Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech July 28, 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 Campus Reform: Court sides with California professor punished for opposing DEI mandates in higher ed By Patrick McDonald .....The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has partly revived a lawsuit brought by Bakersfield College professor Daymon Johnson against California community college officials over campus diversity regulations. In a July 14 ruling, the court reversed a lower court’s decision that had dismissed Johnson’s claims for lack of standing, finding that Johnson had plausibly alleged a credible threat of enforcement under certain state regulations requiring faculty compliance with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) policies. Though it allowed Johnson’s suit to continue, the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of some of Johnson’s claims, finding that he lacked standing to challenge broader DEIA guidelines and various campus policies that either do not apply directly to him or are unenforceable. The Courts The Oregonian: 9th Circuit sides with Oregon mother denied foster parent status over LGBTQ+ views By Maxine Bernstein .....The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a split decision Thursday rejected an Oregon administrative rule that barred a woman from becoming a foster parent because she said wouldn’t respect the sexual orientation of an LGBTQ+ child. Jessica Bates, of Vale in Malheur County, had sued the state, alleging its policy violated her rights to free speech and religious freedom. WCCS: Oregon girls who went viral for refusing to stand on podium with trans athlete file lawsuit .....Two of the state’s girls’ track and field stars, Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon School Athletics Association (OSAA) after an incident on May 31 when they refused to stand on a medal podium with a transgender competitor at a state title meet. Footage of the stunt went viral, as Anderson later told Fox News that officials instructed them to step away from the podium and get out of the shots of photos. Congress Reason: This Bill Would Fine Social Media Companies $5 Million Every Day for Not Fighting 'Terrorism' By Matthew Petti .....The idea that the federal government even talked to social media platforms about their moderation was a major scandal. After the Twitter Files leak revealed that the Biden administration was privately leaning on one platform to suppress "misinformation," the courts blocked officials from communicating with social media companies for several months on free speech grounds. A bipartisan bill, however, would make it mandatory for social media companies to work with the federal government. The Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities (STOP HATE) Act would require companies to provide triennial reports on their moderation policies—and violations they catch—to the U.S. attorney general. The bill requires companies to issue specific policies for groups the federal government designates as terrorists and the director of national intelligence to also begin reporting on terrorist usage of social media. Companies would be fined $5 million per day that they fail to comply. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D–N.J.) and Don Bacon (R–Neb.) had first proposed the bill in November 2023. It died in committee at the time. Gottheimer and Bacon announced that they would be reintroducing the bill at a press conference on Wednesday alongside Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. House Judiciary Committee: The Foreign Censorship Threat: How the European Union’s Digital Services Act Compels Global Censorship and Infringes on American Free Speech .....Today, House Judiciary Committee Republicans released an interim staff report titled, "The Foreign Censorship Threat: How the European Union’s Digital Services Act Compels Global Censorship and Infringes on American Free Speech." The report details how the European Union (EU) uses the Digital Services Act (DSA) as a censorship tool that requires the world's largest social media platforms to engage in censorship of core political discourse in Europe, the United States, and around the world. The Committee obtained under subpoena nonpublic documents, including email communications between Commission staff and tech companies regarding "voluntary" codes of conduct and internal documents showing a recent May 2025 DSA Workshop that the Commission hosted with platforms behind closed doors. Nonprofits New York Times: Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis By Kenneth P. VogelKate Conger and Ryan Mac .....Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by President Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns. The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general. The group has slashed the size of its staff and scrambled to raise more cash from skittish donors, according to documents and interviews with 11 people familiar with the organization’s fight to survive. That might not be enough. Online Speech Platforms New York Times: Citing New Rules, Meta Says It Will End Political Ads in E.U. By Isabella Kwai .....Meta on Friday said that it would end political advertisements on its platform in European Union countries, the latest turn in the battle over regulation of its activities. Beginning in October, the company will stop ads related to political, electoral or social issues, it said in a release, citing a forthcoming E.U. regulation around the transparency of political advertising... Meta’s changing approach to political advertising has implications for the region’s politics, where campaigns are estimated to have spent tens of millions of euros