The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech March 6, 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 Alaska Watchman: Court ruling may give Anchorage School Board pause in barring parents from testifying against sex books By Joel Davidson .....In a case that resembles what happened to an Anchorage man who was recently silenced during an Anchorage School Board meeting, a Georgia-based parental rights group has won a federal First Amendment case against a school district that barred parents from reading excerpts from controversial school library books during board meetings. Congress Fox News: FBI threat tag created after Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling 'shifted' to focus on pro-lifers, whistleblower says By Brooke Singman .....The FBI created a threat tag following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year, but it later "shifted" to focus on pro-life individuals, an agent-turned-whistleblower told the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, from the Wichita Resident Agency in the Kansas City Field Office, also said the FBI made him divide one domestic terrorism case into "four different cases," in what he described as an effort by the bureau to be able to show Congress an influx of domestic terrorism cases... When asked if he felt the FBI was using and creating threat tags in a politicized way, O’Boyle said: "I do." National Review: Discrimination Has No Place in Our Society, and Big Banks Are No Exception By Sen. Kevin Cramer .....In recent years, especially since President Biden’s election, the “woke” Left has exerted immense pressure on financial institutions to wade into social and political issues, such as gun control, energy policy, and abortion advocacy. Activists have taken these ancillary issues and inserted them into the daily business of many firms under the guise of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). As a result, businesses now engaged in legal commerce are being unfairly denied access to financial services. FEC The Hill: FEC complaints filed over allegations Murdoch gave Kushner unaired Biden political ads By Julia Mueller .....Complaints have been filed with the Federal Election Commission over allegations that Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch shared unaired political advertisements and debate strategy from President Biden’s 2020 campaign with Jared Kushner, former President Trump’s son-in-law and then-senior adviser. A complaint was filed by progressive nonprofit Media Matters, arguing that Murdoch broke the law by sharing the ads. NBC News reported on Friday that End Citizens United PAC filed a similar complaint to the FEC. The Media National Review: Ex-Biden Administration ‘Disinformation’ Czar Crowdfunding Lawsuit to ‘Hold Fox Accountable’ By Jeff Zymeri .....Nina Jankowicz, who helmed the Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year, has decided to crowdfund a suit against Fox News for allegedly spreading “malicious, reckless lies” about her… “After my position was announced, baseless claims that the board was an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’ and I was ‘President Biden’s chief’ censor spread,” explained Jankowicz in a five-minute video appeal for funds replete with dramatic music. “Fox News launched overly personalized, false, and incendiary coverage of me, mainstreaming online conspiracy theories to tens of million of Americans,” she added. Independent Groups Sludge: Congressional Leaders Are Embracing Dark Money Like Never Before By David Moore .....The four super PACs that are endorsed by congressional leaders, though technically independent from them, have come to dominate spending on congressional elections in recent years, spending far more than national party committees like the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) or Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to help elect their party’s candidates. In the 2022 cycle, these super PACs became the four highest-spending outside groups on federal races, according to OpenSecrets. They each received large contributions from an affiliated 501(c)4 nonprofit organization that does not publicly disclose its donors… Online Speech Platforms Politico: Elon Musk reopened Twitter for political ad business. But is it too late? By Jessica Piper .....Nearly two months after Twitter announced it would resume allowing political advertising, the technology company, in response to a POLITICO inquiry, said this week that it had no paid political advertisers yet... The platform’s new ad verification process and disclosure mechanisms are rudimentary so far, relying on both potential advertisers and members of the public to fill out a form hosted by Google, unusual for a tech company that would typically be expected to build most of its own web features… “It’s apparent that there’s a resource crunch at Twitter if they’re using a Google form for the verification process,”[Mark Jablonowski, president of DSPolitical, a digital advertising firm that works with Democratic candidates and causes] said. “It seems like they want the revenue from political advertising but don’t have the infrastructure to support it.” The States Tallahassee Democrat: Inmate's mother and her information table fall victim to Florida Capitol speech 'crackdown' By James Call .....A Capitol crackdown on speech has begun. Groups wanting space to inform the public and lawmakers about state laws or legislative proposals must get an official sponsor "to demonstrate" at the Florida Capitol – and must align with a state agency's mission… The American Civil Liberties Union Florida said the new rule is an attempt to “chill speech." Kara Gross, the group’s legislative director, said the new rule falls in line with the DeSantis administration “overarching theme” of censorship and suppression for those who “dare to disagree with the governor.” WBUR: N.H. AG’s pursuit of hate group marks a turning point in officials’ response to extremism By Todd Bookman, New Hampshire Public Radio .....The case revolves around a 2022 incident in which members of NSC-131 allegedly hung a banner that said “Keep New England White” from an overpass in Portsmouth. In its civil petition, state authorities claim that the group trespassed onto city-owned property, hung the banner without permission and were motivated to do so by racial animus, violating New Hampshire’s civil rights statute. Preliminary arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday in Rockingham Superior Court... The civil petition filed by the state in January doesn’t come with criminal charges, but could result in fines of up to $5,000 for NSC-131, as well as two of its members, who are named as defendants. As the case proceeds, it’s being closely watched by free speech champions who question whether the legal claims at the heart of the state’s action against NSC-131 run counter to First Amendment protections. “I haven’t seen anything like this before,” said Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for FIRE, a national group that advocates for free speech rights. The case doesn’t appear to have any legal precedent, according to Terr, and also could pose a risk: Hate speech, as distasteful as it may be, has long been protected under federal law. Attempts to police that speech by the government, Terr warned, is a slippery slope. “I think it does raise some concerns about whether the government is using the trespass rationale as a pretext to go after views that they don’t want expressed, and that’s something that the government shouldn’t be in the business of doing,” he said. Daily Beast: Here’s How Florida Could Become the Capital of Weaponized Libel Suits By Lili Levi and Lyrissa Lidsky .....Florida’s new House Bill 991 proposes a laundry list of legal changes that would make it easier for plaintiffs to bring and win defamation cases. It would also weaponize the law to allow the powerful to silence their critics. The bill’s sponsor makes no secret that the intended target of this bill is the news media. And given the widespread public dissatisfaction with the media, this bill promises to be popular, and easily spun by politicians as a way of making the media accountable... A close look at the proposed bill shows that it is excessively lopsided in favor of plaintiffs. NBC Montana: Campaign finance reform bill passes Senate vote By Joshua Margolis .....A bill that revises campaign finance laws passed its second reading in the Montana Senate by a 33-16 vote. Senate Bill 393, sponsored by State Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick (R-Great Falls), aims to remove the requirement that campaign treasurers must be registered voters. It also lets unopposed candidates off the hook for 48-hour expenditure reports, and adds exceptions for certain disclosure requirements. This includes exceptions for candidates and committees to not have to report debts if it has been paid by the time a report is filed, and also allows them to not disclose occupation and employment information of contributors if they are not provided to them by the donor. Supporters say the bill cleans up campaign finance laws, while opponents say it decreases transparency and could lead to silent cooperation. The bill cleared Senate State Administration last Friday on a 6-4 vote, with 6 of 7 Republicans in support and all 3 Democrats against it. 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. 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