A federal district judge ruled against activists claiming that the Chinese search engine Baidu illegally censored advocacy of greater democracy in China. The ruling said to deprive Baidu of the right to censor would violate its free speech rights. The ruling stated, “…allowing Plaintiffs to sue Baidu for what are in essence editorial judgments about which political ideas to promote would run afoul of the First Amendment.” (Quartz, March 28, 2014, by Heather Timmons)
The lawyer for the plaintiffs, New York writers and video producers, said, “The court has laid out a perfect paradox: that it will allow the suppression of free speech, in the name of free speech.” They plan to appeal. (Reuters, March 27, 2014, by Jonathan Stempel and David Brunnstrom)