The 5th Circuit Agrees That Federal Officials Unconstitutionally 'Coerced' or 'Encouraged' Online Censorship
The appeals court narrowed a preliminary injunction against such meddling but confirmed the threat that it poses to freedom of speech.
Free Speech
Gavin Newsom Spins Revisionist History of His COVID Record
Plus: internet censorship, outdoor dining land grabs, and more...
Free Speech, Social Media Firms, and the Fifth Circuit
The Fifth Circuit was right to rule it was illegal for the federal government to coerce social media firms, but wrong to uphold a Texas law requiring those firms to post material they prefer to keep out.
Are We Living Through a Standing Realignment?
Recent Supreme Court cases suggest that both the left and the right are already repositioning themselves.
What Explains the Discourse on 303 Creative?
Procedure, soundbites, popular views, and more combined to create legally unfounded memes.
Did Factual Revelations Undermine 303 Creative?
Recent reporting doesn't materially undermine, and could even strengthen, the case for standing.
Two-Thirds of College Students Think Shouting Down A Public Speaker Can Be Acceptable
Even at schools with solid speech policies, many students show little tolerance for opposing political beliefs.
Jared Polis: Democrats Are 'More Pro-Freedom Than Republicans'
The Colorado governor finds common ground with many libertarians. But does he really stand for more freedom?
Was There Standing in 303 Creative?
The Court had ample reason to find a "credible threat" of enforcement, consistent with existing case law.
Do the Proud Boys Deserve To Be in Prison Forever?
Plus: A listener question concerning porn verification laws.
Police Tore Up His Protest Sign. Now They Owe Him $50,000
Police also wrongly cited him for "improper hand signal" after the man flipped them off.
Responding to Reader Comments on The Five Internet Rights
Seven-layer stacks, messy anecdotes, and the conservative case for net neutrality.
'Free Speech Absolutist' Elon Musk Threatens Anti-Defamation League With Defamation Lawsuit
Plus: The doubling of the deficit, young Americans souring on college, and more...
May a Judge Sanction Lawyers by Requiring Them to Get Remedial Training from a Particular Ideological Organization?
An important question, whether the judge orders lawyers to be trained on religious liberty by the Alliance Defending Freedom, on transgender rights by Lambda Legal, or on race discrimination law by the ACLU.
From Prof. Richard Re: The Remarkable Discourse on 303 Creative
Is the legal left beginning to adopt a hawkish attitude toward standing?
SCOTUS' Ruling in Gay Wedding Website Case Was a Defeat for Compelled Speech
"The opportunity to think for ourselves and to express those thoughts freely is among our most cherished liberties," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.
Arkansas Social Media Age Verification Law Likely Violates First Amendment
So concludes a federal judge, issuing a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the law.
Texas S. Ct. Refuses to Block "Gag Order" on Senators Judging Impeachment of Attorney General Paxton
One Justice dissents, with a detailed opinion.
Organization Serving Disabled People Claims Newspaper Discriminatorily Targeted It for Criticism
A N.J. judge has thrown out the lawsuit, on the narrow grounds that, even if the newspaper deliberately discouraged people from attending the group's charity gala, the N.J. Law Against Discrimination doesn't apply to charity galas.
Cardi B's "Wet Ass Pussy" Doesn't Infringe Plaintiff's Song
"The concept of using 'p**** so wet' as a rhetorical device in a song is neither original nor unique to Plaintiff, and, in any event, '[c]opyright does not protect ideas or themes.'"
Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken: Do California Community Colleges 'Mandate Viewpoint Conformity'?
"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.... With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there," says professor Bill Blanken.
That School Is Still Treading on Jaiden Rodriguez's Free Speech Rights
The district is still censoring the Gadsden flag patch as well as Second Amendment advocacy, according to FIRE.
In Scathing Rulings, Federal Courts Block Arkansas and Texas Age Verification Laws
Plus: Meta revises controversial "dangerous organizations" policy, a win against civil asset forfeiture in Detroit, and more...
How Can the State Prevent Viewpoint Foreclosure?
By guaranteeing five basic internet rights.
Protecting Kids on Social Media Act Cloaks Attack on Privacy Behind Concern for Children
There are already people responsible for regulating children’s online activity: parents and guardians.
Texas Law Mandating Age Verification for Sexually Themed Sites Violates First Amendment,
a federal judge held today.
Are California's New 'Woke' DEI College Standards Illegal?
Join Reason on YouTube at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about a lawsuit against California Community Colleges' new DEI standards with FIRE attorney Jessie Appleby and the plaintiff
Should a Website Have the Right to Exist?
Even outcasts should be able to subsist on their own land.
Firing Based on Employee's Pre-Employment Social Media Posts Leads to Discrimination Lawsuit;
federal court allows the case to go forward.
Criticizing Business on TikTok Can't Lead to Anti-Harassment Order, Even When Criticism …
leads some readers to engage in "threats and harassment" against the business.
Don't Tread on Jaiden! School District Learns Its Lesson
The 12-year-old boy kicked out of class for sporting a Gadsden flag patch is back in school.
Denmark May Ban Burning the Quran
A cabinet minister who once defended the right to blaspheme now wants a crackdown.
Massive Sanctions Against Rudy Giuliani for "Willful Shirking of His Discovery Obligations" in Libel Lawsuit Against Him
Among other things, "Default judgment will be entered against Giuliani as a discovery sanction ..., holding him civilly liable on plaintiffs' defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage claims ...."
Can a Controversial User Really Get Kicked off the Internet?
In theory, yes; in practice, perhaps soon.
