October 5, 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].

In the News

Catholic News Herald: Diocese wins outpouring of support in appeal to protect Catholic education

.....In its appeal, [the Diocese of Charlotte] argues that the U.S. Constitution and federal law protect the freedom of religious schools to choose teachers who support and uphold their religious beliefs…

Support also comes from numerous other religious groups, educational organizations, prominent legal scholars, the Christian Legal Society, the Cardinal Newman Society, and civil rights groups including the Institute for Free Speech (brief).

Supreme Court

Washington Post: The Onion files Supreme Court amicus brief defending the right to parody

By Rachel Pannett

.....The Onion — a satirical publication known for poking fun at everything from popular culture to global politics — is taking a stab at a serious issue. On Monday, it filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of an Ohio man who faced criminal charges over a Facebook page parodying his local police department.

The Courts

Law&Crime: First Amendment Experts Dismiss Trump’s ‘Absurd,’ ‘Frivolous,’ and ‘Bizarre’ Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN

By Colin Kalmbacher

.....In some parts of the lawsuit, Trump’s attorneys echo aspects of defamation’s elements or requirements under the law. In a drastic departure with precedent, however, they assert the U.S. Supreme Court standard of “actual malice” should not apply in the 45th president’s case against the cable network founded by Ted Turner...

First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, who represented The New York Times in the famous Pentagon Papers cases, said the argument against applying actual malice was an invitation to the Roberts Court’s most conservative members to try and undo current defamation law. Such a reversion has been one of Trump’s most loudly-stated policy goals – since his 2016 presidential campaign at least.

“Any libel action by Donald trump will be subjected to the actual malice standard,” Abrams told Law&Crime in an email. “The complaint seems to be trying to lay the groundwork for trying to persuade the Supreme Court to abandon that standard (a position that three members of the Court have already indicated they would likely agree with.) My own view is that a fourth vote — what is needed to grant a writ of certiorari — is unlikely and that a ruling of the Court to overrule New York Times v. Sullivan is more unlikely, but possible.”

RealClearPolitics: NetChoice v. Paxton : Fifth Circuit Saves Social Media Free Speech

By K.S. Bruce

.....It is rare when a RealClearPolitics op-ed becomes a law. But that happened just a few days ago, happily, as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals fought back against censorship of free speech on the big social media platforms, in a case called NetChoice v. Paxton.

The common wisdom has long been that the Big Tech Giants, as private companies, are outside of the First Amendment free speech requirements directed toward government, and are free to censor any political views at whim. Standing for the minority position, this column has argued five separate times over the last four years (we are nothing if not persistent!) that the common wisdom is wrong. We argued that the big social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have grown so strong and dominant that they have become equivalent to the "public square" for political speech, and therefore can be prohibited from censorship under the Marsh v. Alabama doctrines or as common carriers. On Sept. 16, 2022, the Fifth Circuit used the same logic, and almost identical language, to allow Texas House Bill 20 to move forward, a bill which mandates equal access to the Internet regardless of political viewpoint.

Washington Times: There's no equal justice under the law for pro-lifers

By Kelly Sadler

.....In the last 10 days, a man who murdered an 18-year-old boy for being a “Republican extremist” was initially charged with vehicular homicide and then released free on bond. Another who shot an 84-year-old pro-life volunteer in the back has not been charged with a crime.

Yet a man accused of pushing a Planned Parenthood escort who verbally assaulted his son had 20 FBI agents arrest him in his home —in front of his seven young children…

There should be little doubt in anyone’s mind that this Department of Justice has been weaponized to target Mr. Biden’s political opponents and to ignore the crimes of his political allies.

FEC

OpenSecrets: Pro-DeSantis hybrid PAC to file lawsuit challenging unfavorable FEC ruling

By Taylor Giorno

.....Ready for Ron plans to file a lawsuit challenging what its lawyer calls as a “clearly erroneous decision” issued by the Federal Election Commission last Wednesday, Dan Backer, counsel to the hybrid PAC, told OpenSecrets Monday in a written statement.

Two days after filing a statement of organization on May 23, Ready for Ron asked the FEC for permission to share a list of supporters and their contact information with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to encourage him to run for president in 2024. The FEC ruled on Sept. 28 that Ready for Ron cannot share the list if DeSantis becomes a federal candidate or begins “testing the waters” for federal office, as the value would exceed the federal campaign contribution limit.

The six-member commission deadlocked on whether Ready for Ron could share the list if DeSantis is not testing the waters or running for federal office.

Signing the petition is “the ultimate act of political free speech,” Backer told OpenSecrets, claiming, “we should be able to give those names to the Governor before, during, and after he heeds their call and runs.” The lawsuit, which Ready for Ron plans to file within two weeks, could further challenge restrictions on campaign contributions on the grounds of free political speech.

CoinDesk: NFT Firm Seeks US Election Commission’s Approval to Market Campaign Souvenirs

By Jesse Hamilton

.....In the grand political tradition of campaign buttons – think “All the Way with LBJ” or “I Like Ike” – the crypto world is trying its own version, with a non-fungible token (NFT) firm seeking approval from the U.S. Federal Election Commission to offer souvenir tokens to political committees.

Online Speech Platforms

Fox News: RNC says Google suppressed more than 22M GOTV, fundraising emails in September, exploring 'legal options'

By Brooke Singman and Peter Hasson

.....The Republican National Committee says Google is suppressing get-out-the-vote and fundraising emails by sending millions of GOP election emails to users’ Gmail spam folders, with party leadership threatening to explore legal options to "put an end" to what they call a "clear pattern of bias."

According to RNC officials, emails being sent by the RNC to Republican subscribers who use Gmail accounts in the final days of each month are being sent to spam folders.

An RNC official told Fox News Digital that since Sept. 28, Gmail has "suppressed" more than 22 million RNC emails—358,000 of which were GOTV emails.

FIRE: FIRE Statement on Free Speech and Online Payment Processors

.....Imagine you could no longer use PayPal, Venmo, or another online payment processor because you run an organization that defends free speech for controversial speakers, operate an independent media outlet that challenges mainstream narratives, sell erotic fiction or “occult” materials, or . . . tried to submit an article about Syrian refugees into a newspaper awards competition.

These are not hypotheticals. They’re real, and they illustrate why online payment service providers should stay out of the business of policing their users’ speech and views.

Washington Examiner: Sorry, Meta, we don’t believe you on election misinformation

By Stephen L. Miller

.....Facebook/Meta is jumping back into the election misinformation campaign, two years after one of the most catastrophic choices that media outlets and social media platforms have ever made.

That is to say, censoring the New York Post’s story about a laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden , the son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden . National media outlets that actively promoted the censorship by Twitter and Facebook still have not apologized for that action. They are happy with what they did, for they know that honesty could have assisted the reelection of Donald Trump .

No one has been fired, and there has been no transparency into how this media malpractice occurred. The most contrition the public received was a tepid apology from Jack Dorsey, the former head of Twitter. Now, the same Facebook representative who announced that the influential media platform would be purposefully limiting the reach and spread of the story has announced that he and his company will once again be stepping in to stop what they deem misinformation campaigns from Russia and China.

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.

Follow the Institute for Free Speech