO work on Internet regulation focused on recent proposals to implement common carriage regulation over online speech. As they stand today, social media platforms are innovations in communications technology that have connected us beyond imagination. But outside of Silicon Valley are calls for regulatory control that echo the fear and mistrust of private actors felt in the past. In that regard, social media is merely an extension of communications technologies that have come before unless we break from the pattern of regulating our platforms for speech when they reach prominence.

Show Notes

  • Caden Rosenbaum, Putting Internet Policy Back into Perspective, Benchmark (Jul. 1, 2021) [link].
  • Eugene Volokh, Social Media Platforms as Common Carriers?, Journal of Free Speech and Law (Draft Jul. 5, 2021) [link].
  • Trial of John Peter Zenger (NY, 1735) [link].
  • Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom: On Free Speech in an Electronic Age (1983) [link].
  • G.J. Mulgan, Communication and Control, Networks and the New Economies of Communication (1991) [link].
  • District Court of Florida grants preliminary injunction in Florida Common Carriage Case (June 30, 2021) [link]
CGO scholars and fellows frequently comment on a variety of topics for the popular press. The views expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for Growth and Opportunity or the views of Utah State University.