The University of West Florida invites you to Experience UWF Downtown with Alex Berenson at the Museum of Commerce, 201 Zaragoza Street, Pensacola, FL 32502 on Thursday, February 29, 2024, at 6 p.m. (5:30 p.m. for open reception). This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the lecture at 6 p.m. The live event will also be livestreamed and conclude with a Q&A and a book signing.

Mr. Berenson was a reporter for the New York Times and author of several books, including 13 spy novels. He rose to prominence during the pandemic as a dissenter who was de-platformed by social media companies.

He challenged this censorship in the courts. During discovery, evidence emerged that several federal administrative agencies had been involved in the efforts to remove his voice from the public discourse. His initial victories in court helped pave the way for the much more prominent challenge to censorship by government agencies. This challenge will go before the Supreme Court this term in Missouri v. Biden.

Berenson is emerging as one of the most prominent advocates of First Amendment principles against 21st-century modes of censorship. In his lecture “Reporting on the New Censorship - How to Stop the Internet from Killing Free Speech,” he will tell the story of his experience in the courts and what has come to light because of his case.

This event is sponsored by the John C. Pace Symposium Series, Seligman First Amendment Lecture Series, Panhandle Tiger Bay Club, UWF Office of Campus Culture and Access, UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, and UWF Usha Kundu, MD College of Health.