Trump Is No Match for the First Amendment
Far from undermining freedom of the press, the president's fulminations prove its durability.
Free Speech
Rap Song = Punishable True Threat, Says Pennsylvania Supreme Court
The court stressed that the song threated particular police officers by name.
Extortion and Super-Secret Prior Restraints
An Oklahoma case involving an employee's allegations of food plant contamination-litigated under seal.
The Senate Accused Them of Selling Kids for Sex. The FBI Raided Their Homes. Backpage.com's Founders Speak for the First Time.
An inside look at how indie media veterans James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
"A Court Cannot Tell [Anyone] That He or She Cannot Be Rude, Insulting, or Boorish"
Words of wisdom from Rhode Island Judge Richard Licht.
After China Complains, Apple Removes Thousands of 'Illegal' Gambling Apps
It's not the first time Apple has bowed to China's censorship demands.
Kevin McCarthy Shows Why the Government Shouldn't Regulate Social Media
The House majority leader doesn't understand how Twitter works.
Surprise! The Ban on Digital Sex Ads Didn't Work
Plus: digital privacy concerns down 11 percent since 2015
Visitors Wearing "Abolish ICE" T-Shirts Barred from Statue of Liberty
Unconstitutional viewpoint-discrimination, and the Park Service has acknowledged it was a mistake.
Security Bars Couple From Statue of Liberty for Wearing 'Abolish ICE' Shirts
Tiffany Huang and her fiancé just wanted to exercise their "right to free speech." But security guards apparently had other ideas.
Fifth Circuit Rejects Constitutional Challenges to "Campus Carry"
Texas, like some other states, allows law-abiding adults who have concealed carry licenses to carry at public universities as well as elsewhere; this was challenged on First Amendment, Second Amendment, and Equal Protection Clause grounds.
Delaware Court Rejects Temporary Restraining Orders Against Alleged Libel
Even if permanent injunctions against speech that has been found to be libelous are constitutional, preliminary orders based on a mere finding that the speech is likely libelous -- or just might be libelous -- are generally unconstitutional.
Judge Threatens Censorship After Newspaper Reveals Bureaucratic Errors in Parkland Lead-Up
"If I have to specifically write word for word exactly what you are and are not permitted to print…then I'll do that," the judge said.
Can a Baker Be Forced to Make a Transgender Celebration Cake?
Masterpiece Cakeshop is back with a new lawsuit over another rejection.
Twitter Caves, Bans Alex Jones. For a Week. Sort Of.
The conspiracy theorist's account has been restricted for seven days.
Matt Welch Interviews Zach Weissmueller, Libertarian State Rep. Brandon Phinney & More on Sirius XM!
From the alt-right to Twitter deactivation, bands drinking booze to presidents crowing for cronyism, we'll hash it out on Sirius XM Insight channel 121 today from 9-12 ET
Plaintiff Dropping Case in Which He Got Order to Google to Vanish Photo from Search Results
This will lead the order to be vacated; and the parallel case seeking removal of a Chicago Tribune post has also been dropped.
The Great Deplatforming War Rages On: Podcast
Should libertarians cheer, boo, or do a shrug-emoji when a private social media platform bans the likes of Alex Jones?
The Pro-Lesbian Anti-Transgender "Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft" Recognized by IRS as Church
"The IRS recognized it as a 501(c)(3) organization and went the extra step of recognizing PCMW as a church, the most enviable of all tax statuses. exempt not only from income tax but also from the transparency that filing Form 990 creates. A church does not have to apply for exempt status, but it is a prudent step particularly for an innovative organization like PCMW."
Social Media Giants Shouldn't Be Arbiters of Appropriate Speech
It's implausible to imagine a future in which liberal activists don't demand that right-of-center groups be de-platformed.
Demonstrators Might Have to Pay a Fee to Protest on the National Mall
The National Park Service says there's an "enormous cost" to managing large political protests.
Popehat's Ken White: 'Free Speech Is in Just as Much Danger from Conservatives'
The idea that "free speech is a conservative value and censorship is a liberal value" is "historically completely illiterate."
Facebook Deactivates the Free Brazil Movement
The classical liberal group accuses Facebook of bias.
