Free Speech
Merchants of Death, Swaps, and Shake-ups
Plus: The editors briefly celebrate a noteworthy shake-up in the Senate.
No Gag Order Against Extrajudicial Commentary in AR-15-Related Intellectual Property Case
"Armory correctly notes the InRange Video and Recoil Article are accessible "to millions of people," as is anything posted publicly on the internet. Nonetheless, Armory fails to show the InRange Video or Recoil Article reached members of the potential jury pool, let alone irreparably tainted them."
Twitter Files: FBI, DHS Reported Tweets for Election Misinformation
Content moderators had "weekly confabs" with law enforcement officials, reports Matt Taibbi.
"Free Speech, Same-Sex Marriage, and Anti-Discrimination Laws"
A podcast conversation on 303 Creative between Joshua Matz and me, hosted by Jeffrey Rosen.
Adam Schiff Attempts Censorship by Proxy, 'Demanding Action' To Suppress 'Hate Speech' on Twitter
Instead of debating whether the platform has been flooded by bigotry, Elon Musk should tell the congressman to mind his own business.
Pseudonymity for Would-Be Lawyer Seeking Extra Time on Bar Exam for "Mental Health" Reasons
Among other things, the court concludes that, "given that Plaintiff alleges that his 'personal background as an Arab-American and Muslim' was in part responsible for his lack of a traditional diagnosis of ADHD, his personal background may make him particularly vulnerable to the harms of disclosure."
Bari Weiss Twitter Files Reveal Systematic 'Blacklisting' of Disfavored Content
Twitter employees have indicated that shadow banning—at least by some definitions—is both real and common.
No Pseudonymity for Plaintiff in Action Claiming Florida Discriminates Based on Race in Funding Universities
Plaintiff "has alleged nothing suggesting he has any greater basis to fear retaliation than the plaintiffs in most discrimination cases."
School District Must Release E-Mail List of Parents to Whom It Sent Various Ideological Advocacy Messages
"[T]he District wants to be able to use government resources to collect and utilize these e-mail addresses to promote and advance the particular 'community outreach' issues and positions of District (government) leaders while denying others in the community the opportunity to utilize the e-mail addresses to share differing viewpoints."
Journal of Free Speech Law: "Hate Speech, Holy Prophets, and Human Rights: The Struggle for Free Speech from 1945–2021,"
by Jacob Mchangama (Justitia), Heini Skorini (Univ. of Faroe Islands) & Mathias Meier (Justitia).
Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Law Forces Artists To Echo the State's Message
A website designer asks SCOTUS to let her eschew work that contradicts her opposition to gay marriage.
Computer Code Can Be Regulated Because of What It Does, Even If Not Because of What It Says
The D.C. Circuit rejects a First Amendment challenge to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anticircumvention and antitrafficking provisions.
Ninth Circuit Orders Press Pass for The Gateway Pundit, Pending Appeal
The press pass is for election-related events connected to Maricopa County's ongoing ballot counting; the panel concluded that The Gateway Pundit was likely to succeed on its claim that the denial was unconstitutionally based on its viewpoints.
California Law Strips Licenses from 'Misinformation'-Spreading Doctors
"You have this looming power over you that essentially can end your career," says Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya.
Cronyist Journalism Measure Could Prompt Facebook To Ban News
Plus: ACLU sides against religious freedom, abortions after Dobbs, and more...
Rep. Khanna on Twitter, Free Speech, and the Hunter Biden Story
A Democratic member of Congress laments how Twitter handled the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop.
What Twitter's Suppression of the Hunter Biden Laptop Story Tells Us About the Media
Plus: The editors consider a listener question on the involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill.
New York Forces Websites To Monitor 'Hateful' Speech. A New Lawsuit Says This Violates the First Amendment.
"The state of New York can't turn bloggers into Big Brother, but it's trying to do just that," said FIRE attorney Daniel Ortner.
Supreme Court Debates Whether Web Designers Can Be Forced To Make Gay Wedding Pages
A million hypotheticals bloom in arguments over when and where the government may compel speech.
Elon Musk and Matt Taibbi Reveal Why Twitter Censored the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
The Twitter Files are interesting but contain few true surprises. A mix of incompetence and partisanship got the site in trouble.
Elon Musk Enforces Twitter's Ban on 'Hateful Conduct' As Critics Predict a Flood of Bigotry
The "free speech absolutist" is maintaining some content restrictions while loosening others.
David Lat on Hogan Lovells' Firing of Semi-Retired Equity Partner for Comments on Abortion and Race
"[T]here is increasingly no place for social conservatives in many large law firms."
Kanye's Suspension Shows Musk Twitter Might Look a Lot Like…Old Twitter
Plus: Freedom's Furies, SCOTUS to take up student loan forgiveness plan, and more...
Twitter Is More Like a Traveling Circus Than a Public Square
It's a private company. Its owner can do what he chooses, even if it seems crazy.
U.K.'s Awful Internet Bill Becomes a Bit Less Hostile to Free Speech
At a dangerous moment for the free exchange of ideas, civil libertarians can tally a win.
You Can Record Video of Police in Action. But Can You Livestream That Video?
Plus: Court rejects Biden plea on student loan plan, Ohio cops don't understand the First Amendment, and more...