donal brown

A.W. Ohlheiserin in Vox, June 21, 2024, says online falsehoods still proliferate from the dangers of sunscreen to bogus cancer cures. He says it is tough to test the validity of his assessment since the platforms make it difficult for researchers to examine the record. Ohlheiseerin says it’s hard to see what platforms are doing to stop the falsehoods, “While these companies assess how much they care about moderating and addressing their platform’s capacity to

Wikileaks’ Julian Assange will not serve prison time in the U.S. if a federal judge approves a deal allowing him to plead guilty to espionage for publishing secret military records in 2010 and 2011. He will be given a 62-month sentence equal to time already served in London and allowed to proceed to Australia, his home country, if he so chooses. (CNN, June 2, 2024, by Evan Perez and Devan Cole) Seth Stern in the

TikTok claims in briefs filed in federal court that the US government did not thoroughly consider options proposed by the platform to deal with national security concerns. TikTok argued that the courts must apply “strict scrutiny” in such free speech cases. TikTok said that Congress failed to provide findings to back its conclusions that TikTok should be shut down. (The Verge, June 20, 2024, by Lauren Feiner) For related FAC coverage, click here, here and

Los Angles is on the hook for the legal expenses of a journalist and activists it sued for publishing photos of LA police officers. The journalists and activists were sued for publishing the photos of thousands of the photos provided by the city itself in complying with a public records request. (Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2024, by Libor Jany) Two days after the $300,000 settlement, the freelance journalist won a second dismissal of a

Iowa argued before the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should be allowed to enforce a law banning sexually explicit books from school libraries and teacher’s collections in the classroom. The state was encouraged by judges’ comments in a hearing that Iowa would ultimately prevail in court. (Courthouse News Service, June 11, 2024, by Rox Laird) One judge suggested that those objecting to the ban should sue particular school districts who overstep in