{"id":348479,"date":"2025-12-17T19:38:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/free-speech-unmuted-does-the-first-amendment-protect-supposedly-addictive-algorithms-with-matthew-lawrence\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T19:38:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:38:57","slug":"free-speech-unmuted-does-the-first-amendment-protect-supposedly-addictive-algorithms-with-matthew-lawrence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=348479","title":{"rendered":"Free Speech Unmuted: Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly &#8220;Addictive&#8221; Algorithms?, with Matthew Lawrence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>Can the government regulate social media features because they are &#8220;addictive&#8221;? Jane Bambauer and I talk with Emory Law professor Matthew Lawrence about whether features like infinite scroll, personalized feeds, &#8220;near-miss&#8221; reward patterns, and dopamine-driven engagement tactics are comparable to gambling or even drug addiction\u2014and whether that means the government can step in. The conversation digs into current lawsuits, whether there&#8217;s a constitutionally significant difference between content and design, how addiction is defined in law and neuroscience, and what First Amendment limits exist when regulating digital platforms. A smart, fast-moving discussion for anyone curious about the future of free speech, tech regulation, and the psychology behind our screens.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Our past episodes:<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-8361345\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Nmm5p_LkYBs\">Defamation Law in the Age of AI with Lyrissa Lidsky<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/bgXWOpOMaKM\">From Brandenburg to Britain: Rethinking Free Speech in the Digital Era with Eric Heinze<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/09\/09\/free-speech-unmuted-a-conversation-with-fires-greg-lukianoff\/\">A Conversation with FIRE&#8217;s Greg Lukianoff<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/08\/29\/free-speech-unmuted-president-trumps-executive-order-on-flag-desecration\/\">Free Speech Unmuted: President Trump&#8217;s Executive Order on Flag Desecration<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/08\/18\/free-speech-unmuted-free-speech-and-doxing\/\">Free Speech and Doxing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/07\/02\/free-speech-unmuted-the-supreme-court-rules-on-protecting-kids-from-sexually-themed-speech-online\/\">The Supreme Court Rules on Protecting Kids from Sexually Themed Speech Online<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/06\/09\/free-speech-unmuted-free-speech-public-school-students-and-there-are-only-two-genders\/\">Free Speech, Public School Students, and &#8220;There Are Only Two Genders&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/05\/09\/free-speech-unmuted-can-ai-companies-be-sued-for-what-ai-says\/\">Can AI Companies Be Sued for What AI Says?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/04\/23\/free-speech-unmuted-harvard-vs-trump-free-speech-and-government-grants\/\">Harvard vs. Trump: Free Speech and Government Grants<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6Fqn7JwOtXk&amp;t=1s\">Trump&#8217;s War on Big Law<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FgaMp6ofpYA\">Can Non-Citizens Be Deported For Their Speech?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rXIVO1QVdvw\">Freedom of the Press, with Floyd Abrams<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/A5Yy4CcTBRc\">Free\u00a0Speech, Private Power, and Private Employees<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/U0c4TWVxgTs\">Court Upholds TikTok Divestiture Law<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Sbv89CPgA-o\">Free\u00a0Speech\u00a0in European (and Other) Democracies, with Prof. Jacob Mchangama<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mXVOMepZRdM\">Protests, Public Pressure Campaigns, Tort Law, and the First Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ewy_KO8qLNc\">Misinformation: Past, Present, and Future<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_3H_9niTQgA\">I Know It When I See It:\u00a0Free\u00a0Speech\u00a0and Obscenity Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Brgt0wnLRaA\">Speech\u00a0and Violence<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/DZvdm88uhsk\">Emergency Podcast: The Supreme Court&#8217;s Social Media Cases<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/p3g3Le-mXA4\">Internet Policy and\u00a0Free\u00a0Speech: A Conversation with Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tKWqi-ghGuI\">Free\u00a0Speech, TikTok (and Bills of Attainder!), with Prof. Alan\u00a0Rozenshtein<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/xgRb57r_azg\">The 1st Amendment on Campus with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/oRQgfVTzh7Q\">Free\u00a0Speech\u00a0On Campus<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5q115isFswk\">AI and\u00a0Free\u00a0Speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7XdwJZs88e4\">Free\u00a0Speech, Government Persuasion, and Government Coercion<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/moLCz7C6_gQ\">Deplatformed: The Supreme Court Hears\u00a0Social Media\u00a0Oral Arguments<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wef9x9QeEmc\">Book Bans \u2013 or Are They?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2025\/12\/17\/free-speech-unmuted-does-the-first-amendment-protect-supposedly-addictive-algorithms-with-matthew-lawrence\/\">Free Speech Unmuted: Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly &quot;Addictive&quot; Algorithms?, with Matthew Lawrence<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\">Reason.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can the government regulate social media features because they are &#8220;addictive&#8221;? Jane Bambauer and I talk with Emory Law professor Matthew Lawrence about whether features like infinite scroll, personalized feeds, &#8220;near-miss&#8221; reward patterns, and dopamine-driven engagement tactics are comparable to gambling or even drug addiction\u2014and whether that means the government can step in. The conversation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97860],"tags":[8514,19302,20346,807,8373,3967,7836,1409,8376,81604,170536],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-348479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-speech","tag-addictive","tag-algorithms","tag-amendment","tag-free","tag-free-speech","tag-lawrence","tag-matthew","tag-protect","tag-speech","tag-supposedly","tag-unmuted"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Free Speech Unmuted: Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly &quot;Addictive&quot; Algorithms?, with Matthew Lawrence - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=348479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free Speech Unmuted: Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly &quot;Addictive&quot; Algorithms?, with Matthew Lawrence - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can the government regulate social media features because they are &#8220;addictive&#8221;? Jane Bambauer and I talk with Emory Law professor Matthew Lawrence about whether features like infinite scroll, personalized feeds, &#8220;near-miss&#8221; reward patterns, and dopamine-driven engagement tactics are comparable to gambling or even drug addiction\u2014and whether that means the government can step in. 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