Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech February 12, 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 The Gazette: Anti-SLAPP bills advance in Iowa Legislature By Erin Murphy .....Iowans would be able to request the rapid dismissal of a lawsuit on free speech grounds — which would bring Iowa into line with a majority of U.S. states — under a proposal being considered by state lawmakers. The legislation, which advanced Tuesday in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, is a so-called anti-SLAPP bill, an acronym for strategic lawsuits against public participation. In other words, the measure is designed to provide legal relief for individuals to push back against lawsuits that are designed to squelch free speech. Under the proposal, Iowans who face a lawsuit over something they said in public debate or in exercising their free speech can within 60 days ask a judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Iowa is one of just 15 U.S. states without an anti-SLAPP law, according to the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech. Ohio last month became the 35th state to pass an anti-SLAPP law. Chronicle of Philanthropy: Trump Orders a Review of Federal Support to ‘Nongovernmental Organizations’ By Alex Daniels .....With a two-paragraph memorandum late last week, President Trump once again had nonprofits bracing for a withdrawal of federal support... Whether the memo might pave the way for a constitutional clash depends on how it is implemented, said David Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech, a First Amendment advocacy group. Keating, the former executive director of the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group that pushes for low taxes, presented the hypothetical example of a nonprofit applying for disaster relief being told that it will get the money if it promises not to advocate for federal action on climate change. Attaching those strings to a federal grant would clearly be unconstitutional, Keating said. The memo, he said, is vague, but until spending decisions are made, it does not present an immediate First Amendment problem. "At this point, we have to assume that they’ll do it properly and constitutionally,” he said. “I can certainly understand why people might be skeptical of that actually happening.” The Courts WCPO: Ex-councilman P.G. Sittenfeld loses appeal, could be sent back to prison By Paula Christian and Felicia Jordan .....Ex-councilman P.G. Sittenfeld could be heading back to prison after a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against his appeal Tuesday. Sittenfeld had asked to have his public corruption conviction thrown out; the appeal process began in May 2024, and Sittenfeld has been released from prison since then, pending the outcome. The judges, John Bush, John Nalbandian and Eric Murphy, ruled 2-1 to uphold his conviction. All are appointees of President Donald Trump... The appeal focused on two specific arguments: Whether the government had presented enough evidence for a jury to reasonably rule an explicit quid pro quo had occurred, and whether Sittenfeld's indictment "was constructively amended," meaning the jury was given evidence pointing to crimes outside of Sittenfeld's actual indictment. Congress The UnPopulist: America Desperately Needs a National Anti-SLAPP Law to Stop Censorship by Bad Political Actors By Ken White .....Political litigation works because the justice system is broken. It’s cheap and easy to file a defamation complaint, even a big splashy one. I could draft one in 20 minutes and file it in state or federal court for less than a thousand bucks. But it’s ruinously expensive to defend a case, even if the claim is bogus. It costs a minimum of tens of thousands and up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend a civil suit in America. When Donald Trump was awarded more than $300,000 in attorney fees for defeating Stormy Daniels’ defamation case at an early stage, litigators weren’t surprised. The vast majority of Americans cannot possibly afford to defend themselves if someone sues them for their speech, even if that speech is clearly protected by the First Amendment. This is bad for everyone, not just the folks who get sued. When a lawyer sends you a threatening letter demanding that you take down a Facebook post or retract a letter to the editor or apologize for a comment, giving in may be the only economically rational choice, freedom of expression be damned. It’s cold comfort to know that your free speech rights would be vindicated at trial if it will bankrupt you to get to that stage. Moreover, penury isn’t the only threat. Whether you win a defamation suit or lose, you’ll suffer the whole time. Litigation is humiliating, terrifying, and will destroy your health, your relationships, and your joy in life. I’ve never had a client enjoy litigation. They’re always grateful for it to be over. Roll Call: Senate tries again on thorny issue of kids online safety By Gopal Ratnam .....A bipartisan Senate bill to ban social media access for kids younger than 13 that sailed through committee is facing pushback from digital rights and tech trade groups that say it’s unconstitutional and overly intrusive. The bill, which the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved by voice vote on Feb. 5, is a bipartisan measure from Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, with a slate of co-sponsors from both parties… The legislation “comes from very good intentions of lawmakers, and establishing national screen time standards for schools is sensible,” Amy Bos, director of state and federal affairs at NetChoice, said in an email. “However, the bill’s in-effect requirements on access to protected information jeopardize all Americans’ digital privacy