Institute of Politics

One of President Trump's first executive orders sought to restore "freedom of speech" by ending pressure on social media companies to moderate content. Since then, he has announced plans to use law enforcement and regulation to "investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations.” Further, his FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has threatened to seize the media licenses of major television networks; took issue with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in a dispute that led to the show being temporarily halted; suggested the F.C.C. investigate a daytime talk show due to its political content; and recently threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of networks over unfavorable coverage of the Iran war. Is the First Amendment under threat, as critics suggest, or is this simply the latest chapter in a long pattern of executive overreach?

Featuring Adam Liptak, Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent for The New York Times in conversation with UChicago law professor William Baude. Co-presented with the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School.