State of the First Amendment Address to focus on free speech in online gaming, social media

Genelle Belmas, media law professor and First Amendment expert at the University of Kansas, will deliver the State of the First Amendment Address at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. The title of the address is “Wizards, Sentinels, and Mods: What Gamers Can Teach Social Media About Free Speech.”

The address is free to the public and the University of Kentucky community live via Zoom. The Zoom link will be posted on the day of the event at https://ci.uky.edu/jam/state-first-amendment-address.

Belmas, an associate professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, teaches media law, media ethics, qualitative research methods and gamification. Her research primarily focuses on media law and ethics. Several appellate and Supreme Court briefs have cited her work, which appears in Yale Journal of Online Law and Technology, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal, Federal Communications Law Journal, Journal of Mass Media Ethics and Communications Law and Policy. She is the lead co-author of “Major Principles of Media Law.” She earned her bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin, master's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin and doctoral degree in mass communication from the University of Minnesota. She’s also an avid gamer.

This year’s address coincides with the offering of a new minor in video game design and development offered by the College of Communication and Information’s School of Journalism and Media. UK's Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, housed in the school, is the sponsor of the address, delivered annually in celebration of First Amendment rights.