This Ruling Does Not Bode Well for Trump's Attempt To Portray Journalism as Consumer Fraud
On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that echoed Donald Trump's claims against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer.
First Amendment
Campus Activism in the Wake of Charlie Kirk's Murder
Dr. Wolf von Laer and Sean Themea join Nick Gillespie to discuss how Kirk’s murder is reshaping student activism and where libertarian ideas fit in today’s campus climate.
Federal Judge Blasts 'Disgusting' ICE Facility Conditions, Orders Basic Humane Treatment for Detainees
“The evidence has been pretty strong that his facility is no longer just a temporary holding facility,” said U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman. “It has really become a prison.”
Oklahoma's Obscenity Bait and Switch Could Ban Pride Parades and Public Drag Shows
These lawmakers expect local authorities to ban "obscenity" before it happens—a recipe for chilling a wide variety of legal speech.
James Comey Says His Grudge-Driven Prosecution Is Unconstitutional Retaliation for His Criticism of Trump
The former FBI director also argues that the charges against him are legally deficient and that the prosecutor who brought them was improperly appointed.
When the Government Censored Dracula, Frankenstein, and King Kong
Remembering a monstrous era of American history
Texas Can't Force Book Vendors To Rate Books According to Sexual Content, District Court Decides
Aspects of Texas' READER Act meant to keep sexual content out of school libraries have been judged First Amendment violations.
Federal Immigration Agents Accused of Tear-Gassing Peaceful Protestors, Pointing Gun at Veterans in Chicago
The actions would violate a federal order imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Sara L. Ellis to limit the use of nonlethal weapons and other crowd control tactics.
The 6th Circuit Upholds a School's Sweatshirt Censorship Because 'Let's Go Brandon' Is 'Plainly Vulgar'
That understanding of a familiar anti-Biden slogan hinges on the political message it communicates.
A D.C. Man Was Arrested for Mocking National Guard Troops with Star Wars' 'Imperial March.' Now He's Suing.
Sam O'Hara went viral for playing "The Imperial March" behind groups of National Guard soldiers in D.C. He also says it led to him being illegally detained.
ICE Is Mounting a Mass Surveillance Campaign on American Citizens
Without strict oversight, the agency’s new technology threatens Americans’ free speech and privacy.
Trump Campaigned on Free Speech. That Isn't How He's Governed.
Politicians across the aisle love free speech—until they're in power.
Trump's DOJ Indicts John Bolton for Leaking Classified Information
The former Trump administration official is facing a maximum of 180 years in prison.
The Pentagon's New Press Policy Is Absurd
Mainstream and conservative news outlets were correct to reject it.
Texas City Council Approves $500,000 Payment to Former Member Who Said Her Advocacy Led to a Bogus Arrest
The settlement, which followed Sylvia Gonzalez's victory at the Supreme Court, also includes remedial First Amendment training for city officials.
Can the ACLU Serve Progressives, Libertarians, and Conservatives?
ACLU legal director Ben Wizner warns that Donald Trump’s war on dissent endangers the First Amendment, urges Americans to protect speech they dislike, and reflects on Edward Snowden’s enduring legacy.
My New Paper on "How Speech-Based Immigration Restrictions Threaten Academic Freedom"
It is forthcoming in Academic Freedom in the Era of Trump, (Lee Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone, eds., Oxford University Press).
California Wants To Punish Social Platforms for Aiding and Abetting the First Amendment
Another entry into the "algorithms are magic" school of imposing liability on tech companies.
Friday Oct. 17 12:30pm-1:30pm Zoom event: Trump, the Media, and the First Amendment
The Trump Administration’s threats to revoke broadcasters’ licenses and President Trump’s lawsuits against media companies implicate important, and contested, Supreme Court First Amendment doctrines. Should these actions affect how courts and scholars analyze these doctrines?
Video Shows Federal Agents Arresting a Chicago Journalist. They Now Say She Threw Objects at Their Vehicle.
The arrest comes less than a day after a federal judge ordered federal law enforcement to stop impeding reporters and protesters.
Tennessee Man Arrested, Gets $2 Million Bond for Posting Facebook Meme
Larry Bushart posted a meme on a local Facebook page about Charlie Kirk. He now faces years in prison.
2 Controversies Over Political Rhetoric Illustrate the Perils of Blaming Gun Control Critics for Murder
That strategy, which rejects the possibility of sincere disagreement, is poisonous to rational debate.
