This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected].  

New York Times: Landmark Trial Against Fox News Could Affect the Future of Libel Law

By Michael M. Grynbaum

.....Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case against Fox News, which goes to trial in Delaware next week, is expected to stoke hot-button debates over journalistic ethics, the unchecked flow of misinformation, and the ability of Americans to sort out facts and falsehoods in a polarized age.

Washington Post: Special counsel focuses on Trump fundraising off false election claims

By Josh Dawsey, Devlin Barrett, Rosalind S. Helderman and Jacqueline Alemany

.....Federal prosecutors probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have in recent weeks sought a wide range of documents related to fundraising after the 2020 election, looking to determine if former president Donald Trump or his advisers scammed donors by using false claims about voter fraud to raise money, eight people familiar with the new inquiries said.

New York Times: Trump Sues Michael Cohen, the Key Witness Against Him

By Maggie Haberman, Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich

.....Donald J. Trump on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, just weeks after being indicted in a case in which Mr. Cohen is expected to serve as a star witness.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, accuses Mr. Cohen of revealing Mr. Trump’s confidences and “spreading falsehoods” about him. It directly references Mr. Cohen’s role in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against Mr. Trump, which stems from a hush-money payment Mr. Cohen made on the former president’s behalf in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Seth Dillon: The Babylon Bee is suing California's attorney general

.....AB 587 is a new law in California that regulates social media companies. It requires Big Tech platforms to provide periodic reporting to the California Attorney General on several categories of speech, including misinformation, disinformation, extremism, radicalization, and hate speech. If the platforms don’t provide adequate reporting, the state will impose fines to compel compliance…

In short, we argue that the law violates the First Amendment, is too vague to be constitutionally enforced, and violates the free speech guarantees in the California Constitution. You can read the full complaint here.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio: Rubio Demands Answers From FEC On Potential ActBlue Fraudulent Donations

.....ActBlue, a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party, has purportedly engaged in thousands of dollars in campaign donations through small donors, including senior citizens, via illegal contributions, without those donors’ consent or awareness. Further, unlike nearly every other individual political campaign and political action committee, ActBlue does not require a card verification value (CVV) number as a requirement for donating. Requiring a CVV number as a condition of making an online transaction is standard practice across the e-commerce industry to reduce fraud and prevent unlawful foreign transactions. ActBlue must be held accountable for its apparent lack of security protocols.

The full text of the letter is below. 

Boston Globe: New faculty-led organization at Harvard will defend academic freedom

By Steven Pinker and Bertha Madras

.....[W]e have joined with 50 colleagues to create a new Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard. It’s not about us. For many years we have each expressed strong and often unorthodox opinions with complete freedom and with the support, indeed warm encouragement, of our colleagues, deans, and presidents. Yet we know that not all is well for more vulnerable colleagues and students. Harvard ranks 170th out of 203 colleges in FIRE’s Free Speech Rankings, and we know of cases of disinvitation, sanctioning, harassment, public shaming, and threats of firing and boycotts for the expression of disfavored opinions. More than half of our students say they are uncomfortable expressing views on controversial issues in class.

Wall Street Journal: I Helped Make Corporations Woke, and I Regret It

By Gregory T. Angelo

.....If the gay-rights movement in the U.S. didn’t ignite the trend of corporations taking stands on cultural issues, it was definitely a prime accelerant. And I was there writing op-eds that declared corporate backing for gay causes was “a sign of success.” …

Politico: Twitter releases more political ad data after POLITICO report

.....Twitter released more comprehensive political advertising data on Tuesday — which reveals political advertising is bringing in much more revenue than the social media platform previously disclosed.

NPR: NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as 'state-affiliated media'

By David Folkenflik

.....NPR will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform. In explaining its decision, NPR cited Twitter's decision to first label the network "state-affiliated media," the same term it uses for propaganda outlets in Russia, China and other autocratic countries.

CalMatters: California pay-to-play law could empower wealthy candidates and special interests

By Garrett Gatewood

.....When I became the first Black person elected to the Rancho Cordova City Council in 2018, I wasn’t the scion of a powerful political family or the beneficiary of wealthy special interests. I made history because of my track record fighting for my community, and was able to mobilize a lot of fellow citizens who shared my passion and were willing to invest in my campaign.

Senate Bill 1439, authored by Sen. Steve Glazer, would make that impossible for future candidates facing the same challenges, and make it harder for political newcomers and members of minority groups to get elected.

The law took effect this year. I joined a lawsuit to try and stop it.

The policy is described as a tool to “ban pay-to-play,” which is a good soundbite, but such unethical activity has been and remains illegal. Rather than improving ethical campaign activity and good government policy, in practice, SB 1439 is a well-intentioned disaster that will disproportionately hurt minorities trying to win a seat at the table…

Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update."  

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