Lawrence Lessig
Harvard Law Professor & the Internet’s Most Celebrated Lawyer
Lawrence Lessig
Harvard Law Professor & the Internet’s Most Celebrated Lawyer
Biography
One of the most inspiring and visionary thought leaders of the digital age, Lawrence Lessig occupies a unique place at the intersection of transformative ideas, citizen activism and the future of the law, digital technologies, and democracy itself. His signature rapid-fire presentation style, known as the “Lessig Method” uses dynamic typography and thought-provoking visuals to seize attention and deeply inform.
A Harvard Law professor and New York Times bestselling author, Lessig first became known for developing the very foundations of internet law, allowing the sharing of copyrighted content. He has since taken on issues at the core of our system of government, particularly the impact of money on politics. His 2015 effort to enter the presidential campaign was a crusade for campaign finance reform with a clarion call to “fix democracy first.” Throughout his career, Lessig’s farseeing ideas and efforts have drawn support from some of America’s most important business and political leaders and garnered numerous honors and awards. He is one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries and was named to Fastcase 50 “honoring the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” In his latest venture, Lessig is lending his expertise to build the political framework for Seed, a new multiplayer online game in which characters populating a new planet collectively decide how they want to govern themselves.
A popular speaker on the coveted TED main stage, each of his three TED talks have more than one million views online. Known for his compelling, personal and completely non-partisan content, Lessig’s presentations leave audiences informed, awakened, and with a heightened understanding of any topic.
Speaker Videos
How AI Could Hack Democracy | Lawrence Lessig | TED
Can We Reclaim Democracy? | Lawrence Lessig | Google Zeitgeist
What AI is doing to America's democracy | LSE Event
Our democracy no longer represents the people. Here's how we fix it | Larry Lessig | TEDxMidAtlantic
TEDTalk: We the People, and the Republic We Must Reclaim
TEDTalk: The Unstoppable Walk to Political Reform
TEDTalk: Law That Chokes Creativity
Speech Topics
What AI is doing to America’s Democracy — and Democracy
In this lecture, Professor Lessig will discuss the impact of AI on democracy. Reflecting on the 2024 election, and previewing the argument in his forthcoming book, the talk describes the threats to democracy, and the way democracy can respond.
Suing the Times
This talk is grounded in a lawsuit Lessig was driven to bring against the New York Times for "clickbait defamation," but reflects more generally on how the engagement business model for social media has radically changed modern American media and its political culture. If our poisoned politics is the byproduct of a Silicon Valley business model, how can we repair it?
Code at 25
Twenty-five years ago, Lessig published CODE AND OTHER LAWS OF CYBERSPACE, which framed the slogan, "code is law," and grounded a critical approach to Internet regulation. In this talk, Lessig reflects on what we've learned about this understanding of the Internet, and the future of regulation.
How SuperPACs Will End
In November 2024, by a 3 to 1 margin, voters in Maine approved an initiative that challenges SuperPACs. In this talk, Lessig describes why, contrary to the view of most, this United States Supreme Court will uphold limits on contributions to SuperPACs. When it does, that change will trigger a new movement to reform the influence of money in politics, giving America the chance to restore at least some confidence in its government.
Testimonials
Books & Media
Books
How to Steal a Presidential Election
They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy
Fidelity & Constraint: How the Supreme Court Has Read the American Constitution
Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0
Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World