Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech June 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]. The Courts Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Court Rejects Challenge to Trump's Executive Orders on Anti-Semitism By Eugene Volokh .....From Monday's decision by Judge Douglas Harpool (W.D. Mo.) in McClanahan v. Trump, which I think reaches the correct result: Congress UPI: Bill would allow charitable nonprofits to endorse candidates By Pamela Manson .....Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would amend a provision in the Internal Revenue Code to allow nonprofit entities, including houses of worship, to endorse or oppose political candidates. Under the current provision in the tax code, called the Johnson Amendment, a charitable nonprofit may not participate in, or intervene in -- including publishing or distributing statements -- any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. The Free Speech Fairness Act would change that by permitting statements by organizations that have Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status "if such statements are made in the ordinary course of carrying out [their] tax-exempt purpose." Sen. Cruz: Sen. Cruz Continues to Lead Fight to Stop Big Tech Cancel Culture .....Today, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reintroduced the Transparency in Enforcement, Restricting, and Monitoring of Services (TERMS) Act, which will prevent online service providers from weaponizing broadly worded terms of service agreements to silence customers and deny them access to essential business technologies over their political beliefs. The limited number of providers for some online services has forced conservative organizations to decide between conforming to restrictive woke demands or exercising their freedom of speech. The legislation requires online service providers like Slack and Eventbrite to clarify ambiguous, discriminatory terms of service policies and notify users before restricting access to a product based on a terms of service violations. The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.). A House companion bill has been introduced by Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas). Free Expression Washington Post: Harvard should win in court. But academia still needs a reckoning. By Editorial Board .....In an academic community in which “diversity statements” are required of new hires (and professors can be denied jobs merely for criticizing them), university administrations and disciplines issue official statements embracing social justice causes, journal editors apologize for or withdraw papers that offend the left, and conservative professors are becoming an increasingly endangered species, even moderates or those on the center-left can reasonably wonder what they’re allowed to say, and universities can seem drastically out of step with mainstream society. The worst of this political fever might be behind us, but academia will have to take strenuous action to restore its reputation as defenders of the free exchange of ideas. Universities cannot convincingly demand that the government respect their academic freedom unless they consistently make the same demand of their own teachers and leaders. Renaming the diversity, equity and inclusion office will not suffice; they need to foster a campus environment in which the frank discussion of ideas is the core value. If they do not, they will find the public yawning as conservative attacks intensify and courts struggle to contain the damage. Trump Administration Inside Higher Ed: NIH Staff Lambaste Agency Head for Censorship of Science By Kathryn Palmer .....Hundreds of staff at the National Institutes of Health are publicly condemning the agency’s actions in recent months, including firing thousands of workers and canceling research grants for projects that don’t align with the Trump administration’s ideologies. In a letter sent Monday morning to Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump-appointed NIH director who gained notoriety for his criticism of the NIH’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 300 employees from across the agency called on him to deliver on his promise to embrace dissent, which he has called “the very essence of science.” Online Speech Platforms Wall Street Journal: X’s Sales Pitch: Give Us Your Ad Business or We’ll Sue By Suzanne Vranica, Dana Mattioli, and Jessica Toonkel .....Late last year, Verizon Communications got an unusual message from a media company that wanted its business: Spend your ad dollars with us or we’ll see you in court. The threat came from X, the social-media platform that has been struggling to resuscitate its ad business after many corporate advertisers fled over concerns about loosened content-moderation standards following Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase in late 2022. It worked. Verizon, which hadn’t advertised on X since 2022, pledged to spend at least $10 million this year on the platform, a person familiar with the matter said. Fashion company Ralph Lauren also agreed to resume buying ads on X after receiving a lawsuit threat, people familiar with the matter said. All told, at least six companies that had either received lawsuit threats or were motivated in part by pressure tactics have struck ad deals with X, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The agreements include both firm ad-spending commitments and nonbinding