Professor Ari Waldman Receives Dukeminier Award for Scholarship on Sexual Content Moderation and Queer Expression

Professor Ari Waldman,
UC Irvine School of Law

IRVINE, Calif. (Sept. 27, 2024) University of California, Irvine School of Law Professor Ari Waldman has been awarded the 2024 Dukeminier Awards’ M.V. Lee Badgett Prize by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law for his article, “Disorderly Content,” 97 Wash. L. Rev. 907 (2022). Dukeminier Awards are given to four faculty and one student for law review articles that embody the best of this year’s sexual orientation and gender identity legal scholarship. Winning articles are republished in a volume of the Dukeminier Awards Journal.  

Prof. Waldman’s article appears in Volume 23 of the Dukeminier Awards Journal and was originally published in the Washington Law Review. The article argues that content moderation rules online perceive queer content as inherently sexual in a way that heteronormative content is not. The article asserts this is a function of content moderation rules, and it contributes to an unwelcome environment for LGBTQ+ content creators. 

“I remember reading the articles in the Dukeminier Awards Journal when I first started teaching law,” Prof. Waldman said. “I was impressed with the scholarly rigor. Maybe it was (and still is) imposter syndrome, but I never thought my work would merit this recognition. It’s an honor to be recognized alongside several other outstanding scholars.” 

Prof. Waldman is a socio-legal scholar of technology and society at UC Irvine School of Law. His scholarship focuses on privacy, digital governance and queer civil rights. He is a co-winner of the 2024 Law and Society Association Article Prize and received a 2024 Law and Society Association Programming Grant for his proposal, “Building the Theory and Practice of Law, Technology, and Society.”  

An active member in the law and technology community, Prof. Waldman serves as chair of the Privacy Law Scholars Conference, the premier academic conference in the law and technology field, and president of the Privacy Law Scholars Foundation. He is also an elected member of the American Law Institute and holds board leadership positions at the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). In 2020, he founded @Legally_Queer, a social media project that educates the public about the legal history, present and future of LGBTQ+ freedom. 

About the University of California, Irvine School of Law         

The University of California, Irvine School of Law is a visionary law school that provides an innovative and comprehensive curriculum, prioritizes public service, and demonstrates a commitment to equity within the legal profession. Nearly half of all UC Irvine Law’s J.D. graduates are people of color, and almost a third are first-generation students. At UC Irvine Law, we are driven to improve our local, national, and global communities by grappling with important issues as scholars, as practitioners, and as teachers who are preparing the next generation of leaders. The collaborative and interdisciplinary community at UC Irvine Law includes extraordinary students, world-renowned faculty, dedicated staff, engaged alumni, and enthusiastic supporters. Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, and sign up for our monthly newsletter for the latest news and events at UC Irvine Law.