Policy Forum 

# How Does Government Jawboning Threaten Speech? 

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Date and Time 

October 26, 2022 12 - 1 PM EDT 

Location 

Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 

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##### Featuring 

![Adam Kovacevich headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-10/adam-kovacevich.png?itok=BCl8qHnW) 

Adam Kovacevich 

CEO, Chamber of Progress

[ 

](https://twitter.com/adamkovac) 

![Jenin Younes headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-10/Jenin-Younes-1.jpeg?itok=bXWCOy9r) 

Jenin Younes 

Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance

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](https://twitter.com/Leftylockdowns1) 

[![Media Name: duffield-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/duffield-cropped.jpg?itok=ZEt-E-lJ)](/people/will-duffield) 

[Will Duffield](/people/will-duffield)

Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://twitter.com/will_duffield) 

The public’s reliance on social media platforms has created new opportunities for censorship by proxy, despite the First Amendment’s prohibition on government speech regulation. Will Duffield’s recent policy analysis “[Jawboning against Speech: How Government Bullying Shapes the Rules of Social Media](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/jawboning-against-speech)” details how government officials increasingly use informal pressure to compel the suppression of disfavored speakers on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

However, the specifics of this bullying, and what to do about it, remain contested. Does jawboning require a threat? When can coordination between platforms and government be voluntary? Solutions to jawboning must respect platforms’ rights and cannot inhibit congressional debate. What, then, can be done?

Please join Will Duffield, Adam Kovacevich, and Jenin Younes at the Cato Institute or online for a conversation about this novel threat to free speech.

(Lunch to follow)

![Policy Analysis - 934 - Cover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2022-09/policy-analysis-934-cover.png?itok=o7CI07wT) 

##### Featured Study 

### [Jawboning against Speech](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/jawboning-against-speech)

Government officials use informal pressure — bullying, threatening, and cajoling — to sway the decisions of private platforms and limit the publication of disfavored speech. The use of this informal pressure, known as jawboning, is growing.

[Read the Policy Analysis](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/jawboning-against-speech) 

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