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Misinformation and Free Speech: A Dangerous Liaison

Date and Time

Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) (UTC-05:00)

Location

Peierels Room
Unitarian Universalist Congregation
67 Church St
Montclair , NJ   07042
USA

Event Contact(s)

Donna Ward
973-567-9044 (c)

Category

Guest Speaker

Registration Info

Registration is closed - Event is full

About this event

Misinformation is now so commonplace that it has become hard to discriminate between it and legitimate information. The problem is exacerbated by the First Amendment to the US Constitution which has been interpreted to honor misinformation, even disinformation and hate speech, as free speech. How are we to understand this apparent anomaly, viz. that American law welcomes public, discursive means that undermine its political authority ? Understanding the history of free speech in the United States is key. This may help our acceptance of public speech that is both free and harmful.

Our Guest speaker: Prof. John Wallach , Hunter College & The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, expert in political thought, democratic ethics, human rights, and political interpretation. Recent seminar, “the Constitutional History of Misinformation” at the New York Historical Society.