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

.....The First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech protects Americans’ right to express themselves. It also forbids the state from forcing anyone to adhere to a specific belief system. Yet, Bakersfield College has done exactly that, compelling Professor Daymon Johnson and his fellow faculty members to adhere to a state-mandated ideology.

To read the complaint in the case, Johnson v. Watkin, click here.

Roll Call: Supreme Court to decide ‘Trump too small’ trademark dispute

By Michael Macagnone

.....The Supreme Court will decide a case about an effort to cash in on a phrase about “diminutive” aspects of former President Donald Trump, a trademark dispute that could open public officials to more money-making criticism that uses their names.

The Biden administration, in a petition urging the Supreme Court to accept the case, wrote that trademark registration is a government benefit that doesn’t relate to free speech.

Carolina Journal: ACLU, Institute for Justice join debate over NC Supreme Court’s Ace Speedway case

.....The N.C. Supreme Court issued orders Monday allowing attorneys from both the ACLU and Institute for Justice to file briefs supporting Ace Speedway in its legal fight against the state’s top health official.

“The freedom to speak without risking retaliatory enforcement is ‘one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation,’” wrote attorneys with the ACLU of North Carolina’s Legal Foundation. “This appeal calls on this Court to secure North Carolinians’ rights to meaningfully criticize and demand accountability from their government.”

Denver Post: Denver woman challenges longstanding Colorado law requiring anti-abortion activists to give patients space at clinics

.....A Denver woman is mounting a new legal challenge to a longstanding Colorado law that prohibits anti-abortion activists from approaching within eight feet of people outside abortion clinics.

But the U.S. Supreme Court justices last year opened the door for a new free speech challenge when the court stripped away the constitutional right to abortion, attorneys for plaintiff Wendy Faustin argued in a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Common Dreams: Progressive Groups Sue Mississippi Over 'Unconstitutional' Anti-Protest Law

.....Progressive advocacy groups are suing Mississippi officials over a new state law requiring permission to hold public protests near state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson.

A lawsuit filed last week by JXN Undivided Coalition, Mississippi Votes, Mississippi Poor People's Campaign, Black Voters Matter, and a trio of activists challenges S.B. 2343, which is set to take effect on July 1. The legislation required prior approval from Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell or Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey for public demonstrations on the grounds of or near state government buildings including the Capitol Complex, Governor's Mansion, state Supreme Court, and other edifices.

Federalist: DHS Cybersecurity Agency Labels Private Thoughts ‘Critical Infrastructure’ To Justify Censoring You

By Samuel Boehlke

.....A cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security has been engaging in censorship and then justifying it under the guise of “critical infrastructure security,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry testified this week before the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

Called to testify based on findings in his ongoing lawsuit, Louisiana and Missouri v. Biden et al., Landry said DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has classified American “thoughts, ideas, and beliefs” as “critical infrastructure.” To “control” these “cognitive assets,” Landry added, CISA and “numerous federal agencies” then use private entities to orchestrate what amounts to unconstitutional government censorship: The government flags dissenting beliefs for Big Tech companies to silence in an attempt to bypass the First Amendment.

Wall Street Journal: The Big Tech Censorship Machine Is Running in 2024

By Jed Rubenfeld

.....Meta slapped 180-day suspensions last week on the Instagram accounts of people working for Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign—before a single message had been posted from those accounts. This came shortly after LinkedIn shut down Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s account, apparently for expressing disfavored opinions on China and climate change.

Racket News: "Cover Those Nazi Symbols, Please?"

.....The New York Times just released a story called “Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny Issues of History,” about whether or not it means anything that some Ukrainian soldiers have been photographed wearing Nazi Death’s Head or “Totenkopf” symbols. One passage stands out:

The institutional obstacles to getting clear information about the war in Ukraine are formidable, from embedding rules barring journalists from entering “red zones” (and requiring escorts in “yellow” areas), to casualties undercounted by officials on both sides, to open use of planted stories, to harassment of voices who go against official messaging. Journalists asking soldiers to remove Nazi patches is a new level of insanity. With the line between propagandist and reporter all but dissolved, how long before embeds are offered NATO uniforms? Who thinks this is a good idea?

Fortune: Here’s what it might look like if A.I. is deployed to sway elections—And what we can do to stop it

By Archon Fung and Lawrence Lessig, for The Conversation

.....Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways?

Providence Journal: New bill could bring big changes to RI political donations. Here's what's proposed.

By Patrick Anderson

.....A Republican-led effort to double the amount of money an individual donor can give to a political candidate each year is advancing in the Democrat-dominated General Assembly.

Legislation introduced by North Smithfield Republican Brian Newberry would raise the $1,000 annual individual contribution limit to $2,000 while making a number of other changes to campaign-finance law.

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