MACON – Mercer University School of Law will host the 2021 Mercer Law Review Symposium, titled “Social Media Platforms and Free Expression,” on Friday, Oct. 8. The symposium, which is free and open to the public as a webinar, will take place from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Online registration is required to attend.
This year’s symposium theme will discuss the current conflicts between social media platforms and constitutional liberties under the First Amendment. Topics will include theoretical issues such as First Amendment realism, everyday application for minors and censorship of everyday social media users.
“To appreciate the timeliness of this symposium, all anyone needs to do is think about the current news stories about whether Facebook is acting responsibly as a social media platform and about the uses to which social media were put in planning and coordinating the shocking events of Jan. 6 in the nation’s capital,” said Gary J. Simson, Macon Chair in Law and symposium speaker. “The symposium brings together an outstanding group of faculty from the United States and Europe with expertise to explore the various important First Amendment and policy aspects of this subject.”
Symposium participants include:
- Jon M. Garon, professor of law, Nova Southeastern University
- RonNell Anderson Jones, professor of law, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
- Dr. András Koltay, faculty of law and political Sciences, Pázmány Péter Catholic University
- Set Oranburg, associate professor of law, Duquense University School of Law
- Eric J. Segall, professor of law, Georgia State University
- Gary J. Simson, professor of law, Mercer University
- Russell Weaver, professor of law, University of Louisville
Commentators include Sue Painter-Thorne, professor of law, Mercer University, and Margaret Hu, professor of law and international affairs, Penn State Law.
The virtual event is approved for four-and-a-half continuing legal education (CLE) hours by the State Bar of Georgia, including one ethics hour and one professionalism hour. Attendees seeking CLE credit can register online and will be responsible for paying the Georgia State Bar directly for CLE credit.
Mercer Law Review is the oldest continuously published law review journal in the state of Georgia, publishing four journals annually and hosting the annual Law Review Symposium each fall semester.