and endanger free speech online.” Trump Administration AP News: White House bars AP reporter from Oval Office because of AP style policy on ‘Gulf of America’ By David Bauder .....The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from an event in the Oval Office on Tuesday after demanding the news agency alter its style on the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump has ordered renamed the Gulf of America. The reporter, whom the AP would not identify, tried to enter the White House event as usual Tuesday afternoon and was turned away. Later, a second AP reporter was barred from a late-evening event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room. The highly unusual ban, which Trump administration officials had threatened earlier Tuesday unless the AP changed the style on the Gulf, could have constitutional free-speech implications. Politico: MAGA’s mission to rewrite the rules of ‘cancel culture’ By Ian Ward .....The controversy kicked off Thursday, when the Wall Street Journal reported that a 25-year-old DOGE employee named Marko Elez had resigned from the department after the paper discovered racist posts Elez made last year on social media… On Friday afternoon, Vice President JD Vance joined a chorus of online voices calling for Elez’s reinstatement, writing in a post on X that while he “obviously disagree[s] with some of Elez’s posts,” conservatives “shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever.” “If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that,” wrote Vance. Just a few hours later, Musk took to X to broadcast his intentions to rehire Elez, writing “To err is human, to forgive divine.” (Spokespeople for the White House and DOGE did not respond to questions about whether Elez had been formally rehired as of today.) CBS Austin: VP Vance blasts AI regulations at Paris summit, vows US will uphold free speech By Alexx Altman-Devilbiss .....Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday delivered sharp criticism to global leaders and industry executives at the Paris AI summit trying to regulate artificial intelligence calling it "excessive regulation" that could cripple the rapidly growing industry. Vance took aim at foreign governments "tightening the screws" on U.S. tech firms while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that, "AI needs the confidence of the people and has to be safe." The Trump administration will "ensure that AI systems developed in America are free from ideological bias," Vance said and pledged the U.S. would "never restrict our citizens’ right to free speech." Politico: Trump continues federal purge, gutting cyber workers who combat disinformation By John Sakellariadis and Maggie Miller .....The Trump administration has moved to push out a swathe of federal workers previously involved in combating election-related disinformation, according to three people familiar with the matter, amid allegations from congressional Republicans that their work unfairly targeted conservative speech online. Roughly half a dozen employees from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who once worked in its Election Security and Resilience division were notified Thursday night they were being put on administrative leave, said the three people, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Free Expression Reason: Life, Liberty, and the Right To Shitpost By Joshua Levine and Luke Hogg .....Expressive freedom is foundational to America. Our forefathers were experts at writing scandalous articles, drawing salacious cartoons, and distributing satirical pamphlets. Some of this was done with their real names, but many preferred anonymity. Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton were some of the original anonymous shitposters. People always bemoan advances in technology, usually claiming that each new medium creates problems requiring the state to step in and protect incumbents. Generative AI is such a technological advance, and many are working to tame its expressive potential. Limiting AI would mean accepting a more sanitized and controlled world, as well as capitulating on America's value of expressive freedom. Efforts to homogenize or hinder generative AI's development or to constrain it must be opposed. Americans must defend their right to shitpost. The States Inside Higher Ed: GOP State Lawmakers Targeting DEI and Tenure Again By Ryan Quinn .....Last week, the Indiana Senate passed a bill targeting diversity, equity and inclusion across state government, including in K-12 and higher education. Senate Bill 289 would ban DEI consultants, internal DEI audits and any offices or workers whose “primary duties” include providing noncredit DEI programs at public colleges and universities. The state attorney general could ask courts to fine institutions up to $250,000 per violation… PEN America, a free speech and academic freedom advocacy group, has raised concern about SB 289, including a provision that it says “broadly prohibits faculty and staff from ‘promoting, embracing or endorsing stereotypes,’ using language so vague it could severely restrict classroom instruction and discussion.” NBC News: New York state bans DeepSeek from government devices By Angela Yang .....The state of New York has banned the Chinese artificial intelligence assistant DeepSeek on government devices. Gov. Kathy Hochul issued the directive on Monday, citing “serious concerns” about DeepSeek’s apparent censorship and its potential for foreign government surveillance. The AI app, created by a small research lab owned by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, has faced both praise and suspicion since it abruptly surpassed some of the most well-known AI models last month. 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