President Donald Trump has made it a priority to ensure “fairness” in media—both new and old. He isn’t waiting for Congress to act. The new leadership of the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division are eager to take action. Whether they succeed will turn on a series of complex legal questions about the authority of these agencies and how the First Amendment limits government interference in private media. Please join us for a two-day workshop exploring the constitutional limits to what government can do about “censorship” and “bias.”
When: Estimated time 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday, May 15 and Friday, May 16, 2025
Where: Competitive Enterprise Institute
1310 L St NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20005
Questions: [email protected] or 202.331.2764
Register below to attend in person and please note any allergy restrictions. Reply to [email protected] to request the live stream link for one or both days.
May 15 – Can the FTC and DOJ Police Political Bias & Content Moderation?
The leaders of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division believe these agencies can take legal action to ensure that social media companies curate and moderate content without political bias. They also want to sue advertisers for threatening to boycott platforms that won’t moderate content harmful to brands. But how do consumer protection and competition law apply to media companies? What action, if anything, could these agencies take that is consistent with the First Amendment? The FTC is taking comments on these issues until May 21.
Agenda
#1: How the First Amendment Limits Competition and Consumer Protection Law
#2: Consumer Protection: Analyzing Potential Claims
#3: Fireside Chat with Former/Fired Commissioners
#4: Competition Law: Analyzing Potential Claims
#5: Investigations, Jawboning & Remedies
Featured speakers include:
- Alden Abbott, Mercatus Center, former FTC General Counsel 2018-2021
- Corbin Barthold, TechFreedom
- Derek Bambauer, Irving Cypen Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, auth of Against Jawboning
- Commissioner 2022-2025, Alvaro Bedoya
- Neil Chilson, Abundance Institute, former Chief Technologist at the FTC, and attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen
- Bob Corn-Revere, FIRE
- Jonathan Emord began his legal career as an attorney in the FCC’s Mass Media Bureau during the Reagan Administration in 1985. Represented clients before the FTC, author of Freedom, Technology, and the First Amendment
- Dan Gilman, ICLE and former attorney advisor, FTC Office of Policy Planning
- Laura Kim, Covington and former Assistant Director in two divisions of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, as well as Chief of Staff in the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Attorney Advisor to former Chairman William E. Kovacic
- William Kovacic, former FTC Commissioner 2006-2011, FTC Chair 2008 to 2009
- Casey Mattox, Stand Together
- Doug Melamed, former DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
- Maneesha Mithal, Wilson Sonsini
- Kate Ruane, CDT
- Rebecca Slaughter, Commissioner 2018-2025, Acting FTC Chair 2021
May 16 – Can the FCC Police Political Bias and Reshape Content Moderation?
The Federal Communications Commission has initiated investigations into Republican allegations that broadcasters are biased against them, including news coverage in the 2024 election. Meanwhile, the FCC is poised to act on the Trump administration’s 2020 petition asking the FCC to reinterpret Section 230. Under this reinterpretation, social media companies would face endless litigation unless they drastically reduce content moderation to avoid fact-checking, labeling toxic content, or taking other actions that could be characterized as “censorship.”
Agenda
#1: Commissioner Anna Gomez
#2: The Fairness Doctrine Then & Now
#3: Broadcast Licenses
#4: Media Transaction Review
#5: Would the FCC’s 230 Rule Violate the First Amendment?
#6: FCC Authority over Tech Companies
#7: Investigations, Jawboning & Remedies
Features speakers include:
- Anna Gomez, FCC Commissioner 2023-present
- Enrique Armijo, Elon University School of Law
- John Bergmayer, Public Knowledge
- Clay Calvert, Professor Emeritus University of Florida, AEI
- Jim Dunstan, TechFreedom
- Jerry Fritz, Chief of Staff to former FCC Commissioners Mark Fowler and Dennis Patrick and former Director of the National Association of Broadcasters
- Paul Matzko, Cato Institute, author of The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement
- Harold Feld, Public Knowledge
- Ari Holtzblatt, WilmerHale
- Jennifer Huddleston, Cato Institute
- Tejas Narechania, UC Berkeley Law
- Gigi Sohn
- Larry Spiwak, Phoenix Center
- Jeff Westling, American Action Forum