donal brown

A federal district judge rejected Elon Musk’s lawsuit against a hate-speech watchdog Musk claimed caused him a loss of advertising money. Judge Charles Breyer ruled the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s (CCDH) criticism of X could not be the target of a lawsuit as that would violate a California ban on lawsuits to stifle speech. The center was holding X accountable for hate speech and false information. (Los Angeles Times, March 25, 2024, by Nathan

Qatar’s hefty investments in right wing Newsmax inspired senior newsroom leaders to advise the staff to go easy on Qatar. When Donald Trump was president he criticized Qatar for funding terrorism. (The Washington Post, March 26, 2024, by Sarah Ellison and Jonathan O’Connell)

Seth Stein in the Columbia Journalism Review, March 26, 2024, argues that forcing a sale of TikTok is in effect a ban and prior restraint. Those for the ban are worried about China’s use of TikTok to influence the 2024 election. But writes Stein, “the First Amendment doesn’t allow censorship ‘just in case.’ It was downright reckless for the House to pass legislation to effectively ban TikTok the day after [director of national intelligence Avril]

Gannett and McClatchy said they will no longer use stories supplied by The Associated Press claiming that they would have no trouble providing content, but with staff cuts, it is difficult to believe that there will not be a drop off in news coverage. (The Washington Post, March 21, 2024, by Laura Wagner) Poynter’s Rick Edwards says that while negotiations are still ongoing between AP and Gannett and McClatchy, it appears that with the expense