Apple's Attempt to Ban Alex Jones Backfired in an Unexpected Way
Alex Jones tweeted "When they try to ban you, but you keep on winning" above a celebratory glass of champagne.
The "Arrest and Alleged Charges No Longer Exist -- as If It Never Happened"
From a lawyer's letter demanding that a story about a now-expunged arrest be expunged from a newspaper as well as from the government records-but the law, fortunately, does not support this argument.
Gun Control Becomes Speech Control
People appalled by Cody Wilson's firearm fabrication software tend to forget about the First Amendment.
N.J. Case Ordering Google to Stop Showing Picture of Plaintiff Removed to Federal Court
The same happened to the case against the Chicago Tribune, in which the judge orally ordered the Tribune to take down a post that contained the picture (though the written order failed to reflect that).
The Chinese Government Destroys Ai Weiwei's 'Zuoyou' Studio
"Free speech and free expression have simply never existed in China or in its artist communities."
Can It Be a Crime to "Intimidate" Police Officers by Threatening to Complain About Them?
No, says the Fifth Circuit, striking down as unconstitutionally overbroad a Louisiana statute that apparently bans threatening public employees with lawsuits or complaints -- and not just with violence -- "with the intent to influence [the employee's official] conduct."
Banning Alex Jones Isn't About Free Speech—It's About the Incoherence of 'Hate Speech'
No one will miss Infowars, but that's beside the point.
Downloadable Gun Designs Are Here To Stay, Whether Politicians Like It Or Not
Officials trying to stop people from sharing information online are still raging against Napster.
Major Internet Platforms Ban Alex Jones
Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple accuse him of violating their platforms' speech codes.
'It's Not About Donald Trump Being Crappy, It's About the Government Being Crappy': Podcast
The podcast crew takes on the The New York Times' controversial new hire, Trump's trade war escalations, Medicare-for-all, and 3D-printed guns.
District Court Strikes Down Licenses for Tour Guides in Charleston
Prospective tour guides won't have to cough up nearly $100 and study for weeks to talk about their city anymore.
"Racial Ridicule" Is a Crime in Connecticut -- and People Are Being Prosecuted
There is no First Amendment exception for "hate speech," and the government can't specially target racist or religiously bigoted speech -- but some Connecticut prosecutors seem not to know that.
Videorecording Public Servants in Public
Most federal circuit courts have held that people generally have a right to record what police officers do in public places. But how far does that extend?
The ACLU Appears to Endorse a Ban on Catcalling, Despite Huge Free Speech Concerns
What a deleted tweet says about the direction of a civil liberties organization.
What We Talk About When Talk About Russian Meddling: Talk
When Americans do it, it's called participating in democracy. When Russians do it, it's called undermining democracy.
N.J. Court Orders Google to Vanish Plaintiff's Photo -- Published at the Chicago Tribune -- From Search Results
The "right to be forgotten" sneaking into American courts? Google has not complied with the court order -- and the plaintiff is now trying to get it held in contempt of court.
The Important but Arcane Procedural Issue That Might Upend the Restraining Order Against Defense Distributed
Did the settlement with the distributor of home gun-making hardware and software remove computer files from the United States Munitions List or just temporarily stop treating them as affected munitions?
Free Speech and Computer Code -- 3-D Printer Gunmaking Files and Beyond
Three ways of thinking about the problem: 1. Software is like hardware. 2. Software is like instruction manuals. 3. Alexa, read this book and make me a gun.
The New York Times Shouldn't Fire Sarah Jeong for Racist Tweets About White People
Call out hypocrisy, but don't join the lynch mob.
Freedom of Speech Is Important, the ACLU's Top Lawyer Explains to So-Called Liberals
David Cole defends the First Amendment's viewpoint neutrality, obliquely rebutting critics who question his group's commitment to it.
3D-Printed Guns Are a Great Example of Technophobia in Media, Politics
They are years away (if ever) from becoming the choice of bad guys, who can already make untraceable weapons, so why all the fear-mongering?
Facebook Blocks Searches for Pages that Reference Marijuana—Even Those of Government Agencies
The platform is struggling to handle contradictory laws about legal and illegal use of pot
President Trump Is No Friend to 3D Printed Plastic Guns, Says WH Press Secretary
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders touts President Trump's support for printed gun bans.
