Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech December 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]. In the News Cleveland.com: Ohio considers bill to combat intimidating lawsuits aimed at stifling free speech, criticism By Robert Higgs .....Legislation pending in the Ohio General Assembly takes aim at the use of the courts by deep-pocketed plaintiffs to silence critics from exercising free speech for fear of expensive litigation. The bill, SB 237, would combat a civil action known as a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” or more simply a SLAPP – a suit that claims such as defamation and invasion of privacy to intimidate people exercising their rights to free speech… In a column written for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Ohioan Charles “Chip” Miller, senior attorney at the Institute for Free Speech, said the legislation has long been needed to tame SLAPP suits. “This major threat to free speech allows deep-pocketed individuals or businesses to file frivolous lawsuits to remove speech they don’t like and punish the speaker,” Miller wrote. “These plaintiffs usually claim that the speech constitutes defamation, suing speakers to force them to bear significant litigation costs. Unscrupulous, often sophisticated, plaintiffs can use SLAPPs to silence unwelcome speech protected by the First Amendment.” Strong anti-SLAPP laws that offer protection to defendants have been enacted in a wide range of states, from “blue” California to “red” Texas, Miller wrote. The Courts Wall Street Journal: How Free Is New Hampshire? A Fight Over Doughnuts Is About to Decide By Ginger Adams Otis .....New Hampshire lets adults drive without a seat belt, ride without a helmet and pay no sales tax. But when Sean Young tried to hang a painting over the front door of his doughnut shop, he found out that the liberty-loving state has its limits. The painting—a mountain range made of muffins and doughnuts—has thrust the Conway, N.H. businessman into a First Amendment battle that has divided this picturesque community and sparked debate about the state’s commitment to free speech. “Live free or die, unless you’re hanging artwork,” said Young, referring to the state motto. FCC The Hill: Trump FCC chair pick talks how to ‘smash the censorship cartel’ By Damita Menezes .....Brendan Carr, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has vowed to combat what he calls a “censorship cartel” across social media, government and traditional media platforms, arguing free speech is under unprecedented threat. Carr, in an interview with NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” outlined a multipronged approach to addressing what he sees as growing restrictions on free expression he believes was accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Diversity of opinion is so important in this country, and it’s going to be one of my top priorities: trying to smash this censorship cartel,” Carr said. The Media Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): CNN, The View Commentator Ana Navarro-Cárdenas Cites Apparent ChatGPT Hallucination By Eugene Volokh .....Isaac Schorr (Mediaite) reports that "The View's Ana Navarro-Cárdenas" posted a tweet defending President Biden's pardon of his son by stating, among other things, "Woodrow Wilson pardoned his brother-in-law, Hunter deButts." But apparently Wilson's never had or pardoned a brother-in-law with that name, Schorr reports. And Navarro-Cárdenas' defense (after being called on her original post by Twitter users) seems to be to point to ChatGPT: Donor Privacy The Federalist: The Trump Transition Team Is Right To Protect Donors’ Privacy By Brian Hawkins .....Despite losing an election where accusations of weaponizing the government against political opponents featured prominently, Democrats are once again attempting to dox Trump supporters. Their latest focus is the nonprofit supporting President-elect Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, Trump Vance 2025 Transition, Inc. The controversy reinforces why conservatives should insist on strong privacy protections when advocating their beliefs. Trump’s transition team has chosen to raise funds entirely from private donations, sparing taxpayer dollars and avoiding red tape. Predictably, Democrats are exploiting this decision to launch a renewed attack on the president-elect’s supporters. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is amplifying baseless claims of nefarious influence by Trump donors, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to the Biden administration expressing alarm about the Trump transition team’s rejection of past transition practices.  The States Philadelphia Inquirer: Elon Musk’s PAC says it’s verifying voters for its cash giveaway, but Pa. AG’s office is reviewing complaints over unsolicited checks By Fallon Roth .....The Pennsylvania Attorney General Office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection has received approximately 20 complaints statewide regarding unsolicited and unwanted $100 checks that appear to be from Elon Musk’s pro-Donald Trump America PAC, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said Tuesday. The nature of the complaints will determine the next steps in how the bureau, a division of Attorney General Michelle Henry’s office, will proceed, the spokesperson said. New York Times: University of Michigan Weighs Changes to Its Diversity Program By Nicholas Confessore .....The University of Michigan, one of higher education’s staunchest proponents of diversity, equity and inclusion plans, is weighing changes to its own program… Sarah Hubbard, a Republican regent, said she believed that the growing use of diversity statements across the school had led the university to hire too many faculty members with similar views. Critics say that such statements, typically testimonials of a job candidate’s commitment to D.E.I., amount to compelled political speech. Officials at two other selective institutions, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced this summer that they would no longer require job candidates to submit diversity statements. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. 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