The key dynamic here is that First Amendment jurisprudence, especially over the last two decades, has reflected a “conservative-libertarian” interpretation of First Amendment rights. As constitutional law scholar Steven Heyman suggests, “In recent decades, the First Amendment has become one of the most important means by which judges have sought to advance a conservative-libertarian agenda.” This has produced many dramatic judicial decisions, including the US Supreme Court’s rejection of any constraints on the role of money in election campaigns, its rejection of restrictions on hate speech and pornography, and its holding that the right to free association takes precedence over state civil rights laws that bar discrimination.

Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Cap…, loc. 350