The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech August 3, 2022 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 Luke Wachob at [email protected]. In the News Ripon Society: To Protect Free Speech, Social Media Platforms Must Stop their Overreach By David Keating .....Assaults on the culture of free speech grow by the day. Unfortunately, much of the assault is coming from the major social media platforms. The power of our democracy and the genius of our First Amendment is our recognition that no single authority can dictate what is true. We work out our disagreements through speech, publishing, and organizing into groups. For centuries, reaching others with our views was difficult work, and in many respects it still is. But thanks to social media, most Americans can publish anything and theoretically reach millions of fellow citizens and even much of the world. As noted by the U.S. Supreme Court, social media platforms “for many are the principal sources for … speaking and listening in the modern public square,” where Americans share vital information and express their opinions. Social media allowed more Americans to engage in public speech than ever before, but like past revolutions in communications technology, it also triggered a backlash. Politicians, media outlets, or activists increasingly pressure companies to censor speech they deem false or misleading, or simply oppose. Congress Axios: Criticism mounts against Democratic election meddling in Colorado By John Frank and Alayna Treene .....The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is considering whether to condemn Democrats in Colorado and elsewhere for meddling in Republican primaries to boost 2020 election deniers... In Colorado and at least five other states, Democrats spent big money in GOP primaries to boost pro-Trump election deniers and conspiracy theorists because they consider them easier targets in November's midterm... In a letter issued Monday, 35 former Democratic leaders denounced the practice of promoting election deniers, calling it "risky and unethical." Reason: Proposed Bill Would Protect Journalists Like Julian Assange From Espionage Charges By Scott Shackford .....Three members of Congress are attempting to avoid future Julian Assange–style prosecutions by amending the U.S. espionage law so that it doesn't apply to journalists. Last week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) and Reps. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) partnered up to reintroduce the Espionage Act Reform Act. FEC Federal Election Commission: Dara Lindenbaum sworn in as Commissioner .....Dara Lindenbaum was sworn in today as a member of the Federal Election Commission. Commissioner Lindenbaum was nominated by President Joseph Biden on February 3, 2022, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 24, 2022. Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Lindenbaum was a partner at Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C. (Sandler Reiff) where she advised candidates, political committees, and organizations on a wide range of laws and regulations, including complying with state and federal campaign finance and election laws. She served as outside general counsel for several organizations and worked with directors, boards, and staff on general business matters, structuring their programs, and navigating the complex legal and compliance landscape... “Commissioner Lindenbaum comes to the FEC with a long record advising active campaigns at the core of the Commission’s jurisdiction. I look forward to her real-world experience and fresh perspective, and to the opportunity to work alongside an attorney well known for her professionalism and collegiality,” said Chairman Allen Dickerson. Daily Beast: The Republicans Who Want Election Laws to ‘Stay Broken’ By Roger Sollenberger .....For years, critics have argued the Federal Election Commission has been effectively broken. Now MAGA-land is going to court to make sure it stays that way. Online Speech Platforms Federalist: Google’s Solution To Its Political Campaign Email Problem Is A Phony Fix By Marsha Blackburn .....I have led the fight in the Senate to hold Big Tech platforms such as Google accountable for their manipulation and use of machine learning that unfairly censor communications from political campaigns and rob the electorate of their options. Our latest demands for transparency and fairness apparently spooked Google. But instead of moving to treat all political emails the same and filtering Republican versus Democrat communications as they are now, the tech giant has proposed a “pilot program” in the form of an Advisory Opinion, currently with the Federal Election Commission. Ed. note: See draft Advisory Opinion here. Candidates and Campaigns Main Street Nashville: Ogles admits to coordinating PAC contributions; Harwell says he’s ‘controlled by the DC swamp’ By Vivian Jones .....Outside super PACs — including one funded exclusively by Ogles’ campaign treasurer Lee Beaman — have spent nearly $1.6 million in recent weeks in supposedly independent expenditures boosting Ogles and attacking his rivals, according to FEC filings — nearly as much as Ogles’ top two competitors have spent this cycle combined. Meanwhile, Ogles has admitted to directing donors to super PACs working in tandem with his campaign — a violation of federal campaign finance law — after news broke that Beaman is the sole donor to a super PAC that has spent on Ogles’ behalf. During an interview last week on Super Talk 99.7, Ogles publicly admitted his campaign has adopted a strategy of directing donors who otherwise would have donated to his campaign toward PACs purchasing positive ads in tandem with the campaign instead. Ogles’ campaign did not respond to questions about his admission. “Of course, you can’t coordinate. You can’t communicate,” Ogles told SuperTalk 99.7 host Michael DelGiorno. “But JD Vance, you know, his campaign worked in parallel with a PAC that did positive things on his behalf. … We chose that strategy. We firewalled off some of our donors away from the campaign to go run positive ads.” Sacramento Bee: Did Russia provide funding and support for booster of California secession movement? By Sam Stanton .....In February 2018, as organizers of the so-called “CalExit” campaign to have California secede from the union and form its own country, a Russian national named Aleksandr Ionov sent electronic messages to a secession supporter, court documents say. Ionov offered funding for a protest that would have supporters make their way into then-Gov. Jerry Brown’s office. Ionov and the organizer traded proposed designs for posters for the event, and eventually wrote that he sent $500 to the organizer, who on Valentine’s Day led a demonstration at the state Capitol “in support of California’s secession from the United States,” court papers say. Free Expression Fox News: Teenage pro-life activist allegedly punched in the face while knocking on doors in Kansas By Anders Hagstrom .....A Kansas woman allegedly attacked a teenage pro-life canvasser when the student knocked on her door Sunday. Forbes: In An Era Of Record Political Spending, American Promise Makes The Business Case For Constitutional Reform By Christopher Marquis .....I recently talked with [Jeff] Clements about his motivations for starting American Promise, how corporations currently engage in political spending, what it takes to advance an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and why most businesses are on board with reforming the current campaign finance system. The States Arizona Republic: Turning Point Action events under scrutiny by Arizona Secretary of State over election law violations By Richard Ruelas .....The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office has started an initial inquiry into whether get-out-the-vote rallies organized by Turning Point Action, a tax-exempt organization led by conservative personality Charlie Kirk, violated campaign finance laws. Though the head of Turning Point Action described the two rallies, held on Saturdays in July at parks in Goodyear and Mesa, as community events designed to educate, the complaint suggests they were designed to promote specific Republican candidates in the August primary election. 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." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the First Amendment rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. 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