Beyond the First Podcast, with First Amendment scholar Chris Terry.

I’m going to say something that sounds dramatic, but I mean it plainly: 2025 is the year the internet’s First Amendment footing started to shift. It’s not because speech disappeared or because the government passed one giant “censorship law.” But because the Supreme Court signaled – quietly and almost politely – that the internet may no longer get the kind of “newspaper-level” protection many of us have assumed since the late 1990s.

And once that protection starts wobbling, everything else gets easier to regulate.

If you felt this year like free speech became less “a right” and more “terms and conditions apply,” you’re not crazy. What you’re noticing is a structural change.

In my latest Beyond the First podcast episode, I talk with my friend, and University of Minnesota media law scholar, Chris Terry about why the Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton is being mis-sold to the public. Most people hear: “Oh, that’s the porn case.” Texas passed an age verification law so kids can’t access adult sites. End of story, right? Common sense. Protect children. Move on.

But that’s not what makes this case consequential. So if you want to understand what actually changed in 2025, and what’s about to get tested in 2026, sit down and listen. This episode will give you the framework, not just the headlines. And I promise: you’ll walk away with better questions.

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