donal brown

Sometimes journalists want to establish temporary research accounts on Facebook using a number of names and bio details to assess how the platform responds to different profiles, but the company’s terms of service provide for only one account and accurate biographical information. The Knight First Amendment Institute is now asking Facebook to change those rules for journalists. (San Francisco Chronicle, August 7, 2018, by Ellen Nakashima of The Washington Post) The changes are needed to

A federal district judge stopped the publication of instructions for printing guns at home on 3D printers but admitted that the order could well violate the First Amendment. States concerned about public safety are suing in federal court to stop 3D-printed guns. The case may come down to whether computer code constitutes speech or is considered an object and beyond First Amendment protection. (Chicago Tribune, August 2, 2018, by Noah Feldman of Bloomberg News) Without

InfoWars Alex Jones is staking out a free speech defense in the defamation lawsuit brought by Sandy Hook parents to contest his statements that the incident was fake and some of the parents and children were actors. The parents are claiming the Jones’ false statements resulted in death threats. Jones contends that the parents are public figures so there is a higher bar for proving defamation. (KUT News, August 1, 2018, by Avery Miles) A

The Trump administration went on the record indicating they were not concerned that their followers at public rallies drown out reporters trying to ask questions of the president. CNN reporter Jim Acosta tweeted about the scene at the Tampa rally on July 31, “I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press

TVEyes is appealing the appellate court decision in a Fox News lawsuit finding them in violation of  copyright with its service offering TV and radio programs in a searchable database used by such customers as the Defense Department, the UN,  and The New York Times. CNN has sided with Fox while Hearst Television, the Electric Foundation Frontier, Google, Microsoft and the American Library Association filed amicus curiae for TVEyes. (The Hollywood Reporter, August 1, 2018,