‘Weaponisation of the First Amendment: Trump administration using legal tools to stifle free speech’

In a media landscape already weathering fierce storms of disinformation, polarization, and political theater, today’s conversation asks us to step back and ask something deeper: What happens when the very concept of free speech is turned against itself? Our guest, Dr. Stefania Di Stefano, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Métiers, has been tracking a pattern she calls “unprecedented on many levels”: the use of legal and regulatory tactics not to protect free expression, but to stifle it. From multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuits targeting major outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, to threats by federal officials against broadcasters like CBS, and ABC / Disney, Dr. Stefano argues we are witnessing nothing less than the weaponisation of the First Amendment.