The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech September 12, 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 Epoch Times: University of Oregon Accused By Advocacy Groups of Undermining Free Speech By Scottie Barnes .....The University of Oregon (UO) is under fire from two free speech advocacy groups, who claim it is infringing on freedom of speech and expression. The university’s Division of Equity and Inclusion is being sued for blocking a critic on Twitter, even as the institution is being pressured to stop imposing an ideological litmus test for hiring and promotions. With support from the Washington D.C.-based Institute for Free Speech, Portland State University professor of political science Bruce Gilley filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 11 against Tova Stabin, an officer in the University of Oregon’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, for blocking him from the division’s official Twitter account. Gilley had posted a message from @UOEquity promoting a “Racism Interrupter” and added his own comment that “all men are created equal.” That earned a block from the account’s manager. “Nothing could better illustrate the problems with diversity ideology than a state university that bans a member of the public for quoting our Declaration of Independence. This lawsuit is necessary to defend our freedom of speech and the rule of law,” Professor Gilley stated through counsel. The Courts Washington Post: Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Hillary Clinton over 2016 election By Azi Paybarah .....A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, saying there was no basis for the former president to claim that Clinton and her allies harmed him with an orchestrated plan to spread false information that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. Trump “is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum,” Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida wrote in a scathing 65-page ruling dated Thursday. The judge also wrote about “the audacity of Plaintiff’s legal theories and the manner in which they clearly contravene binding case law.” Courthouse News: Panel rejects suit accusing Michigan governor of using illegal campaign funds By Andy Olesko .....A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the Michigan secretary of state allowed Democratic donors to make excessive contributions to the party with leftover funds raised to defend Governor Gretchen Whitmer against more than two dozen Republican recall initiatives. The Sixth Circuit's ruling states that Ronald Weiser, a self-described "concerned supporter" of the Republican Party, and the Michigan GOP failed to plausibly demonstrate that a “real or direct harm has been sustained in any way.” The lawsuit was originally filed against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson last year and claimed the fundraising violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act as well as Republicans' First Amendment rights. The complaint said that Whitmer could unfairly use the recall-related funds as part of her reelection campaign in the fall. Tampa Bay Times: I’m a USF senior and here’s why I sued to stop Florida’s Stop WOKE Act By Sam Rechek .....A few days ago, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression filed a lawsuit on behalf of USF history professor Adriana Novoa, a USF student organization called the First Amendment Forum — and me. Our complaint challenges the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (Stop WOKE) Act, passed by the Florida Legislature as HB 7 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this spring... I’m the president of the First Amendment Forum (which we shorten to 1AF), and we have hosted numerous discussions over the years about precisely the topics that are regulated in HB 7 — race, sex, gender and their complex histories in the United States. I’m a senior this fall, and during my three years at USF, I’ve had the opportunity to investigate many of the statute’s prohibited “concepts” in class. These discussions have been some of the most rewarding and memorable of my time as an undergraduate. Honolulu Civil Beat: The ‘FCKBLM’ License Plate Holder Says Honolulu Is Violating His Free Speech Rights By Stewart Yerton .....The owner of a personalized Hawaii auto license plate that says “FCKBLM” has a message for Honolulu city officials threatening to sue him to take back the plate — FCKHNL. In a lawsuit filed in federal court last week, Edward Odquina says the City and County of Honolulu has violated his free speech rights by seeking to revoke the plate, which Odquina lawfully obtained in early 2021. In the 23-page complaint, Odquina’s attorney, Kevin O’Grady, asserts the city and state are essentially squelching Odquina’s speech with laws governing license plates that are unconstitutional on their face and as applied in Odquina’s situation. “Odquina has very strong beliefs and views including political beliefs and views and he wishes to express his views through a personalized license plate for a vehicle he owns and a business he started,” the suit says. Biden Administration Politico: White House renews call to ‘remove’ Section 230 liability shield By Rebecca Kern .....The White House on Thursday called on Congress to remove an important liability shield for tech companies... The announcement was made at a “listening session” at the White House about tech platform accountability... White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to directly answer when asked in Thursday’s press briefing why large tech companies weren’t invited to the “listening session.” Biden can’t get rid of the Section 230 liability shield without Congressional action. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who heads the House Energy and Commerce consumer protection panel, said she’s supportive of Biden’s calls for “fundamental reforms” to Section 230. A spokesperson for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the committee’s ranking member, said, “This administration is using Big Tech to silence their opponents so they can advance their own power. Any reforms of Section 230 should lead to more speech, not less.” Free Expression The Atlantic: The Move to Eradicate Disagreement By Graeme Wood .....At the core of my disagreement with Serwer is a distinction that goes back at least as far as John Stuart Mill, between coercive threats to free thought and more subtle and insidious ones. Mill knew that government censorship is only part of the problem (but a major one, given that the government can lock you up). In On Liberty, he noted that a deeper—and characteristically modern—problem is self-imposed mental fetters, the inability to think freely because of niggling doubts about how one will be thought of by peers and superiors. “Conformity is the first thing thought of; they like in crowds; they exercise choice only among things commonly done: peculiarity of taste, eccentricity of conduct, are shunned equally with crimes,” he wrote. “Thus the mind itself is bowed to the yoke.” And is there any doubt that the minds are yoked together in sprawling teams, plowing the fields of academia and media today? Online Speech Platforms Wall Street Journal: How the Feds Coordinate With Facebook on Censorship By The Editorial Board .....One nagging question in the social-media age is how online platforms like Facebook and Twitter choose to “moderate” speech—and why, and whether the government is leaning on them to step it up. Hundreds of pages of emails between federal officials and the big social sites were recently dropped in court, and they make for instructive, if not definitive, reading. Candidates and Campaigns Boston Globe: Personal wealth doesn’t guarantee a wealth of votes By Renée Graham .....Shannon Liss-Riordan spent more than $9 million of her own money in her bid to become the Democratic nominee for Massachusetts attorney general. Less than two hours after voting ended, the primary’s outcome wasn’t even close — Andrea Campbell defeated Liss-Riordan by a stunning 16 points. “Money,” the great Cyndi Lauper once sang, “changes everything.” Yet often that’s not the case for self-funded candidates. Liss-Riordan is only the latest wealthy candidate who dug deep into their own pockets and still came up empty. The States MassLive: AG Maura Healey ruling derails bid to limit super PAC contributions in Massachusetts By Matt Murphy .....The spending by these super PACs has come under fire from some candidates for office who oppose the influence money has on the electoral process. But on Wednesday a bid to severely curtail the ability of super PACs to raise and spend huge sums on political campaigns was nixed by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office as “inconsistent” with constitutional rights to free speech. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. 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