WASHINGTON (Freedom Forum) — Ashkhen Kazaryan is Freedom Forum’s new fellow for the First Amendment. She is a tech policy expert specializing in digital free speech, artificial intelligence, and the intersection of constitutional rights and technology. Kazaryan has a Master of Law degree from Yale Law School and is completing her doctorate in law at the Law School of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Learn more about Kazaryan’s background and expertise here.
Your career has had a particular focus on tech policy and free speech. What do you think are the biggest issues in this area of the law currently?
There are quite a few, but I’ll give you three. First, repeated government attempts to regulate online speech are justified in their eyes by the scale and global nature of the internet. This is further complicated by constant innovation such as recent developments in the generative AI space. Constant innovation and new mediums for speech raise novel legal and ethical dilemmas we, as a society, need to address.
Second, the ongoing debates around Section 230 remain central. As the law that “created the internet,” Section 230 enables platforms to moderate content responsibly without the chilling effects of excessive liability. Efforts to reform or repeal it risk overly moderating or significantly restricting user generated content, which could stifle the diversity of voices and innovation that define the open web.
Third, the balkanization of the internet risks fragmenting the global digital landscape as countries impose conflicting regulations on content moderation, data localization and platform governance. This trend threatens the internet’s openness and interoperability, creating isolated digital ecosystems that stifle free expression and limit innovation.
Governments have always struggled to regulate new technologies in a way that doesn’t violate the First Amendment. Do you agree? If so, why do you think this is the case?
