Free speech: Federal appeals court rules against conflict-mineral Internet disclosure

The Washington, D.C. U.S. Circuit ruled that the government could not force firms to reveal on their websites if they were using “conflict minerals” from the Congo. Militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have financed rape and plunder by selling gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten. The ruling upheld the regulations requiring reporting on the minerals but said the posting of the results on websites constituted unconstitutionally compelled speech. (Courthouse News Service, April 16, 2014, by Jack Bouboushian)

Sarah N. Lynch and Lawrence Hurley report in Reuters, April 14, 2014, that industry is increasingly using the the First Amendment to challenge government regulations, “The case is one of several in recent years in which industry groups have, with mixed success, made free speech objections to government regulations. Others include challenges to meat labeling requirements and a rule that required extractive industries to disclose payments to foreign governments. The same appeals court [D.C. Circuit] is due to issue a key ruling on the free speech issue when it rehears the meat labeling case next month.”