Combat Disinformation With Better Norms, Not More Laws
Fight back through better information and discourse, not by empowering the government.
First Amendment
States Keep Passing Unconstitutional Age-Verification Laws for Porn Sites
Kentucky's governor signed a law last week that could require porn sites to ask for users' government IDs before allowing access to adult material.
Social Media, Freedom of Speech, and Common Carriers: Response to Adam Candeub
If adopted by the Supreme Court, Prof. Candeub's approach would be a grave menace to freedom of speech.
Georgia Independent Bookstore Sues Jail Over Policy Banning Book Shipments
Officials claim the policy is intended to prevent people from smuggling in contraband, but it allows shipments from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Defending Pornography in the Age of Safe Spaces: A Q&A With Nadine Strossen
The civil liberties lawyer talks to Reason about the misguided impulse to attack free speech in the name of protecting women.
Defending Pornography on Feminist Grounds: A Q&A With Nadine Strossen
"There were many of us who opposed censoring pornography...precisely because of our commitment to feminist goals and principles," says the former ACLU chief.
FBI Agent Says He Hassles People 'Every Day, All Day Long' Over Facebook Posts
"It's just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will," he claimed.
Zoning Versus the Good Samaritan. Again.
Plus: New York refreshes rent control, AOC and Bernie Sanders call for more, greener public housing, and California's "builder's remedy" wins big in court.
Greater Protections for Assange
Plus: Abortion pill case, another fatal subway crime, China's Cultural Revolution, and more...
Abridgement, Coercion, and Freedom of Speech: Reply to Philip Hamburger
Prof. Hamburger is wrong to argue that the use of the word "abridgment" implies that noncoercive government persuasion directed at social media firms violates the First Amendment.
Ron DeSantis Signs Social Media Age-Verification Bill
The law would require platforms to use invasive measures to prevent most teenagers under 16 from making social media accounts and bar all minors from sexually explicit sites.
Biden Wants To Avoid a First Amendment Showdown Over WikiLeaks
U.S. prosecutors are looking to wriggle out of an espionage trial for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Will the Supreme Court Let Sylvia Gonzalez Sue the Political Enemies Who Engineered Her Arrest?
"Mayors should not be allowed to launder animus through warrants," the former city council member's lawyer told the justices.
Supreme Court Considers Claim That New York Regulators Violated NRA's First Amendment Rights
State officials “jawboned” financial firms into cutting ties with the gun-rights group.
The Supreme Court Should Reject Clandestine Government Censorship of Online Speech
The Biden administration’s social media meddling went far beyond "information" and "advice."
'Hamstringing the Government': A Viral Narrative Distorts Ketanji Brown Jackson's Understanding of Free Speech
If partisans have one thing in common, it's confirmation bias.
Supreme Court Says Officials Who Block Critics on Social Media Might Be Violating the First Amendment
The justices established guidelines for determining whether that is true in any particular case.
Court Should Focus on Coercion in Murthy v. Missouri
The government is entitled to try to persuade social media to take down posts, but not to coerce them to do so.
SCOTUS Ponders Whether the Biden Administration Coerced Social Media Platforms To Censor Speech
Several justices seemed concerned that an injunction would interfere with constitutionally permissible contacts.
The One-Man 'Cult' That Put St. Louis Under Surveillance
The story behind the city's ban on unlicensed drone businesses is even weirder than the ban itself.
Pornhub Pulls Out of Seventh State
The company leaves Texas over an “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous” age-verification law.
ACLU, Once a Defender of Free Speech, Goes After a Whistleblower
The former civil liberties group continues morphing into a progressive organization.
The New York Times Again Worries That Free Speech Endangers Democracy
The newspaper portrays the constitutional challenge to the government's social media meddling as a conspiracy by Donald Trump's supporters.
Pano Kanelos: 'Ideology Is the Death of Ideas'
The president of the new University of Austin wants to reverse the decline of higher education in America.
TikTok's Opponents Want Chinese-style Censorship in America
Instead of freeing Americans from censorship, the TikTok bill would tighten the U.S. government's control over social media.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Lawsuit Hobbles Utah's Plan To Mandate Age Verification Online
"Laws like this don't solve the problems they try to address but only make them worse," says a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression attorney.
Julian Assange's Brother Will Attend the State of the Union Address as Rep. Thomas Massie's Guest
As Joe Biden gives his speech, the audience will include this reminder of the journalist he’s trying to jail.
Your Local DMV May Have No Sense of Humor
Censorship of 2,872 Pennsylvania license plates raises free speech questions.
Dear Government: Stop Trying To Make TikTok Bans Happen
A new bill would ban TikTok and give the president power to declare other social media apps off limits.
DeSantis Vetoed a Social Media Age-Verification Law, but That Doesn't Mean He Won't Sign a New One
A law forcing kids off social media sites is still likely coming to Florida.
Town Says Burger Joint's Mural Can't Show Any Burgers
Salina, Kansas, restaurant owner Steve Howard argues in a new lawsuit that the city's sign regulations violate the First Amendment.
Berkeley Students Violently Shut Down Event Featuring Israeli Attorney
Students should be able to peacefully protest events, but they shouldn't disrupt a speaker or assault attendees.
New York Times Staffers Bullied a Conservative Writer
The Chick-fil-A story heard 'round the world.
Texas Sues Pornhub for Failing to Check IDs
A federal judge in an ongoing case called the porn age-check scheme unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn't seem to care.
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Gut Restrictive Social Media Laws
The First Amendment restricts governments, not private platforms, and respects editorial rights.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
Poll: Almost a Third of Americans Say the First Amendment Goes 'Too Far'
The survey also found that two-thirds of respondents believe that America is on the "wrong track" when it comes to free speech.
Supreme Court Seems Likely to Strike Down Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The laws violate the First Amendment because they require social media sites to abjure most content moderation, and platform speech they disapprove of.
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
Both states are trying to force tech companies to platform certain sorts of speech.
States Try To Strip Sex From Literature in Libraries, Schools
These aren't outright bans. But they still can chill free speech and academic freedom.
The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Enforcement of Houston Ordinance Against Feeding the Homeless
The judge found that Food Not Bombs' activity was clearly expressive conduct under the First Amendment.
Progressives Are Ditching Free Speech To Fight 'Disinformation'
From limits on liability protections for websites to attempts to regulate the internet like a public utility, these proposals will erode Americans' right to express themselves.
Shoshana Weissmann: Online Age Verification Rules Are Unconstitutional and Ineffective
"None of these laws prevent kids from viewing anything. They just prevent kids from posting," argues Shoshana Weissmann.