using its platforms to reach voters. The new regulation, which comes into effect in October, was introduced to counter concerns around foreign interference and misinformation during elections for the bloc’s 27 countries. European officials said at the time that the rules would make it easier for citizens to recognize political advertisements and “make informed choices.” Under the law, tech platforms that disseminate political advertisements online must disclose the source of the advertisements and adhere to restrictions on whom they can target with such advertisements. Political advertising from sponsors outside of the bloc will be banned in the three-month lead-up to an election or referendum. Free Expression Politico: Artist to withdraw exhibit from National Portrait Gallery over censorship concerns By Nicole Markus .....A prominent artist known for her portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama withdrew her upcoming exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery, claiming the institution considered removing a painting depicting a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty. The decision by the artist Amy Sherald to pull her exhibit comes as the Trump administration has sought to regulate both the Smithsonian and U.S. policy surrounding transgender people. A March executive order indicated the administration would work with Congress to prohibit money going toward “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values.” Political Parties Election Law Blog: Small Donors Fuel the Left of the Democratic Party By Richard Pildes .....This WSJ article confirms what I have been saying for a while now (see also here), that small donors tend to fuel the more ideological wings of the parties. That’s all the more true for out of state (or out of district) small donors. There’s nothing wrong with that. The policy issue is whether public financing of elections should be based on the preferences of small donors, such as in proposals to provide public matching funds in proportion to the amount of small donations a candidate raises. The States Wiley: Donor Disclosure and Lobbying: What Companies, Trade Associations, and Advocacy Groups Need to Know By Andrew G. Woodson and Patrick Wohl .....In Maryland, for example, any lobbying entity that is “organized and operated for the primary purpose of attempting to influence legislative action or executive action” must disclose the name and address of each entity that contributes 5% or more to its budget over a 12-month period. This means that organizations must be prepared to either monitor their activity to avoid triggering registration, or ensure they track and report donor information as part of their disclosures. Either avenue requires a watchful eye for lobbyists and legal counsel. Connecticut imposes a similar obligation on lobbyist employers that are “formed primarily for the purpose of lobbying.” These entities must disclose the name and address of any group or person who contributes $3,000 or more in a calendar year toward the registrant’s lobbying activities. The threshold is relatively low, and organizations engaging in lobbying activity in Connecticut without being aware of this requirement may subject themselves to significant administrative burdens in complying with this obligation. Pennsylvania also presents disclosure issues. Reuters: Social media companies not liable for 2022 Buffalo mass shooting, New York court rules By Jonathan Stempel .....Several social media companies should not be held liable for helping an avowed white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in 2022 at a Buffalo, New York grocery store, a divided New York state appeals court ruled on Friday. Reversing a lower court ruling, the state Appellate Division in Rochester said defendants including Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram, Google's YouTube, and Reddit were entitled to immunity under a federal law that protects online platforms from liability over user content. Inside Higher Ed: College Employees in Kansas Can’t List Pronouns in Emails By Ryan Quinn .....Kansas public university leaders have ordered employees to remove “gender-identifying pronouns or gender ideology” from their email signatures. The officials say they’re complying with new state prohibitions against diversity, equity and inclusion. In March, the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature passed Senate Bill 125, a nearly 300-page piece of budget legislation. The following month, Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, signed it into law… Ross Marchand, program counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Inside Higher Ed the new Kansas law is unconstitutional. “No one knows how to interpret this, and it’s overly broad,” Marchand said. “And both of these issues are fatal for First Amendment purposes.” WUNC: NC GOP legislators seek to override Gov. Stein’s vetoes. Swing Democrats have final word. By Frank Taylor .....The 2024 legislative elections handed North Carolina Democrats a small but significant victory in the state House. They now hold just enough seats to block Republicans from a supermajority, which would be able to override the governor’s vetoes without any Democratic support. But the margins are slim. An absence or two could make all the difference. Several Democrats in swing districts voted for vetoed bills the first time around, and their support could be crucial in eventual veto override votes. … And finally, Senate Bill 416, which would ban government agencies from releasing the donors or nonprofit organizations. Three Democrats voted for it the first time. 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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