Tuesday, April 30, 2019:  5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

As the nation's debate over restrictions on hate speech continues, social media platforms are scrambling to define acceptable speech online. What is hate speech? Why is hate speech finding especially fruitful ground in social media, and what harms are being caused by it? Who should decide the difference between free speech and hate speech? To what extent can or should the government get involved? Are social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook subject to the First Amendment? Constitutional law scholars and legal experts debate these and related questions.

Presented by:

Beverly White, General Assignment Reporter, NBC4 Southern California
Beverly White joined NBC4 Southern California as a general assignment reporter in 1992 and can be seen weekdays on NBC4 News at 5p.m., 6p.m. and 11 p.m. An accomplished journalist with nearly 40 years of experience, White has covered a wide variety of breaking local and national stories for NBC4, including the Northridge earthquake; the salon mass murders in Seal Beach, CA; the theater killings in Aurora, CO; the death of music icon Prince in Minneapolis, MN; and floods, wildfires and mudslides in Southern California, including the deadly disaster in Montecito. White continues to share her time and talent with colleges and community and civic groups. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. White was the past president of the local affiliate chapter, the Black Journalists Association of Southern California. White holds a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Los Angeles and enjoys traveling with her husband, a fellow journalist.

Ted Boutrous, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, is global Co-Chair of the firm's Litigation Group. He has argued more than 100 appeals, including before the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Boutrous has successfully persuaded courts to overturn some of the largest jury verdicts in history, including the largest defamation verdict of all time. Mr. Boutrous has extensive experience handling high-profile litigation, media relations and First Amendment issues. According to The National Law Journal, which in 2013 named him one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," he "is known for his wise, strategic advice to clients in crisis and is a media law star."

Rick Eaton, Senior Researcher, Simon Wiesenthal Center
Rick Eaton is a Senior Researcher with the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance. As Co-Director of the Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate Project he has supervised the production of 21 editions of the Digital Terror and Hate interactive report and regularly meets with Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social networking companies. Rick has worked extensively with California P.O.S.T. (Peace Officer Standards and Training) and been a subject-matter expert on 11 "Tele-Courses" produced by P.OS.T. and DHS. Rick has twice testified in Congressional hearings and conducted many staff briefings on Capitol Hill. In his 33 years with SWC he has conducted hundreds of training sessions with law-enforcement civic groups and schools.

Barry McDonald, Professor of Law, Pepperdine Law School
Professor McDonald teaches courses in constitutional law, First Amendment law, comparative constitutional law, intellectual property law and contracts law. He is a recognized expert on constitutional law and the U.S. Supreme Court, and is frequently interviewed or writes in such major media outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox News, and National Public Radio. A recognized scholar in the area of constitutional and First Amendment law, he has published numerous articles and essays in academic law journals since joining the Pepperdine faculty in 2000. His current projects include a book on the U.S. Constitution entitled Our Dangerous Written Constitution.

Erroll G. Southers, Professor of the Practice in National and Homeland Security, USC Price School of Public Policy
Dr. Erroll G. Southers is a former FBI Special Agent, Professor of the Practice in National and Homeland Security, Director of the Safe Communities Institute and Director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California (USC) Sol Price School of Public Policy. Dr. Southers was President Barack Obama's first nominee for Transportation Security Administration Assistant Secretary and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Deputy Director for Critical Infrastructure of the California Office of Homeland Security. As the author of Homegrown Violent Extremism, he is a noted counterterrorism expert and security analyst to a variety of media networks, lectures and consults around the world.

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LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.