Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech January 27, 2025 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 Columbia Spectator: Ten civil liberties and media organizations argue for use of anti-SLAPP statute in Exonerated Five defamation lawsuit against Trump By Surina Venkat .....The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania along with nine other civil liberties and media organizations filed an amicus brief for the Exonerated Five’s defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, supporting the use of Pennsylvania’s new anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation statute in federal court. Central Florida Public Media: Brevard County School Board can’t enforce public comment policy moving forward By Danielle Prieur .....Parents and residents are free to say pretty much anything they’d like at school board meetings in Brevard County after a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge in Orlando bans the Brevard County School Board from enforcing public comment policies at meetings. In October, a circuit court judge found the school board’s policy which restricts people from naming board members or using “abusive” or “obscene” speech in public comments was a violation of the First Amendment. Attorney Brett Nolan is with the Institute for Free Speech. He defended Moms for Liberty Brevard County, the group that brought the initial suit against the schools, and said he applauds the decision. “Because a really important part of the First Amendment is that people feel comfortable speaking. Like they can go into a situation to speak, and not be worried that they're going to be silenced or censored, or have the police called or something like that,” said Nolan. KSLTV: Utah journalist sues after legislative officials deny Capitol credentials to independent media By Mary Culbertson .....An independent Utah journalist filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against Utah legislative officials, which argues that blocking him from a Capitol building media credential violates his free speech rights. The lawsuit, filed by Bryan Schott in partnership with the Institute for Free Speech, also says the decision blocks all independent media, blogs and freelancers from covering the 2025 legislative session, which began Tuesday. Schott most recently worked as a political correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune until August 2024. According to the lawsuit, Schott said he has been reporting in Utah for 25 years — including at KUER and KSL NewsRadio. Congress Forbes: U.S. House Oversight Committee Launches Probe Into Debanking Allegations In Tech And Crypto By Jack Kelly .....The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting an investigation into alleged “improper debanking” of individuals and organizations based on political affiliations or participation in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, according to a letter sent by the Committee to industry leaders on Friday. Reason: Rand Paul: Banning TikTok Is 'Group Hysteria' By Elizabeth Nolan Brown .....Attacks on TikTok are "part of an overall hysteria on the hill about China," says Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.). Sensing a Congressional attitude shift on the app after President Donald Trump came to its defense, Paul recently introduced the "Repeal the TikTok Ban Act." Paul's bill would scrap last year's mandate saying that China-based ByteDance must sell off its U.S. TikTok operations or face a ban in this country, a provision that was part of a larger bill known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The move is part of Paul's broader project of trying to keep alive a "consistently free trade and free markets" wing within the Republican Party. "I don't want that part of the party to die, and [Republicans] just to become the nationalist populist party," Paul tells Reason... Below is a portion of our conversation, edited for clarity and length. Chronicle of Philanthropy: The ‘Nonprofit Killer Bill’ Seems Scary — but Current Law Is Worse By Darryll K. Jones .....But the sword of Damocles already exists in current law, and HR 9495 does not sharpen it. In fact, it slightly blunts the current law’s already dangerous edge. Put into place by President George W. Bush following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, that law — Executive Order 13224 — allows the Treasury secretary to declare that a domestic nonprofit supports terrorism. The result of such a declaration? Indefinite revocation of tax exemption, no more deductible contributions, an immediate freeze of the nonprofit’s assets, and criminal prohibitions against anybody doing business with the nonprofit. ... Bush was so concerned with national security after 9/11 that his executive order pointedly dispensed with any warning, opportunity to respond, or proof that the declaration was valid. The new legislation amends the Bush-era law by adding a modicum of due process intentionally excluded from his executive order. Concern that HR 9495 further expands a law that already gives Treasury unlimited power is irrational — even if the real fear is about who wields the power rather than the power itself. In reality, a despot seeking to silence nonprofits would be weakened, not empowered by HR 9495. Online Speech Platforms Wall Street Journal: Meta’s Free-Speech Shift Made It Clear to Advertisers: ‘Brand Safety’ Is Out of Vogue By Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin .....Advertisers have expressed concerns over the past few weeks—in meetings with Meta as well as with their own agency partners—that Meta’s tools might not be enough to stop ads from showing up near offensive content as the new content-moderation approach comes into effect, and that user feeds could become inundated with misinformation. On the recent call, Meta’s vice president of content policy, Monika Bickert, said Meta wants to remove content that contributes to increased safety risks, but “allow people to talk about the news and the world around them and not be overly restrictive.” One significant change: “Hate speech,” a term that she said “has different meanings to different people,” is being replaced by “hateful conduct.” Bickert offered an example of the new order: The statement “women should not be allowed to serve in combat” would have been prohibited before, as a call to exclude people from a job based on their gender, but would be permitted now. That means an ad for, say, a car company could show up next to a post saying that, unless the marketer tunes its settings to exclude such a placement. AP News: Trump signs executive order on developing artificial intelligence ‘free from ideological bias’ By Matt O’Brien and Sarah Parvini .....President Donald Trump signed an executive order on artificial intelligence Thursday that will revoke past government policies his order says “act as barriers to American AI innovation.” To maintain global leadership in AI technology, “we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas,” Trump’s order says. Manhattan Institute: New Report Highlights Political Bias in AI Amid Historic Trump Administration Investment By Leah Thomas .....As the Trump administration announces a historic $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, a new report from the Manhattan Institute underscores the importance of addressing political bias in AI systems to ensure public trust in these transformative technologies. While the investment, backed by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, marks a pivotal moment for the industry, researcher David Rozado’s findings reveal a critical need for fairness and neutrality in AI development. The States Black Hills Pioneer: Campaign finance reforms pass legislative panel By Joshua Haiar .....A committee of South Dakota state senators advanced three bills Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre that would put new limits on loans to campaign finance committees and contributions by inactive committees, and require more reporting by inactive committees. The bills now head to the full state Senate. Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, introduced all three of the bills. One of the bills addresses the unlimited amount someone can loan to a campaign in South Dakota. The legislation is a response to the most recent election cycle, when Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden reported a $100,000 contribution to his own Dakota First Action committee. The contribution exceeded the state’s $10,000 limit on individual contributions to political action committees. Doeden later amended the report, reclassifying the contribution as a loan. Current state law allows loans to be forgiven, effectively providing a way to nullify contribution limits... The bill says that any loan, when combined with contributions from the same source, cannot exceed the existing contribution limits outlined in state law. Wyoming Tribune Eagle: Wyoming state Sen. Ed Cooper introduces resolution to address dark money in elections .....State Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, on Friday announced the introduction of Senate Joint Resolution 8, "Political expenditures," which is designed to restore the ability of states to regulate campaign finance laws and protect elections from foreign interference. Cooper said federalism is at the heart of this resolution. “We in Wyoming know best how to protect our citizens from undue influence. Wyomingites overwhelmingly support taking action against the corrosive effects of dark money in politics and foreign interference in our elections,” Cooper said in a news release. He pointed to polling demonstrating that 88% of all Wyomingites believe dark money is a threat to democracy and 75% agreeing with the amendment as a solution. Los Alamos Daily Post: New Mexico State Ethics Commission Outlines Priorities For 2025 Legislative Session Aiming To Increase Public Trust By Carol A. Clark .....The State Ethics Commission is supporting two bills that aim to increase public trust in officials by shining additional light on the process of lawmaking and elections. “The Ethics Commission enforces New Mexico’s ethics laws, including those requiring lobbyists to disclose their activities, as well as holding campaigns and officials accountable for violating election laws,” Commission Executive Director Jeremy Farris said. “In doing this we’ve discovered loopholes, which allow lobbyists and PACs to operate in semi-darkness. This year, we are supporting a few incremental reforms that will align our state with the disclosure standards followed by the majority of other states.” The Commission’s top priority, a bill which will update the Lobbyist Regulation Act includes several requirements, most of which lobbyists already fulfill voluntarily. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. 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