August 14, 2024

Congress

Washington Post (Tech Brief): Democrats flip social media ‘censorship’ complaints on Musk, GOP

By Cristiano Lima-Strong

.....Republicans have spent the better part of a decade accusing social media companies of “censoring” conservative viewpoints and skewing their platforms to benefit Democrats.

Now Democrats are turning that complaint around, questioning whether X — owned by an outspoken GOP ally in Elon Musk — is suppressing content favoring Vice President Kamala Harris to help former president Donald Trump’s reelection bid.

On Monday, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called on House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to “investigate political censorship” on X, citing reports that the company’s chatbot, Grok, falsely told users Harris was ineligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot. The chatbot shared the false information for more than a week until it was corrected in late July.

In a press release announcing the move, Nadler’s office cited Jordan’s “extensive focus on allegations of censorship on social media this Congress.” ...

Some Democrats have even borrowed the argument from GOP officials that recent actions by Musk and his company amount to an illegal in-kind campaign contribution.

The Courts

Bloomberg Law: Ohio Teacher Suit Over Student Names, Pronouns Headed for Trial

By Patrick Dorrian

.....An apostolic Protestant middle school teacher who resigned instead of using transitioning students’ preferred names is headed to a trial on her free-speech and freedom-of-religion claims, an Ohio federal judge ruled.

Vivian Geraghty established, without a trial, that requiring her to use preferred names and pronouns amounts to compelled speech, that the speech didn’t involve her ordinary job duties, and that Jackson Local School District’s policy on the issue wasn’t generally applicable, the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio said Monday.

Detroit Catholic: New lawsuit adds to flurry of litigation between NY attorney general, pro-life groups

By Kate Scanlon

.....Pro-life groups in New York filed a new lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James in federal court accusing her of "censorship," arguing she is unconstitutionally seeking to prevent them from discussing a treatment they say can halt the effect of the abortion pill mifepristone -- sometimes called abortion pill reversal -- with their clients.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Society Aug. 7 filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York against James on behalf of Summit Life Outreach Center and The Evergreen Association, accusing her of "retaliatory and viewpoint-discriminatory enforcement of the laws in violation of the First Amendment."

Bangor Daily News: Maine AG sued over law meant to protect veterans from ‘claim sharks’

By Marie Weidmayer

.....A new Maine law designed to protect veterans from “claim sharks” violates people’s First Amendment rights, a lawsuit filed against the state’s attorney general alleges.

The law, which took effect Friday, bans specific types of businesses from charging veterans who are filing disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It was designed to stop “claim sharks,” who aggressively solicit veterans and charge them thousands of dollars to help them obtain VA disability benefits, while accredited agents and lawyers can secure benefits for little to no cost.

Restricting what businesses are allowed to help veterans is unconstitutional, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor. The lawsuit, brought by North Carolina-based Veterans Guardian VA Claim Consulting, alleges the law violates constitutional guaranteed rights to free speech and petition.

FEC

Wall Street Journal: The FEC Has No Business Regulating AI

By Sean Cooksey

.....For more than a year, the Federal Election Commission has faced calls to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns. But we have neither the expertise nor the legal authority to do so. That’s why I offered a proposal to end the agency’s pending rulemaking on AI with no further action. On Aug. 15, the commission is set to vote on it.

Any special rules for political ads generated with AI that the FEC might issue would exceed its statutory authority. Existing laws do charge the FEC with administering and enforcing disclaimer and disclosure requirements for political ads, but Congress hasn’t given us the power to draft regulations specifically for AI or any other technology.

More practically, we don’t have the experience or expertise to craft effective and appropriately tailored rules. Neither do most other federal agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—each of which has put out reports or proposed rules on the matter. These agencies can’t even agree on a definition of AI. Defining the scope of regulatory authority is properly the job of Congress, not unelected bureaucrats.

