This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact Luke Wachob at [email protected].  

The College Fix: Professor blocked for tweeting ‘all men are created equal’ files First Amendment lawsuit

.....A professor who was blocked on Twitter by a University of Oregon account after he tweeted “all men are created equal” at the account has filed a First Amendment lawsuit.

New York Sun: Hochul's Hollow Words

.....While Governor Hochul is vowing to protect the freedom of speech of Salman Rushdie, it turns out that New York has just fetched up as the worst in the nation in a new ranking of the states in terms of their freedom of political speech. The report is from the Institute for Free Speech, focused on protecting the right to organize and speak out in the political arena. It reckons the laws of no other state are more confining than New York’s.

Wall Street Journal (LTE): Election Regulations vs. the People

.....Regarding your editorial “Florida vs. California on Free Speech” (Aug. 9): The Institute for Free Speech should be applauded for its new report. More attention should focus on state election regulations. My research found that the myriad election regulations increase the compliance costs of running for office. Extra costs in time, effort and learning are an added burden of running and campaigning that average citizens may find too difficult to pay. One of the original goals of campaign-finance reform—the increased participation of more people in the system—is in jeopardy with this regulatory system...

.....The Supreme Court’s landmark Buckley v. Valeo decision laid the foundation for modern campaign finance law in the United States. The decision rests on the fundamental tension between the First Amendment and campaign finance regulations; a limit on the ability to raise and spend money on political campaigns is a limit on the First Amendment because money is an indispensable tool to engage in campaign speech. When these regulations harm First Amendment rights, Buckley reasons, they can only be upheld if they serve a compelling government interest. This is a weighty constitutional burden.

Reason: The Dangerous Lesson of Book Bans in Public School Libraries

.....That brings us back to Pico. A collection of students sued the Island Trees school district, arguing that the board's book removal order violated the students' First Amendment rights to receive information. In other words, in the fight between parents and teachers, the students should have a constitutional say too.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Football Coach's Display of "All Lives Matter" Poster May Have Been Protected by First Amendment

.....From Beathard v. Lyons, decided Thursday by Judge James Shadid (C.D. Ill.):

New York Post: FEC asked to probe Long Island Congressional candidate over affiliation with billionaire couple

.....A Long Island congressional candidate is urging the feds to probe whether a rival boosted his campaign coffers by funneling money there from a billionaire couple who covered at least $50,000 of his college tuition payments through a loan.

In a letter sent to Federal Election Commission lawyers Friday demanding a probe, Robert Zimmerman’s campaign cited last week’s story in The Post, which quoted election law experts saying the loan to fellow Democratic candidate Josh Lafazan deserves serious scrutiny.

Fox News: Twitter thought police prepare for elections so they can censor political opponents

.....Twitter is preparing for the midterm elections. Per reports, Twitter will now "label and demote misinformation about the upcoming US elections."  

New York Times: On TikTok, Election Misinformation Thrives Ahead of Midterms

.....The spread of misinformation has left TikTok struggling with many of the same knotty free speech and moderation issues that Facebook and Twitter have faced, and have addressed with mixed results, for several years.

Wall Street Journal: Republican Censorship Goes for Woke

.....Professors in Florida have sued to block the Stop Woke Act, and let us hope judges will soon strike it down as an abridgment of the First Amendment. Some professors, however, have also urged students to boycott a new state survey meant to gauge whether colleges are hostile to viewpoint diversity. That’s a mistake. Florida’s censorship law is wrong, but it’s a reaction to the very real problem of campus intolerance. The more that students speak out about it—even if anonymously through surveys—the more pressure it puts on administrators to address it.

Charleston City Paper: S.C. needs to protect free expression from intimidation

.....Imagine a development was coming to your neighborhood and you didn’t like it. So you attended a public meeting in your town and complained. 

Ed. note: Read the open letter in support of the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, cosigned by the Institute for Free Speech, here. Read the Institute's report summarizing and evaluating anti-SLAPP statutes in 32 jurisdictions here.

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.