'Freedom of the Press' and Non-Professional-Media Speakers: Why It Matters
Some judges in recent have years have reasoned that non-professional-media speakers have lesser First Amendment rights.
Free Speech
China Moves to Restrict Social Media Dissemination of 'Peppa Pig'—My Two-Year-Old's Favorite TV Show
The government fears that the popular children's cartoon has taken on a "subversive hue" and may "hamper positive societal morale."
Another "Just Shut Up" Order, This One Involving Anti-Vax Activists
One activist is ordered "not [to] post photographs videos, or information about [the other] to any internet site."
Westworld Season Two Is a Parable About Corporate Data Collection
The HBO series turns Facebook and Twitter into a theme park filled with sex, violence, and robots.
Evidence from Around the Framing: English Non-Newspaper Freedom-of-the-Press Cases
"Freedom of the press," as I've argued in earlier posts, was understood as protecting the freedom of all to use the printing press -- not just a freedom of the profession or industry that we might call "the press."
Is This Prom Dress an Act of Cultural Appropriation?
Social media can actually be pretty good at hosting heated conversations about racism and sexism.
Shouting Hellfire in a Crowded Theater
At the end of one Avengers screening, a man started yelling, "If you were to die tonight, would your passage to heaven be guaranteed?"
New York Politicians Want to Suppress Free Assembly Rights for Gun Rights Supporters
Brooklyn Council Member Justin Brannan crows via tweet that "we've successfully chased the @NRA underground in #Brooklyn."
Administrators at CUNY and Duke Aren't Going to Do Anything About Students Who Disrupted Events
Speakers' free speech rights threatened
Evidence from Around the Framing: The Freedom of the Press Covering Authors of Books and Pamphlets
More on why the freedom of the press wasn't seen as limited to "the press" in the sense of the institutional media, but extended to all who used the printing press.
Wisconsin Armslist Decision Undermines Web Site Protections Way Beyond Gun Sales
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals let a case against gun-sales advertising site Armslist go forward -- and in the process undermined 47 U.S.C. § 230 protection for a wide range of web sites.
Minn. Sup. Ct. to Decide: Do Ordinary Speakers Have Lesser First Amendment Rights Than Newspapers?
In 1980, the Minnesota Supreme Court said "yes"; yesterday, it agreed to hear a case that might lead it to reconsider.
The Nonredundant Free Press Clause
Some argue that the "freedom of the press" must give special rights to the press-as-industry, because otherwise it would be redundant of the "freedom of the speech" -- but in the Framing era, the two were complementary, not redundant.
How The Simpsons Fights Fake News: Podcast
Journalism prof Michael Socolow has three simple rules to up your social-media literacy.
Non-First-Amendment Objections to Anti-Libel Injunctions
A new section for the brief I blogged about last week, ultimately arguing that an injunction is improper in Sindi v. El-Moslimany -- but not because of the First Amendment.
Kid Sues Over First Amendment Right to Second Amendment Shirt
A Nevada school district unlawfully required a student not to wear a gun rights T-shirt, according to a First Amendment lawsuit filed today in federal court.
Freedom for the Press as an Industry, or for the Press as a Technology? From the Framing to Today
The Free Press Clause, my research led me to conclude, has long been understood as equally protecting all who speak using the means of mass communications -- not just professional journalists and the like.
Man's Joke Video of Dog Giving Nazi Salute Lands Him U.K. Hate Speech Fine
Court feels "menaced" by a pug.
Law Prohibiting 'Revenge Porn' Violates First Amendment, Says Texas Appeals Court
The state law targeted people who share erotic photographs of others without their consent.
She Posted Rap Lyrics to Remember a Dead Teen, So the U.K. Prosecuted Her for Hate Speech
Why all Americans should be thankful for the First Amendment
Do Ordinary Speakers Have Lesser First Amendment Rights Than Newspapers Do?
"Yes," the Minnesota Supreme Court said in 1980 -- now it's being asked to reconsider that.
Southern Poverty Law Center Scraps Its Anti-Muslim Hate List
But its illiberal tactics against liberal Muslim reformers remain extremely troubling.