Apple Removed ICEBlock From App Store Under DOJ Pressure
“This is protected speech,” said the app’s creator. “We are determined to fight this with everything we have."
Gavin Newsom Loves AI Satire Now!
Thank goodness that judge struck down the legislation he supported.
Josh Hawley and Democrat Allies Target AI With New Legal and Regulatory Regime
Two bills recently introduced by Hawley would set American AI and the economy back.
Defend Speech Even When Your Side Hates It
Civil liberties attorney Jenin Younes recounts her role in Murthy v. Missouri, her opposition to pandemic mandates, and why she believes Trump poses an even greater threat to free speech than Biden.
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations of Non-Citizen Students and Academics Violate the First Amendment
The decision is the most thorough in a line of recent court decisions reaching similar results.
Trump's Executive Order Against 'Political Violence' Is an Un-American Attack on Free Speech
The order lists "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity" as common threads among "domestic terrorists," though all are protected by the First Amendment.
Democrats to Trump: Stop Jawboning, That's Our Job!
Democrats are vowing to break up media companies that kowtowed to Trump if they take back power.
FCC Threats Against Jimmy Kimmel Echo a Century of Speech Control
From the Fairness Doctrine to Nixon’s “raised eyebrow,” government licensing power has long chilled broadcast speech—proving the First Amendment should apply fully to the airwaves.
Why Did a Florida Sheriff Accuse a Group of Fishing Guides of Inciting Threats Against Public Officials?
The Hendry County Sheriff accused Captains for Clean Water of "fuel[ing] hostility and provok[ng] violent rhetoric," but a free speech advocacy group says they were well within the First Amendment.
Google Says Biden Admin Pressured Company To Remove Content
Plus: ICE helps arrest sex workers, the SIM farm "security threat," Waymo car crashes caused by human error, and more...
Trump's Vision of Broadcast Regulation Is a Threat to Conservatives
History suggests that Republicans will regret letting the FCC police TV programming.
60 Years Ago, Ayn Rand Denounced FCC Censorship. Brendan Carr Should Listen.
In her 1962 essay "Have Gun, Will Nudge," Rand explained exactly how the public interest standard would lead to censorship.
Michigan Anti-Porn Bill Would Criminalize ASMR, Written Erotica, and Even Nonsexual Depictions of Trans People
Under the law, transgender people writing about their gender identity online could face 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
America's Free Speech Culture Is Under Attack From Within
The First Amendment still stands, but the culture that supports it is eroding.
The FCC's Involvement in Canceling Jimmy Kimmel Was 'Unbelievably Dangerous,' Ted Cruz Says
Rand Paul concurs that the threats preceding the comedian's suspension were "absolutely inappropriate" because the agency has "no business weighing in on this."
The FCC Chair's Unprecedented, and Constitutionally Problematic, Response to Jimmy Kimmel
And Trump's much more extreme one. [EV writes: I bumped this post from yesterday, because it struck me as especially timely and substantively valuable.]
Should Elected Officials Censor Americans? Trump's Administration Says Yes.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Sen. Cynthia Lummis are among the latest conservatives to turn their backs on free speech when it comes to their ideological opponents.
Abolish the FCC
The Trump Administration's recent abuses of the agency's powers lend weight to longstanding libertarian arguments for abolishing it, going back to Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase's classic 1959 article.
The FCC Should Let Jimmy Kimmel Be
What the Trump administration is doing to late-night comedy is clearly jawboning.
Brendan Carr Flagrantly Abused His Powers To Cancel Jimmy Kimmel
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," the FCC chairman said, threatening to punish broadcasters for airing the comedian's show.
Did You Ask the FCC If You Can Make That Joke?
Plus: America's cocaine habit, how Charlie Kirk handled South Park, and more...
Trump's 'Firing' of Lisa Cook Is Headed for SCOTUS
Plus: Pam Bondi flunks free speech 101.
'The Free Market Is Handling It Just Fine': How Left and Right Responded to Charlie Kirk's Murder
On the latest episode of Free Media, Amber Duke and I discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk, cancel culture, and political violence.
Trump's Complaint Against the New York Times: A Long Press Release that Mangles "Actual Malice"
It’s mainly praise for Trump: “President Trump secured the greatest personal and political achievement in American history.”
Brendan Carr and Ted Cruz Don't Think Charlie Kirk's Murder Justifies Speech Restrictions
Rand Paul, who called for "a crackdown on people" who celebrated the assassination, was less careful in distinguishing between private and government action.
