Acknowledgments

As my thoughts about the role of social media in society have evolved and sharpened over the past five years over which I wrote this book, I benefited from conversations, feedback, and guidance from a huge number of people, all of whom I cannot possibly name here. But thanks are due in particular to Enrique Armijo, Jane Bambauer, Joseph Blocher, Alan Chen, Erin Carroll, Chris Elmendorf, Greg Magarian, Helen Norton, Alex Tsesis, and Jim Weinstein for guidance, feedback, and excellent conversations which deeply shaped this book. Special thanks to Eugene Volokh not only for feedback throughout the time I wrote this book but also for inviting me to become an Executive Editor for a new journal he created, The Journal of Free Speech Law, which has provided a key venue for me to work out my thoughts on the subject of social media. Thanks also to Jose Ayala-Artiga and Christine Hanon for exemplary research assistance that helped shape this project. Thanks to my colleagues at the UC Davis School of Law and to Deans Afra Afsharipour, Jessica Berg, Kevin Johnson, and Donna Shestowsky for their support and kindness, and for creating an almost perfect environment in which to do creative work. Finally, thanks to my family – Shannon, Uma, and Declan – for tolerating me even when writing made me close to unbearable.

This book is dedicated to them and to my broader family, including the family we have chosen over the years (you know who you are). You are the people who make everything that I do not only possible but worth doing.

Portions of this book, before revisions, appeared in the following articles and chapters. I would like to thank the journals and editors I have worked with over the years for helping to make my work better.

The New Gatekeepers?: Social Media and the “Search for Truth,” 3 J. Free Speech L. 41 (2023), reprinted in Media and Society After Technological Disruption (Kyle Langvardt and Justin (Gus) Hurwitz, eds., 2024)

Why Social Media Platforms Are Not Common Carriers, 2 J. Free Speech L. 127 (2022)

Do Platforms Have Editorial Rights?, 1 J. Free Speech L. 97 (2021)

The Law of Facebook, 54 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 2353 (2021)