The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech October 28, 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 Daily Caller: DONNELLY: Wrong Politics? No Bank Account By Tiffany Donnelly .....Are the world’s leading financial institutions competing to see who can suppress speech in the most abusive and creative way? PayPal’s “$2,500 misinformation” and “intolerance” fines were a novel approach to corporate censorship. But JPMorgan Chase Bank might be giving PayPal a run for its money. In one of October’s most alarming yet underreported stories, the nonprofit National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF) claims that Chase abruptly closed its new account with no explanation. It then demanded its donor list, a list of political candidates it intended to support, and a full explanation of their endorsement criteria before reconsidering. Yes, you read that correctly. Wrong politics, no account. Won’t expose your supporters to additional threats to their own accounts? Forget about banking here. FEC Miami Herald: Watchdog group asks feds to investigate funding behind ghost candidate scandal By Mary Ellen Klas .....The secret fundraising network created by political operatives working for Florida Power & Light and other clients appears to have violated campaign finance laws and should be investigated, according to a complaint filed Thursday with the Federal Elections Commission by a Washington-based watchdog group. Citing reports published in the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times and the Orlando Sentinel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said that the operatives pitched clients on a funding structure with the intent “to illegally hide the identities of the true source or sources of contributions.“ By routing contributions through nonprofit entities they controlled to super PACs, they were able to steer hundreds of thousands of dollars into election-related activities without the public knowing who was behind it, the complaint said. Online Speech Platforms Politico: Musk owns Twitter — and Washington awaits Trump's return By Rebecca Kern .....Elon Musk will own Twitter, after the two sides finally closed a $44 billion deal Thursday to sell the company to the world’s richest man. Musk’s takeover — reported by multiple news outlets on Thursday night — could have huge implications for the future of Washington’s favorite social media app, especially if former President Donald Trump is allowed back on the platform, and if Musk loosens the rules to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation… [H]is first move was to fire four top executives, according to reports Thursday night, including CEO Parag Agrawal and legal chief Vijaya Gadde, the official who guided the company’s policies on harmful speech, and whose team banned Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. As an owner, Musk has moved to assure Twitter employees that he won’t gut the company. And he’s hinted at big plans for the platform, saying he wanted to use Twitter to create an “everything app” as well as “a common digital town square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.” [Ed. note: In April, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by IFS Chairman Bradley A. Smith titled, "10 Things for Elon Musk to Do at Twitter." Read it here.] Election Law Blog: Watch Archived Video of Stanford/UCLA Conference, “Should Donald Trump Be Returned to Social Media?” By Rick Hasen .....This was a robust discussion with very diverse views.  Watch: NewsGuard: Dark Money Political Ads Proliferate on Facebook and Instagram Ahead of the U.S. Midterms, Enabled by the Platforms’ Policies By Lorenzo Arvanitis and McKenzie Sadeghi .....“Pink slime” newsrooms secretly backed by partisan donors are spending big on Facebook and Instagram ads in battleground states, taking advantage of the Meta platforms’ ad-targeting tools and advertising policies. Washington Post: Big Tech is failing to fight election lies, civil rights groups charge By Naomi Nix .....The Change the Terms coalition, which includes the civil rights group Color of Change and the good-government group Common Cause, is releasing on Thursday a scathing 19-page analysis of the major tech companies’ election-related policies and whether they are living up to their pledges to fight disinformation ahead of the vote. Candidates and Campaigns New York Times: Zeldin Campaign Investigated Over Charge of Coordinating With Super PACs By Nicholas Fandos and Dana Rubinstein .....New York’s top elections watchdog is investigating whether the campaign of Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, violated state law by coordinating with a pair of super PACs supporting his candidacy, according to two people familiar with the inquiry. The States People United for Privacy: Arizonans of All Beliefs Have Reason to Fear and Fight Prop 211 .....No measure on a ballot anywhere in the country this year poses a more serious threat to First Amendment rights than Arizona’s Prop 211. If it passes, the measure will force virtually any group that discusses public policy to expose the names, home addresses, occupations, and employers of private citizens who support their work, if their communications so much as mention the name of an elected official. The result would be an unprecedented chill on speech about government and social causes that would harm all Arizonans, regardless of their beliefs. FIRE: City’s new policy wrongly muzzles employees By Will Creeley .....If you work for the City of Charlottesville, be warned: Watch what you say, even when you’re off the clock. The city is always listening. That’s the chilling new reality for city employees under a misguided personnel policy that went into effect last week. Some welcome the new policy, believing it to be an overdue response to extremists on the city’s payroll. But those who support it today may feel differently tomorrow. That’s because the new policy effectively bars city employees from commenting as private citizens on a broad range of matters of public concern, including questions of community safety and governmental efficiency. Silencing that speech won’t make Charlottesville a better place to live. And muzzling employees off-the-clock risks a First Amendment lawsuit. GVWire: New California Law Could Take Major Money Out of Fresno Politics By David Taub .....Starting Jan. 1, local elected leaders need to double-check their campaign accounts when voting on specific legislation. A new state law will significantly affect the size of contributions... Going forward, any business that has a license, permit, or other entitlement in front of a government agency will only be allowed to contribute up to $250 to an elected official making that decision. 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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