“Breaking News: First Amendment on Trial,” the theme of the Elon Law Review’s 2025 annual symposium, will take place Friday, Sept. 19, with lawyers, scholars and journalists discussing current challenges to our core freedoms.
More than 100 attorneys, advocates and scholars will convene at Elon University School of Law as experts in the law and technology examine current challenges to the First Amendment and the press.
Registration has closed for the Elon Law Review’s 2025 Symposium, “Breaking News: First Amendment on Trial,” which will be held on Friday, Sept. 19, at Elon Law’s downtown Greensboro campus.
The law review’s annual symposium brings together legal and subject-matter experts to explore leading-edge legal topics from a variety of angles. This year’s symposium will explore the evolving challenges facing freedom of the press, free speech, and the role of social media and artificial intelligence in shaping public discourse.
Speakers & Panelists
Keynote address:
“The Great Scramble: How 20 Years of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence has Changed Politics, Society, and Free Speech”
- Siva Vaidhyanathan, Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia
First Amendment Litigation
- Amanda Martin, clinical professor of law and supervising attorney, First Amendment Clinic at Duke University School of Law
- Evan Ringel, assistant professor of media law, Department of Communications at Appalachian State University
- Lauren Gailey, assistant professor, Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University
Moderated by Enrique Armijo, professor of law, Elon Law
Free Speech and the Press
- The Hon. John G. Browning, distinguished jurist in residence at Faulkner University Thomas Goode Jones School of Law
- Kevin Frazier, AI innovation and law fellow at University of Texas at Austin
- Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, School of Communications at Elon University
Moderated by Patricia Perkins, associate dean for Academic Affairs and associate professor of law, Elon Law
Social Media, Censorship, and AI
- Jeff Horwitz, tech investigations reporter, Reuters
- Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University
Moderated by David Levine, professor of law, Elon Law
In addition to keynote and panel presentations, the symposium will feature remarks from Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer, Chief Symposium Editor Yates May L’25, Co-Symposium Editors Saniya Pangare L’25 and Cameron Riordan L’25, and Elon Law Review Editor-in-Chief Anna Thomas L’25.