targets. Independent Groups Washington Post: Lawsuit accuses Musk of bribing Wisconsin voters with cash prizes By Maegan Vazquez .....A Wisconsin nonprofit organization focused on fighting for fair elections has filed a legal complaint alleging that billionaire Elon Musk illegally bribed voters by giving out cash prizes this year in his attempt to help conservatives take control of the swing state’s Supreme Court. The complaint, provided to The Washington Post by lawyers representing the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and two Wisconsin voters, claims that Musk, his America PAC and a Musk-linked entity known as United States of America Inc. violated the state’s election law in “a brazen scheme to bribe Wisconsin citizens to vote.” The complaint stems from actions of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO ahead of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election this spring, when he handed out $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters and when his super PAC, America PAC, paid registered voters $100 each for signing petitions and providing their contact information. State law, the complaint notes, bars offering or giving “any amount of money over $1” to induce anyone to go to the polls, vote or vote for a particular person. The complaint also claims the actions violated the state’s prohibition on unauthorized lotteries. Candidates and Campaigns Baltimore Banner: A campaign filing error may cost Scott Shellenberger $60K By Lee O. Sanderlin .....In a world where political donations and campaign spending routinely includes figures with multiple commas, $60,000 may not seem like enough money to cause much of a fuss. But when you’re an elected official who ostensibly gave that money to your own campaign with the hope you might one day get it back, only to find out years later you probably won’t — well, that’s a different thing. That’s the position Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger finds himself in after his campaign amended almost three years’ worth of finance reports earlier this year in an effort to reclassify $60,000 worth of contributions he made in 2022 as personal loans. Boston.com: Accusations of election law violations fly back and forth between Wu and Kraft By Ross Cristantiello .....First, Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi reported on potential issues involving a person who simultaneously works with the Kraft campaign and is involved with a super PAC that is pouring millions into anti-Wu attack ads... Meanwhile, Kraft’s campaign responded by calling on the OCPF to investigate Wu for “impermissible coordination” between her 2021 campaign and a super PAC that supported her. Kraft’s team also urged officials to look into reports of Wu illegally using public resources to fuel her current reelection campaign. The States Chicago Tribune: Illinois Senate President Don Harmon faces potential $9.8 million fine for improperly accepting campaign cash By Ray Long .....State election officials have informed Senate President Don Harmon that he will face more than $9.8 million in penalties pending an appeal of a case alleging he broke an Illinois election law designed to rein in big money in political campaigns. The calculation of the potential penalty emerged only days after the Oak Park Democrat attempted to pass legislation designed to wipe away the election board case and the potential penalties, a maneuver stymied amid bipartisan backlash only hours before the spring session adjourned early June 1. The developments take on an added political dimension because of the looming federal sentencing on Friday of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan in the bribery-related ComEd scandal. In a letter dated June 5, the Illinois State Board of Elections told Harmon’s campaign committee it must pay more than $9.8 million within 30 days unless an appeal is filed. The Harmon campaign has already filed a notification that it plans to appeal, and Harmon has said he “fully complied with the law.” Louisiana Illuminator: Whistleblower tips to Louisiana ethics board will remain confidential By Julie O'Donoghue .....An effort to eliminate confidentiality for people who provide tips to the Louisiana Board of Ethics over government misconduct has failed. Louisiana Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said House Bill 160 won’t come up for consideration after it missed a crucial deadline for an initial vote in the Senate Monday… The bill would have required the ethics board to reveal the name of a person who provides a tip about alleged wrongdoing to whoever the person accuses of misconduct. Currently, the ethics board never shares a tipster’s identity with the target of an investigation. Utah News Dispatch: ‘Dumb flags’ and a ‘dumb bill’: Utah governor rolls his eyes at SLC’s workaround of flag ban By Katie McKellar .....“Dumb.” That was the word Utah Gov. Spencer Cox used Tuesday to express his annoyance with a new law that bans certain flags in schools and government buildings while also criticizing Salt Lake City leaders’ move to circumvent the ban by adopting pride and other flags symbolizing diversity and inclusion as official city banners. “They’re dumb flags and it was a dumb bill,” Cox said curtly when asked during his monthly PBS Utah news conference about Salt Lake City’s response to the flag ban. 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." 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