Speech, Globalism, and Sovereignty
Event Details
February 15, 2025 | 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Southwestern Law School Campus | Salle Moderne
3050 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010
5 hours CLE
Concept Statement:
“Of all the simplifications to which the human spirit naturally inclines, unable to reconcile itself to the complexity of the real, there is none more dangerous than the attempt to integrate the whole of society in one vast, permanent action group.”
― Bertrand De Jouvenel, Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good.
As the world moves into the mid-21st century, tensions have surfaced between globalists and nationalists over the issue of sovereignty. And nowhere has this been more publicly amplified than in so-called culture war issues. Many of these conflicts are rooted in rights to free speech, control of media, and creative expression. De Jouvenel wrote the above passage in the immediate post-World War II era, when democratic Europe was moving to consolidate its economic and political power into an entity now known as the European Union. In this century, there has been considerable push-back within the European Union to the grand bargain of political and economic unity, marked by national resistance to certain EU harmonization initiatives and the exertion of political nationalism that have led to a resurgence of the right among some member states and Brexit.
De Jouvenet journeyed between the right and left during his life, sometimes controversially. This symposium, however, does not court a particular political viewpoint. And the only controversy sought is that which comes from scholarly, evidence-based debate. To be clear, this is not a symposium on De Jouvenet; nor is it limited to submissions engaging the European experience, which is included here as an example of the tensions that the symposium hopes to explore.
Schedule of Events
9:00 a.m. — Breakfast
Check-in at the registration desk and enjoy light refreshments.
9:30 a.m. — Welcome & Opening Remarks
Professor Michael M. Epstein, Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law, and Ernesto Bustinza, Journal of International Law, officially open the symposium with a warm welcome and introductory remarks.
10:00 a.m. — Morning Session I
- Russell L. Weaver: Sovereignty and Speech in an Internet Era
- Dimitrios Parashu: Contemporary Matters of Cancelling Culture and EU Law
11:00 a.m. — Break
30 minute break.
11:30 a.m. — Morning Session II
- Valentina Faggiani: Freedom of Information and Rule of Law Backsliding in the European Union
- Julia Hornle: Jurisdiction, Sovereignty and National (cyber-)Security in the Context of Disinformation
12:30 p.m. — Lunch
Lunch break.
1:30 p.m. — Keynote Address
- Dr. András Koltay: European Union Media and Platform Regulations, the Autonomy of Member States and the Brussels Effect
2:15 p.m. — Afternoon Session
- Michael Losavio: Computing Power, Sovereign Nations and Sovereign Peoples
- Kate Weaver: Secularism Unveiled: A Comparison Analysis of French Laïcité and the American First Amendment
3:15 p.m. — Closing Remarks
The symposium concludes with final remarks, reflecting on the key insights and discussions from the day.
- Speakers
András Koltay — Keynote Speaker
European Union Media and Platform Regulations, the Autonomy of Member States and the Brussels EffectDr. András Koltay is a research professor at the University of Public Service (Budapest). He is also a professor of law at Pázmány Péter Catholic University Faculty of Law and Political Sciences in Budapest, Hungary.
His recent monograph on free speech is New Media and Freedom of Expression (Hart 2019).
Valentina Faggiani
Freedom of Information and Rule of Law Backsliding in the European UnionValentina Faggiani is an Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Granada (Spain).
Her research expertise includes European Constitutional Law, Spanish Constitutional Law, protection of fundamental rights from a multilevel perspective, European Criminal Law, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, international criminal justice, rule of law backsliding, and the legal aspects of Artificial Intelligence.
Julia Hornle
Jurisdiction, Sovereignty and National (cyber-)Security in the Context of DisinformationProfessor Julia Hörnle has held the Chair of Internet Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London since 2013.
Her research areas are Cyberspace Law & Digital Rights, Internet Regulation, Jurisdiction of States Online and Online Dispute Resolution. She examines from a critical-analytical perspective the law related to the internet, cloud computing, social media and artificial intelligence. Recent research focuses on the regulation of social media, the liability of intermediaries for user-generated content, and the use of artificial intelligence for content moderation online.
Michael Losavio
Computing Power, Sovereign Nations and Sovereign PeoplesMichael Losavio teaches in the Department of Criminal Justice and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. on issues of law, society and information assurance in the computer engineering and justice administration disciplines. His focus is on law and social sciences as they relate to computer engineering, evidence and digital forensics. Courses include Digital and Computer Crime, Transnational Cybercrime and Legal Issues with Data Mining and Information Assurance.
He holds a J.D. and a B.S. in Mathematics from Louisiana State University, Louisiana, U.S.A. He lectured on computer law and crime at Perm State University in 2013 as a Fulbright Specialist.Dimitrios Parashu
Contemporary Matters of Cancelling Culture and EU LawDimitrios Parashu is a Greek legal scholar. Since May 2023 he has been a private lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the Leibniz University Hannover, and since November 2023, an honorary professor (Distinguished Visiting International Professor) at the Symbiosis Law School Pune.
In May 2024, he became an (Honorary) Adjunct Professor of Law, Curtin University School of Law.
Kate Weaver
Secularism Unveiled: A Comparison Analysis of French Laïcité and the American First AmendmentKate Weaver is an immigration attorney and immigrant justice corps fellow at Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Portland, Maine. Her current role includes representing asylum seekers and immigrant victims of abuse and trafficking. She holds a J.D. from Duke Law. Her research interests include free speech, immigration enforcement, asylum, family separation, integration of immigrant communities, immigration litigation, French law, and the fourth amendment.
Russell L. Weaver
Sovereignty and Speech in an Internet Era Russell L. Weaver is Professor of Law and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.
The author of hundreds of books and articles, Professor Weaver has been a visiting professor at law schools in France, Hungary, Portugal, England, Germany, Japan, Australia and Canada.
- CLE Materials
CLE Materials coming soon!
The Southwestern Journal of International Law is an honors publications edited by students at Southwestern Law School.
The Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law is a faculty-edited journal published by the Donald E. Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute at Southwestern Law School, in cooperation with the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law, and the ABA’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries.