Parler pummeled. The Twitter alternative that bills itself as a place where people can “speak freely … without fear of being ‘deplatformed,’” is under fire from its users for bragging to Congress that it told the FBI about “violent content and incitement” on its platform “over 50 times” before the insurrection of Jan. 6.
■ One user wrote, “Snitches get stitches or end up in ditches” …
■ … putting Parler in the position of having to explain the First Amendment.
■ The A.V. Club snarks: “Nobody could have predicted that a business built on inviting the worst people on the internet … would inevitably result in those same people turning on their hosts, right?”
‘A picture is worth a thousand words … and governments know it well.’ Associated Press reporter David Bauder explains why you should care about the Biden administration’s limits on journalist access to government-run facilities housing young immigrants on the U.S. border with Mexico.
■ The White House press secretary says the administration aims to raise the curtain “as soon as we can.”
Pronoun provocation. A professor reprimanded for refusing to use the pronoun preferred by a transgender student has won an appeals court’s permission to sue the university under the First Amendment.
■ Ed Whelan, writing for the National Review, calls it “an important victory for Free Speech and Free Exercise rights.”
■ Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern calls the decision no surprise: “It was heard by a panel … made up of two Donald Trump nominees … plus a George W. Bush nominee.”
‘Christians certainly don’t need Tennessee’s imprimatur in order to treasure the Bible.’ Middle Tennessee State University political science professor John Vile takes a dim view of a bill that would make the Bible the official state book.
■ TechDirt: “Utah Governor Vetoes Ridiculous Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill; Makes His Brother-in-Law Sad.”
‘Police would be wise to up their First Amendment game.’ A Los Angeles Times editorial condemns officers who arrested reporters and others at a protest over the city’s clearing of more than 200 homeless people from an Echo Park Lake encampment.
■ A TV reporter’s video tweet: “This is the moment three LAPD officers pulled me from a crowd of protestors and zip-tied my hands.”
■ Critics warn that Arizona legislation purporting to give protesters “a moment of pause” would chill people’s freedom of speech.
■ An attorney advising a New Hampshire town cautions lawmakers considering a crackdown on street performers he’s “hard-pressed to find a case where somebody sues the government on one of these cases and they don’t prevail.”
Free speech and the foul-mouthed cheerleader. University of Florida law prof Frank LoMonte looks ahead to a Supreme Court case that could determine just how much the First Amendment protects students.
■ Oregon State University is suing The Associated Press to block the release of details about an investigation of abuse in its volleyball program.
GRInCh clinch. A Pennsylvania lawmaker is pushing the GRInCh Act (for “Guarding Readers’ Independence and Choice”), to cut taxpayer funding for schools that ban books—including those by Dr. Seuss.
■ Daily Kos notes: “Seuss’ estate made a free-market decision to pull a handful of books [not including How the Grinch Stole Christmas!] from its catalog.”
