The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech September 27, 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 [email protected]. We're Hiring! Senior Attorney – Institute for Free Speech – Washington, DC or Virtual Office .....The Institute for Free Speech is hiring a Senior Attorney with a minimum of seven years of experience. The location for this position is either at our Washington, D.C. office or remotely anywhere in the United States. This is a rare opportunity to work with a growing team to litigate a long-term legal strategy directed toward the protection of Constitutional rights. We challenge laws, practices, and policies that infringe upon First Amendment freedoms, such as speech codes that censor parents at school board meetings, laws restricting people’s ability to give and receive campaign contributions, and any intrusion into people’s private political associations. You would work to hold censors accountable; and to secure legal precedents clearing away a thicket of laws, regulations, and practices that suppress speech about government and candidates for political office, threaten citizens’ privacy if they speak or join groups, and impose heavy burdens on political activity. The Courts Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy"): Thoughts on Internet Content Moderation from Spending Thousands of Hours Moderating Volokh Conspiracy Threads By Orin S. Kerr .....Reading the Fifth Circuit's decision in Netchoice v. Paxton brings me back to the old days of the Volokh Conspiracy. A little bit of context: Back when we were at volokh.com, we introduced open comment threads. For a few years, I spent over an hour a day, every day, moderating Volokh Conspiracy comment threads. I stopped after we moved to The Washington Post in 2014, where comment moderation was up to them. I'm very glad I don't do comment moderation anymore. But my comment moderation experience at volokh.com left a lasting impression. I think three of those impressions might be relevant to thinking about Netchoice. Washington Post: The Supreme Court should tread carefully on internet speech By the Editorial Board .....This last point is supposed to prove that the government can classify platforms as “common carriers,” just like railroads or phone providers, and demand that they not discriminate. Those on the opposite side of this debate believe that’s the wrong analogy, and it is. But the alternative they propose is similarly shaky: They say these platforms are more like newspapers or radio broadcasters. The truth lies somewhere in between. Social media sites do act as something of a public utility; they also do exercise editorial control and judgment that are essential to the value they provide. They exist in a category all their own, and no court so far has figured out what standard should apply to them — or what types of speech regulation, from the extreme restrictions in Texas and Florida to more moderate transparency mandates under consideration elsewhere to nothing at all, the Constitution permits. Associated Press: Judge won’t toss suit over Delaware court political balance By Randall Chase .....A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. John Carney over Delaware’s requirement for political balance on its courts. Friday’s ruling is the latest in a long-running legal battle over a “major-party” provision in Delaware’s constitution under which judicial appointments to the state’s three highest courts are split between Republicans and Democrats. FEC Washington Examiner: The people want DeSantis to run. The FEC stands in their way By Dan Backer .....Millions of people, myself included, are ready for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run in 2024 and become the next great U.S. president... But there’s a thorn in our side: the Federal Election Commission. Washington’s notoriously partisan campaign finance watchdog is attempting to stop those who support DeSantis from mobilizing to draft him to run for president. The FEC is trying to prevent every single person from engaging in the most basic form of political speech: telling someone they should run for office. This grassroots effort, which I advise, is the political action committee called Ready for Ron. Our goal is to bring together one million people to persuade DeSantis to run for president. We have already collected tens of thousands of petition signatures asking DeSantis to run. Signing petitions — for and against legislation, calling for this or that redress of grievances, or seeking to support or oppose any candidate — is the purest form of grassroots organizing. It’s the backbone of democracy. Online Speech Platforms Washington Post: Inside the civil rights campaign to get Big Tech to fight the ‘big lie’ By Naomi Nix .....A coalition of five dozen civil rights organizations is blasting Silicon Valley’s biggest social media companies for not taking more aggressive measures to counter election misinformation on their platforms in the months leading up to November’s midterm elections. Candidates and Campaigns OpenSecrets: 2022 midterm election spending on track to top $9.3 billion By Taylor Giorno .....The total cost of 2022 midterm elections is projected to exceed $9.3 billion, according to an early, conservative estimate by OpenSecrets. More than $4.8 billion has already been spent on 2022 midterms, setting federal election spending on track to surpass the inflation-adjusted 2018 midterm record of $7.1 billion. “We’re seeing much more money, more candidates and more political division than we did in 2018,” said OpenSecrets Executive Director Sheila Krumholz. “Spending is surging across the board this midterm cycle, fueling a polarization vortex that shows no signs of slowing.” The States Colorado Politics: Colorado adopts new contribution limits for school board campaigns By Hannah Metzger .....The Colorado Secretary of State adopted new campaign finance regulations Friday to implement contribution limits passed earlier this year. The changes stem from two bills approved during this year’s legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis: House Bill 1060, which caps contribution amounts made to school board candidates, and House Bill 1156, which updates reporting requirements for public officials. With the new rules approved, HB-1060 will limit contributions to school board candidates to $2,500 for individuals and $25,000 for small donor committees. Currently, there is no limit on how much someone can give a school board candidate, resulting in individual contributions as high as $40,000 in the last couple of election cycles. Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy"): No Pseudonymous Libel Litigation, Holds Kentucky Court of Appeals in a Covington Boys Case By Eugene Volokh .....From Doe v. Flores, decided Friday by the Kentucky Court of Appeals (Judge Donna Dixon, joined by Chief Judge Denise Clayton and Judge Sara Walter Combs): Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy:): First Amendment Limits on State Laws Targeting Election Misinformation, Part V By David Ardia .....Even if most of the state statutes we reviewed end up being found to be constitutional, their enforcement will not eradicate lies and threats in elections, let alone eliminate the flow of misinformation that is polluting public discourse. The problem is simply too big. Any legislative approach to combatting election misinformation must be part of a broader strategy that seeks to reduce the prevalence of misinformation generally and to mitigate the harms that such speech creates. 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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