Shrexting: Free Speech or Criminal Harassment? | Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer | Hoover Institution

Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer tackle one of the strangest First Amendment controversies imaginable: whether sending a sexually explicit image of Shrek to a politician can constitute criminal harassment. Using an Ohio case involving a blogger and a state senator as their starting point, they explore the constitutional boundaries between protected offensive speech and criminally punishable harassment, the rights of unwilling listeners, the special status of public officials under the First Amendment, and how courts have struggled to adapt decades-old free speech principles to an era of texts, emails, and smartphones. Subscribe for the latest on free speech, censorship, social media, AI, and the evolving role of the First Amendment in today’s proverbial town square.