donal brown

The U.S Supreme Court refused to hear a case determining if a student can sue Snapchat for its role in sexual abuse by a teacher. The company’s lawyers told the court, ““Snapchat is no more responsible for the teacher’s criminal acts than the phone company that hosted her text messages to petitioner or the car that drove the teacher to school.” (USA TODAY, July 2, 2024 by Maureen Groppe) A 36-year-old teacher, now serving a

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that social media platforms are like traditional publishers and therefore entitled to First Amendment protections in moderating content. Texas and Florida passed laws regulating content moderation of social media companies out of concern that the platforms were restricting conservative viewpoints, but the court stated “the government cannot get its way just by asserting an interest in better balancing the marketplace of ideas.” (The Verge, July 1, 2024, by Lauren Feiner)

The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed teachers to put up Black Lives Matter posters in classrooms but denied members of the public to display posters such as All Lives Matter. Whether the decision satisfies the First Amendment depends on whether the speech “Black Lives Matter” is private speech or government speech, a matter yet to be determined. (Reason, June 26, 2024, by Eugene Volokh) For related FAC coverage, click here and here. For

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Biden administration could continue to ask social media companies to remove posts that promoted falsehoods. In a surprise move, the court rejected the First Amendment claim that administration forced the companies to remove or moderate content. (The Washington Post, June 26, 2024, by Ann E. Marimow and Cat Zakzewski) The administration had asked platforms to take down posts on such topics as the coronavirus and election fraud.