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

Austin American-Statesman: Professor critical of equity efforts accuses UT in lawsuit of violating free speech rights

By Megan Menchaca

.....A conservative University of Texas professor has sued three officials in the McCombs School of Business, accusing them of violating his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for his criticism of the university.

Forbes: Government Employees Should Not Use Their Power And Position To Silence Critics

By Andrew Wimer

.....The First Amendment broadly protects Americans’ right to criticize the government and its officials without being subjected to ruinous litigation. Still, local governments often test the boundaries, looking for ways to use taxpayer money to go after their critics.

A recent egregious example is happening in suburban Cleveland. The city of Beachwood and its chief of police, Katherine McLaughlin, are using public funds to file a defamation suit against an anonymous critic. According to the lawsuit, the critic posted five anonymous Facebook comments and sent one anonymous email to the mayor, city council and a reporter.

Washington Examiner: Disinformation Inc: GOP slams government for funding group blacklisting conservative news

.....Republican senators and representatives are raising concerns over the State Department bankrolling a "disinformation" tracking group that is secretly blacklisting and trying to defund conservative media outlets.

The State Department has granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Global Disinformation Index, a British organization with two affiliated U.S. nonprofit groups that is feeding blacklists of conservative media to advertising companies, according to multiple Washington Examiner reports. Now, GOP members of Congress are slamming the government over this funding, which First Amendment lawyers have said appears troubling.

Guardian: Fears of renewed FBI abuse of power after informant infiltrated BLM protests

By Ed Pilkington

.....The FBI’s use of an informant to infiltrate Black Lives Matter in Denver during the wave of protests over the 2020 police killing of George Floyd has prompted concern in Congress that the federal agency is once again abusing its powers to harass and intimidate minority groups.

Original Jurisdiction: On The Need For Diverse Viewpoints In Biglaw

.....Last week, I published a Boston Globe op-ed about the benefits to Biglaw of viewpoint diversity—i.e., having lawyers and staff who come from across the ideological spectrum. The essay was behind the Globe’s paywall, so some of you weren’t able to read it.

New York Times: Combating Disinformation Wanes at Social Media Giants

By Steven Lee Myers and Nico Grant

.....Last month, [YouTube] quietly reduced its small team of policy experts in charge of handling misinformation, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. The cuts, part of the reduction of 12,000 employees by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, left only one person in charge of misinformation policy worldwide, one of the people said.

OpenSecrets: Top self-funding congressional candidates were among the 2022 election cycle’s biggest losers

By Inci Sayki

.....Congressional candidates poured about $300 million of their own money into self-funding campaigns in the 2022 midterm election cycle but few ultimately won their races, a new OpenSecrets analysis found…

Self-funding candidates were some of the biggest losers this election cycle, with only two out of the top 10 self-funding candidates pulling through a win. Both winners were House candidates, while the eight who lost ran for Senate seats.

New York Times: Democrats Meddle Again in a G.O.P. Primary, This Time Down-Ballot

By Reid J. Epstein

.....Last year, Democrats spent millions of dollars elevating far-right candidates in Republican primary contests for governor and Congress — betting, it turned out correctly, that more extreme opponents would lose general elections.

Roll Call: Gavels for top House committees don’t always come cheap

.....Winning control of the most sought-after committees in the House can come with a hefty price tag — in party dues. 

The eight lawmakers atop the four panels dubbed “A” committees transferred more than $5.2 million from their own political accounts to their respective parties’ campaign arms in the 2022 cycle, according to a new report shared first with CQ Roll Call by Issue One, which advocates for overhauling campaign finance laws. 

WKRN: Here are the bills filed that would make changes to election and campaign finance laws in Tennessee

By Erin McCullough

.....Tennessee lawmakers are hoping to make a few changes to the state’s campaign finance laws, including allowing religious organizations to be exempt from the Campaign Disclosure Act of 1980 in certain circumstances, changing the designations of certain political committees, and eliminating party fees for candidates. Here are the bills filed that deal with financial issues for elections and candidates.

KX News: House Bill 1529 pushes for more campaign finance rules

.....North Dakota lawmakers say they want more information on where money is coming from funding candidates and ballot measures.

House Bill 1529 would require a candidate or a political backing group to declare every donation over $200 they received by the month before Election Day.

Maine Public: Lawmaker who allegedly forged signatures for campaign finance program to be arraigned

By Steve Mistler

.....The arraignment date has been set for a state lawmaker from Waldoboro who is accused of forging signatures to obtain public funds through Maine's campaign financing program.

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