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

Alaska Watchman: Court ruling may give Anchorage School Board pause in barring parents from testifying against sex books

.....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.

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.

National Review: Discrimination Has No Place in Our Society, and Big Banks Are No Exception

.....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).

The Hill: FEC complaints filed over allegations Murdoch gave Kushner unaired Biden political ads

.....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.  

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.

Sludge: Congressional Leaders Are Embracing Dark Money Like Never Before

.....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.

Politico: Elon Musk reopened Twitter for political ad business. But is it too late?

.....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...

Tallahassee Democrat: Inmate's mother and her information table fall victim to Florida Capitol speech 'crackdown'

.....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…

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...

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.

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.

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.

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