The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech September 4, 2024 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Ed. note: The Media Update will return Friday, September 6. New from the Institute for Free Speech Institute for Free Speech Urges Court to Protect Students’ Right to Dissent from Gender Ideology .....The Institute for Free Speech has filed an amicus brief in Parents Defending Education v. Olentangy Local School District Board of Education, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to rehear the case en banc. In the case, a split Sixth Circuit panel upheld a rule allowing schools to ban the use of “non-preferred pronouns.” Specifically, the rule prohibits students from using pronouns that refer to a person’s biological sex rather than their gender identity. The Institute argues that this rule is clearly unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and threatens First Amendment rights far beyond the classroom. The Institute contends that the panel’s decision conflicts with both Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit precedent. The brief explains that “banning students from using pronouns only when referring to biological sex—rather than gender identity—discriminates based on viewpoint.” It emphasizes that the decision contradicts the Sixth Circuit’s own ruling in Meriwether v. Hartop, which held that “refusing to use gender-identity-based pronouns” conveys a message “that one’s sex cannot be changed.” The Courts Nonprofit Law Prof Blog: More Johnson Amendment Excitement: National Religious Broadcasters v. Werfel By Benjamin Leff .....It’s exciting times for those of us (like me!) who follow Johnson Amendment developments. The SAFE SPACE litigation is temporarily dismissed in Tax Court, but I have been assured that it’s only so the parties can develop the administrative record with the IRS, and it will be back in court as soon as that happens. Meanwhile, as was pointed out by my co-blogger Darryll Jones last week, the National Religious Broadcasters and others (“NRB”) filed a complaint in Eastern District of Texas, arguing that even though no adverse action had been taken against any of them, the existence of the Johnson Amendment unconstitutionally chills their speech and religious expression. The lawsuit will almost certainly be dismissed, but the complaint is interesting, nonetheless. Ohio Secretary of State: Secretary LaRose Takes New Legal Action to Defend Ohio's Ban on Foreign Funding of Campaigns .....Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced today he and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost have filed a motion to stay a federal court ruling on Ohio’s law banning foreign funding of statewide ballot campaigns. “The judge indicated that most of the law is constitutionally enforceable, but he disagreed with applying the restriction to lawful permanent residents,” said LaRose. “We’re asking for the court to either stay the entire decision while the case is appealed or for the authority to at least enforce what the court considers to be the constitutional portions of the law.” New York Times: Judge Denies Trump’s Request to Move Criminal Case to Federal Court By Jesse McKinley .....A federal judge in Manhattan denied an effort by Donald J. Trump to move his already adjudicated state criminal case to the federal courts on Tuesday, rejecting his claims of presidential immunity and brushing aside his allegation of bias. The Verge: Social networks can’t be forced to filter content for kids, says judge By Adi Robertson .....A federal judge issued a last-minute partial block on a Texas law that would require some large web services to identify minors and filter what they see online. Called HB 18 or the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, it was signed into law last year and was set to take effect over the weekend on September 1st. But a late Friday court ruling determined that the “monitoring and filtering” requirements posed a significant threat to online speech. DOJ Bloomberg (via Yahoo): DOJ Unveils Social Media Strategy to Combat Foreign Threats By Chris Strohm .....The US Justice Department won’t pressure social media companies to remove or block content when the government shares information about foreign threats to national security or elections, after claims that platforms were previously coerced. The department unveiled policy principles Tuesday on how national security officials will engage with social media companies while protecting constitutional rights, especially heading into this year’s presidential election. The department also launched a website explaining how officials will ensure that First Amendment rights are protected while exposing foreign threats on the platforms. Nonprofits Free Beacon: Do You Like NASCAR? This 'Non-partisan' Voter Registration Group Doesn’t Want To Help You By Andrew Kerr .....Do you live in a swing state? If so, the Voter Participation Center, a "non-partisan" charity, is spending big on Facebook ads to ensure you have the information you need to cast a ballot in the upcoming election. That is unless you like NASCAR, golf, Jeeps, or other interests and hobbies typically associated with Republican men. In that case, the Voter Participation Center does not want to share information that might help you make it to the polls in November… But behind the scenes, Facebook ad library data indicate the Voter Participation Center’s ad campaign is deployed with partisan intent. The group has instructed Facebook to exclude from the reach of its ads anyone with expressed interests in 26 categories typically associated with Republican men, including the "PGA Tour," "Indianapolis 500," "Daytona 500," "Tom Clancy," "Modified Jeeps," "Duck Dynasty," and others. Free Expression Washington Post: How China extended its repression into an American city By Shibani Mahtani, Meg Kelly, Cate Brown, Cate Cadell, Ellen Nakashima and Chris Dehghanpoor .....Chinese diplomats and pro-China diaspora groups based in the United States organized demonstrations in San Francisco that harassed and silenced protesters opposed to Beijing’s policies, including through violence, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the city in November, a six-month investigation by The Washington Post shows. The events in San Francisco illustrate how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is willing to extend its intolerance of any dissent into the United States and target people exercising their First Amendment rights in an American city. It is part of a broader global pattern of China attempting to reach beyond its borders and suppress parts of its diaspora advocating against the CCP and ongoing rights abuses in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and mainland China, the U.S. government and human rights groups say. Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Campus Free Speech, 2024 By Cass Sunstein .....I did not expect to write a book on free speech on campus. If you had asked me in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, whether I might ever produce such a book, I would have said, "Are you kidding? Definitely not!" But as they say, life is full of surprises. The on-campus disputes of 2024, spurred by protests connected with events in Israel and Palestine, led me to write a kind of extended "note to self," on my travel laptop—and here we are. New York Times: Left-Wing Misinformation Is Having a Moment By Stuart A. Thompson and Tiffany Hsu .....For years, the discussion about misinformation online has focused on falsehoods circulating on the American right. But in recent weeks, a flurry of conspiracy theories and false narratives have also been swirling on the left. Some misinformation researchers are worried that the new spate of left-leaning conspiracy theories could further polarize political discourse before the November election. More than one-third of President Biden’s supporters believed the assassination attempt may have been staged, according to a poll in July by Morning Consult. Online Speech Platforms NBC News: Meta's Oversight Board rules that 'from the river to the sea' is not necessarily hate speech By David Ingram .....The independent Oversight Board for Instagram and Facebook ruled Wednesday that the phrase “from the river to the sea” is not necessarily hate speech when addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ruling means that people on Meta-owned social media apps can continue to use the phrase in comments and posts, as long as there’s no overriding context that would otherwise be deemed problematic by Meta, such as violent language, legitimization of hate or calls for excluding others from territory, the board said. The States Sunflower State Journal: Judge strikes ethics subpoena, says campaign finance law vague By Brad Cooper .....A Shawnee County judge has refused to allow the state ethics commission to enforce a subpoena against the treasurer of a Republican-leaning political action committee as part of a lengthy investigation into alleged state campaign finance violations. Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson denied a petition from the ethics commission seeking to enforce the subpoena against David Matthew Billingsley, treasurer for the Lift Up political action committee that donates mostly to Republican candidates. Billingsley, of Topeka, once served as the chief of staff to former Revenue Secretary Sam Williams during former Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration. Watson said in her ruling that the state law used as the basis for enforcing the subpoena was unconstitutionally vague. 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." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. Follow the Institute for Free Speech The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 801 | Washington, DC 20036 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice