January 11, 2024

In the News

FIRE: First Amendment News 407

By Ronald K.L. Collins

.....“State laws protecting against costly, meritless, speech-suppressing lawsuits are growing and improving nationwide, now covering 33 states plus the District of Columbia. For the first time, most Americans have good protection. Yet, many states still have weak laws or no laws protecting their citizens from such suits, putting those Americans’ rights to speak or publish at significant risk.”

Those are the key takeaways from the 2023 Anti-SLAPP Report Card, just released by the Institute for Free Speech.

The Courts

Bloomberg Law: Prosecutor DeSantis Ousted Wins Appeal on Free Speech Claims

By Chris Marr

.....A federal appeals court overturned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ trial-court win in a dispute over his removal of a state prosecutor who vowed not to enforce anti-abortion laws.

A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found Wednesday that the lower court erred in setting aside concerns about the prosecutor’s First Amendment rights and remanded the case for further consideration.

Congress

Washington Post (Technology 202): Senators warn AI could lead to ‘destruction’ of local news

By Cristiano Lima-Strong

.....[A]t a hearing Wednesday, senators zeroed in on how a new perceived threat could hurt the news industry: the rise of generative artificial intelligence. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), whose subcommittee held the session on AI and journalism, said declining news revenue and technological changes are creating a “perfect storm” that is “accelerating and expanding the destruction of local reporting.”

AI could pose a dual threat to outlets, with developers seizing on their work to train AI models “without compensation or credit” while enabling the creation of lightly staffed news sources to compete with them, he warned.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has proposed legislation to let news organizations band together during negotiations with the tech giants, said she was “very concerned” that the decline of local news would “only worsen with the rise of generative AI.”

Free Expression

Reason: Pro-Palestinian Speech Is Still Free Speech

By Robby Soave

.....One need not agree with those students' slogans, their tactics, or their goals to recognize that provocative political speech is protected by the First Amendment. Republican political figures who have spent years railing against censorship and cancel culture would do well to remember that.

The States

New York Times: State Legislators, Wary of Deceptive Election Ads, Tighten A.I. Rules

By David W. Chen

.....At the beginning of 2023, only California and Texas had enacted laws related to the regulation of artificial intelligence in campaign advertising, according to Public Citizen, an advocacy group tracking the bills. Since then, Washington, Minnesota and Michigan have passed laws, with strong bipartisan support, requiring that any ads made with the use of artificial intelligence disclose that fact.

By the first week of January, 11 more states had introduced similar legislation — including seven since December — and at least two others were expected soon as well. The penalties vary; some states impose fines on offenders, while some make the first offense a misdemeanor and further offenses a felony.

Center Square Washington: Washington state campaign finance bill raises free speech, practicality questions

By TJ Martinell

.....House Bill 1885 sponsored by Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma, would repeal the ban on foreign nationals contributing or spending money on Washington elections and replace it with “foreign-influenced corporations,” which is defined as a for-profit corporation or LLC that has a foreign investor who owns 1% or more of the company’s interests, or more than one foreign investor that collectively own 5% of the ownership interest.

Testifying during a Tuesday public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee, Mena told colleagues that “foreign influenced corporations seeking to benefit their own interests, but not that of Washingtonians, are pouring money into our elections and initiatives year after year.” …

However, some legislators such as Rep. Greg Cheney, R-Battle Ground, said that the definition of “foreign-influenced” lacks specificity, when ownership shares can change one way or another within moments during a given trading day...

Others opposed included Julia Gordon with the Washington Hospitality Association, who told the committee that the bill “crosses the line into unfairly restricting political speech,” which could apply to companies with “extreme minority ownership” from foreign investors. However, she added that it would still be a “significant challenge even for businesses with no foreign ownership.”