The Hill: Democratic PAC files FEC complaint over Trump-Musk interview

By Lauren Sforza

.....The Democratic organization End Citizens United filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday over former President Trump’s interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump spoke with Musk on social media platform X, which Musk owns, on Monday night for roughly two hours after their conversation was delayed by technical difficulties. In its complaint on Tuesday, End Citizens United alleged that the interview was a corporate contribution that violated campaign finance laws.

Online Speech Platforms

Bloomberg: Instagram Views for Major Accounts Drop With Meta Shunning Politics

By Alicia Clanton

.....A new study found that several prominent, progressive Instagram accounts saw their reach decline by 65% on average in the months following Meta Platforms Inc.’s move to subdue political content on the app.

Over a roughly three-month period following the policy’s rollout in early March, researchers at Accountable Tech, a social media integrity nonprofit, gathered viewership data for five prominent Instagram accounts with a collective following of 13.5 million people, including those of Hillary Clinton and GLAAD, an LGBTQ activist group. Researchers found that posts from those accounts, which heavily feature topics such as voting information, reproductive rights and advocacy for marginalized groups, were seen by significantly fewer users than before Meta began reducing the spread of political content on the app.

Washington Post: The friendliest social network you’ve never heard of

By Will Oremus

.....Imagine an online community where substantive debates about Donald Trump, climate change and America’s culture wars nestle quietly alongside messages about lost rabbits and school board meetings.

It exists and even thrives — in Vermont. Front Porch Forum counts nearly half the state’s adults as active members. More than Facebook, Nextdoor, Craigslist or their local newspaper, the site is where Vermonters go to interact with their neighbors online — generally without disparaging each other.

At a time when Americans are increasingly disenchanted with social media, researchers are studying Front Porch Forum to try to understand what makes for a kinder, gentler online community — and what Big Tech could learn from it.

The States

New York Post: Ex-Kansas police chief who led Marion County Record raid charged with felony

By Associated Press

.....A former Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice and is accused of persuading a potential witness to withhold information from authorities when they later investigated his conduct.

The single charge against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody alleges that he knowingly or intentionally influenced the witness to withhold information on the day of the raid of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher or sometime within the following six days.

The charge was filed Monday in state district court in Marion County and is not more specific about Cody’s alleged conduct.

The raid sparked a national debate about press freedom focused on Marion, a town of about 1,900 people set among rolling prairie hills about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri.

Also, newspaper publisher Eric Meyer’s mother, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, died the next day of a heart attack, and he blames the stress of the raid.

Campus Reform: New Hampshire passes bill ensuring free speech protections

By Benjamin Brown

.....New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed the Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act (H.B. 1305) into law on July 19, which “establishes procedures governing freedom of speech and association at public institutions of higher education.”

The bill ensures protections for “all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, speeches and guest speakers, distribution of literature, carrying signs, and circulating petitions,” stating that victims of free speech violations will be allowed to file for damages as high as $20,000.

Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller, one of the bill’s 11 sponsors, emphasized his views on free speech and the necessity of legally-defined frameworks for protecting freedom of expression.

Must Read Alaska: Petition of suspicion: Dark money groups controlling Alaska are trying to get Alaskans to limit campaign contributions from individuals

By Suzanne Downing

.....One of the biggest dark money groups in the country, which has controlled many of Alaska’s election outcomes over the years, is the New Venture Fund. It’s a name every Alaskan should know, but that few do.

The New Venture Fund is the group behind a new pop-up group called Citizens Against Money in Politics, which seeks to instate a $4,000 campaign contribution limit in Alaska elections for groups, and a $2,000 limit for ordinary citizens. The group is collecting signatures all over the state, most recently in Fairbanks.

This initiative would give the ability of groups like the New Venture Fund to create numerous pop-up groups and spend money changing outcomes in Alaska, while putting regular citizens at a disadvantage for fighting them. It’s similar to what happened with 2020’s Ballot Measure 2, which brought in the ranked-choice voting method now used in Alaska, to disadvantage Republicans except for Sen. Lisa Murkowski.