Advanced study in law and society with specific topics to be announced.

From the response to Covid19, through the mainstreaming of Black Lives Matter to voting by mail, everything in our public discourse has become highly politicized and partisan. Where does the information that fuels these debates come from and how can tell if its reliable? Where do all the false ideas come from and why is fake news so easily disseminated? Can President Trump really regulate Twitter? One of the goals of media law should be to provide for a reason based and well informed public discourse. However, the law has done little to adapt to the dramatic changes in the media landscape over the past twenty years. Many democracies are struggling with finding the proper legal and regulatory mechanisms to balance the various rights and interests in this new world. This is especially true in politicized, and growingly polarized, societies where shared understandings of basic values such as freedom of speech and of the press are coming into question. This course will provoke you to think of current debates on media and free speech through the lens of their impact on political public discourse. It will analyze contemporary dilemmas regarding the regulation of the media, free flow of information and social networks, through 21st century cases in Israel and the US. Topics will include: Access to government information, Transparency in the media and tech companies, regulation of online media, political funding and advertising and libel. The 3-hour sessions will be split into lecture/Q&As, break and then more experiential activities, small group discussion and debates/role plays.

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Requirements class fulfills