Duke Students Who Hijacked Alumni Event: Punishing Us Would Hurt Us Mentally
Activists who stormed the stage were shocked when alumni in the audience dared to heckle them.
First Opinion by James Ho (a Recently Appointed Fifth Circuit Judge)
It's a dissent from denial of rehearing en banc, joined by Judge Edith Jones, in a case that upheld a $350 cap for contributions to Austin City Council races.
College Republicans Get In Huge Trouble for Posting 'I.C.E. I.C.E. Baby' Signs
But dumb, offensive speech still isn't violence.
Fresno State Shouldn't Fire a Professor for Saying She's Glad Barbara Bush Died
Randa Jarrar reveals hypocrisy on the right.
Russia Bans Telegram, a Popular Encrypted Messaging App
"Privacy is not for sale, and human rights should not be compromised out of fear or greed."
Why Properly Crafted Injunctions Against Libel Are Constitutional
I'm crowd-testing this draft amicus brief, which I need to be file by Wednesday, April 25. Please tell me what I'm getting wrong here!
CUNY's Law Dean Is Wrong About the Attempted Shutdown of Josh Blackman
The student handbook makes it clear that students broke university policy.
What Should Have Happened at the Facebook Hearing
Congress doesn't have the best track record on privacy rights.
CUNY Students Tried to Shout Down Josh Blackman. Here's Why They Failed.
"We're not children! You can't talk to us like that!"
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Want the FCC to Revoke Sinclair's Broadcast Licenses
They say it's to protect free speech.
Judicial Candidates' Free Speech Rights
Does the Supreme Court's decision in Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015) -- which upheld a restriction on fundraising by a judicial candidate -- also authorize much broader bans on candidate speech?
Ben Sasse Asked Mark Zuckerberg Whether He Defines Hate Speech Like College Students Do
"You used language of safety and protection earlier. We see this happening on college campuses all across the country."
Handing Out Pamphlets Is Not a Crime
A Michigan jury tampering case strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.
A Bunch of Senators Just Showed They Have No Idea How Facebook Works. They Want to Regulate It Anyway.
"If Facebook and other online companies will not or cannot fix their privacy invasions, then we are going to have to. We, the Congress."
Americans Can't Stand Each Other, So Let's Stop Forcing Our Preferences on One Another
If you want to avoid conflict among hostile groups, decentralize power-preferably to individuals.
Why You Shouldn't Want Congress To Regulate Facebook & Other Social Media
We need to up our media literacy game, not delegate responsibility to politicians who have no idea what they're doing.
Beware Censorship by Proxy
Prodding private companies into self-censorship is a dangerous government tradition.
Free Speech Rights, Parental Rights, and Children with Gender Dysphoria
An interesting Arizona appellate decision rejecting a court's assignment of a treating therapist, and rejecting a gag order that limited parents' discussions with the child.
Newspapers Care Much More About Bashing Sinclair Than Criticizing an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech
5 editorials call for the federal government to thwart Sinclair's expansion efforts in wake of creepy promo video; meanwhile you can count the number of anti-FOSTA eds on one finger
Gawker Was Killed for Publishing Embarrassing Truths. That's Bad News.
Giving juries the power to destroy a journalism enterprise for being offensive is bad for free expression.
Open Season on Russian Oligarchs, Prison Porn Ban Heads to Court, How the Media Got the Pulse Massacre Wrong: Reason Roundup
Plus: YouTube shooter bought and registered gun legally.
Can You Guess How Much Butt This Town Will Let You Show?
Everett, Washington, continues to wage war against scantily clad "bikini baristas."
Trump's Increasingly Lawless Quest to Enforce a Bogus Rule of Law on Immigration
He is trashing the First Amendment to stifle the immigrant rights movement.
New Backpage Ruling Lays Bare Some of the Lies Undergirding FOSTA
The ruling allows a civil suit against Backpage to proceed for one of the case's three plaintiffs.
Foreign Servers No Longer Safe From Justice Department Snooping, Trade War With China Heats Up, Kremlin Says Trump Has Requested White House Summit With Putin: Reason Roundup
Plus: Hackers take over Atlanta, demand ransom to lift lock on city computers.
