The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech February 24, 2023 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 Jonathan Turley: Texas Professor Sues University After Being Allegedly Threatened Over His Criticism of CRT and DEI .....We have been discussing various cases of professors being investigated or terminated for raising dissenting views on subjects like systemic racism or Critical Race Theory (CRT). The latest such controversy is at the University of Texas where a professor is suing after he was allegedly threatened for criticizing as having “no scientific basis.” Notably, the complaint of Dr. Richard Lowery (below) admits that, despite being tenured, he began to self-censor his comments — a problem that is widespread among academics who now fear to speak freely in class or even outside of their universities. The Courts Washington Post: Students painted a mural for a bakery. The town wants it removed. By Marisa Iati .....In a small New Hampshire tourist town, the front of a roadside bakery is adorned with an image of the sun rising over a row of doughnuts, muffins and other pastries. Whether that painting is a mural or a sign will determine whether the high school students who created it will see it taken down. The Conway, N.H., community has been captivated for months by a dispute, previously reported by the Conway Daily News, over whether the art project is considered a sign under the municipal code. The town says yes, because the painting shows baked goods — and that the image exceeds the legal size limit for signs. The owner of Leavitt’s Country Bakery says no — and, in a federal lawsuit, contends the town ordinance violates the First Amendment. Congress Washington Times: House investigators launch probe into State Department’s funding of ‘disinformation’ index By Joseph Clark .....The House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Thursday started investigating State Department funding for a foreign “disinformation” monitoring group that provides “dynamic blacklists” used to suppress disfavored news outlets. Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said the panel is seeking a briefing by the State Department to “understand the scope of the department’s use of federal funds for a taxpayer-funded censorship campaign” following recent revelations that taxpayer dollars were used to fund the so-called Global Disinformation Index. “The federal government should not be censoring free speech nor policing what news outlets Americans choose to consume,” Mr. Comer wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “And taxpayer funds should never be given to third parties with the intent that they be used to censor lawful speech or abridge the freedom of the press.” Free Expression Reason: Save Roald Dahl Books From the Dreaded Sensitivity Readers By Robby Soave .....The sensitivity readers have come for beloved children's author Roald Dahl. A recent report in The Telegraph notes that Puffin, publisher of classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Witches, will soon release new editions of the books, sans problematic phrasing and terminology… These are private companies, of course: Publishers making business decisions. If they really think they'll sell more Dahls and Seusses this way, they're free to proceed. But maybe the publishers should think harder about whether a small handful of activists really speak for the book-reading masses. As Kat Rosenfield has observed, "Sensitivity readers are the new literary gatekeepers" and "reflect an obsession with policing language in service of a hypothetical person who is not only maximally sensitive but also not very smart." Online Speech Platforms Wall Street Journal: The Deepfake Dangers Ahead By Daniel Byman, Chris Meserole and V.S. Subrahmanian .....Democratic societies need to start addressing the potential harms of deepfakes as well, but we can’t do it the same way China does. We need a response that preserves the free flow of ideas and expression, the exchange of information that allows citizens to determine what is fake and what is real. Disinformation is dangerous precisely because it undermines the very notion of truth. Bans like Beijing’s play into this problem by making the discernment of truth and falsity a government prerogative, susceptible to politics and brute enforcement. Rolling Stone: Elon Musk’s Twitter Goes Dark on Government Data Grabs By Adam Rawnsley .....Twitter boss Elon Musk has railed against what he sees as U.S. government attempts to “censor” the social media company. “As (outgoing) Chair of House Intelligence, did you approve hidden state censorship in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States@RepAdamSchiff?” he asked one congressman in a tweet last December. Musk has also promised, over and over again, to build a more transparent Twitter — one that makes it clear when a government agency requests a user’s data, or asks to take an account offline. “Transparency is the key to trust,” he tweeted around the same time. For a decade, Twitter published rundowns twice a year of all of those government requests. But under Musk, that appears to have ended. Despite Musk’s rhetoric about government bullying of social media, his company hasn’t published one of the formerly regular transparency reports detailing what governments are demanding from Twitter — and whether the company is bending to them. PACs Roll Call: PAC money to electoral count objectors fell 10 percent By Kate Ackley .....Donations from corporate and trade association PACs declined in the 2022 cycle by 10 percent to Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election for President Joe Biden, according to an analysis of campaign reports by Accountable.us. The nonpartisan group, which seeks to curb corporate influence in politics, looked at the political action committees of Fortune 500 companies and more than 700 trade associations and found the 10 percent dip between the 2020 and 2022 cycles to the election objectors who ran in both elections. Accountable.us shared its findings first with CQ Roll Call. The States People United for Privacy: More Bills Threatening Citizen Privacy Bite the Dust By Luke Wachob .....Recently, People United For Privacy warned about legislation in North Dakota that would put Americans at risk of harassment and retaliation for their beliefs. The bill (H.B. 1500) threatened to publicly expose Americans’ names and home addresses when supporting nonprofit causes in the state. Fortunately, on February 15, the measure was defeated in the North Dakota House of Representatives. Nevertheless, the bill saw a troubling increase in support compared to previous years. Several House Republicans changed their positions on the bill after facing criticism of their voting records from a nonprofit group in the leadup to last year’s election. In a particularly ugly display of the motive behind H.B. 1500 and other similar proposals, Rep. Mike Schatz (R) admitted that mailers publicizing his vote against an education funding bill persuaded him to sponsor the speech-chilling measure. Capitol Media Services: AZ House passes bill requiring students to recite Pledge of Allegiance By Howard Fischer .....The state House of Representatives voted to require students 17 and younger to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill passed on a party-line vote. Existing law spells out that schools must set aside time each day for students who wish to recite, but the new bill adds language saying each student “shall” say the pledge. Democratic Rep. Jennifer Pawlik joined others in her party opposing the measure, quoting a Supreme Court Ruling. "The quote is, 'if there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein," she said. Reason: Ron DeSantis Wants To Rewrite Defamation Law By Emma Camp .....A legislative ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced a bill in the Florida House on Tuesday that would remove many of the legal protections against defamation lawsuits established in the 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan. The new bill is yet another attempt by DeSantis, an aggressive critic of defamation law, to curb First Amendment protections in Florida. 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 ‌ ‌ ‌ The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]