■ Perhaps Americans do have a better understanding of the First Amendment, two recent studies show.
■ Analysis: A hometown jury hands Boise State University a resounding rebuke.
Thought for food. A federal judge has served up a ruling that reinforced food-delivery app companies’ claim that a 2021 New York City data-sharing law is unconstitutional.
■ As artists continue to object to their songs being used at political events, it is not the First Amendment that governs their use, explained Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
■ The impact of book bans hits hardest on the U.S. prison population, activists declare.
■ Banned Books Week was launched with mixed reports on the number of challenges to books stocked and the pulling of titles from library shelves.
■ A California district attorney has charged 10 protesters for failing to leave the UC Irvine campus when police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment in May.
Conduct code. A federal judge has blocked an 1895 San Diego law that bans offensive and disorderly conduct in public places after a First Amendment legal challenge.
■ A Virginia law that prohibits inmates from encouraging other inmates to participate in demonstrations or work stoppages does not violate the First Amendments, a federal appeals court panel has ruled.
■ A new Tennessee law that makes it a felony to transport a minor without parental consent to an abortion appointment out of state was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
■ Newsmax has settled its defamation lawsuit brought by voting-technology company Smartmatic over 2020 false election claims.
■ Citing an attempt to have his free-speech rights curtailed, an Oklahoma historian being sued for defamation by a Pennsylvania legislator seeks to have the suit dismissed.
Fakes crackdown gets real. California’s tough laws on AI deepfakes ahead of the 2024 election face a pair of court challenges to their constitutionality.
■ Russia’s state-owned broadcast network, RT, has moved beyond propaganda to covertly destabilize democracies, declared U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
■ An Indiana law to create a 25-foot buffer zone around law enforcement officers responding to certain activities was blocked by a U.S. district judge.
WhatsNews. To help draw traffic to online news sites, some digital news publications are turning to WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app.
■ Penn State University administrators removed racks stocked with the college newspaper and sparked a free-speech debate.
■ A letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to generate opposition to a bill that threatens nonprofit news outlets.
■ As an American and a Christian, a Southern California pastor declared freedom of religion to be central to the meaning of democracy in a recent commentary.
■ Banned Books Week was launched with mixed reports on the number of challenges to books stocked and the pulling of titles from library shelves.
■ A California district attorney has charged 10 protesters for failing to leave the UC Irvine campus when police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment in May.
Conduct code. A federal judge has blocked an 1895 San Diego law that bans offensive and disorderly conduct in public places after a First Amendment legal challenge.
■ A Virginia law that prohibits inmates from encouraging other inmates to participate in demonstrations or work stoppages does not violate the First Amendments, a federal appeals court panel has ruled.
■ A new Tennessee law that makes it a felony to transport a minor without parental consent to an abortion appointment out of state was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
■ Newsmax has settled its defamation lawsuit brought by voting-technology company Smartmatic over 2020 false election claims.
■ Citing an attempt to have his free-speech rights curtailed, an Oklahoma historian being sued for defamation by a Pennsylvania legislator seeks to have the suit dismissed.
Fakes crackdown gets real. California’s tough laws on AI deepfakes ahead of the 2024 election face a pair of court challenges to their constitutionality.
■ Russia’s state-owned broadcast network, RT, has moved beyond propaganda to covertly destabilize democracies, declared U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
■ An Indiana law to create a 25-foot buffer zone around law enforcement officers responding to certain activities was blocked by a U.S. district judge.
WhatsNews. To help draw traffic to online news sites, some digital news publications are turning to WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app.
■ Penn State University administrators removed racks stocked with the college newspaper and sparked a free-speech debate.
■ A letter from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to generate opposition to a bill that threatens nonprofit news outlets.
■ As an American and a Christian, a Southern California pastor declared freedom of religion to be central to the meaning of democracy in a recent commentary.