In today’s episode, Rick and Sam are joined by William & Mary law school professor Laura Heymann to discuss Section 230, which recently has been in the news as people across the political spectrum have called for its repeal. The conversation begins by examining the nature and intent of Section 230 and why internet content is treated differently from newspaper or book publishers. The discussion then dives deeper into the implications of Section 230 on the First Amendment and free speech generally, along with the costs and benefits of social media and internet content as it relates to civil discourse.
Laura Heymann is Chancellor Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School. Prior to joining the faculty in 2005, Professor Heymann was the inaugural Frank H. Marks Visiting Associate Professor of Law and Administrative Fellow in the Intellectual Property Law Program at The George Washington University Law School. She has also served as an assistant general counsel at America Online, Inc., and as an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering in Washington, D.C. She also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Professor Heymann has received several awards for her teaching and served as Vice Dean of the William & Mary Law School from 2013 to 2017. She has published numerous scholarly articles in the areas of copyright law, trademark law, and naming, including recently “The Satellite Has No Conscience: Section 230 in a World of ‘Alternative Facts’.”
Sam Scinta is President and Founder of IM Education, a non-profit, and Lecturer in Political Science at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Viterbo University.
Rick Kyte is Endowed Professor and Director of the DB Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University.
Music compliments of Bobby Bridger- “Rendezvous” from A Ballad of the West
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