Mel Opotowsky, the longest-serving board member in FAC’s history and a primary animating force in the organization’s founding, died last week at the age of 92.
Now that President Joe Biden singed a bill requiring TikTok to sell or face a ban, TikTok stated that they will challenge the law in court on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment rights of users. (Politico, April 24, 2024, by Rebecca Kern) The First Amendment prohibits the government from enacting laws that limit freedom of speech. Critics have tried to justify restrictions on TikTok for its being a propaganda machine for China
Reporters asking the hard questions covering Republicans on the campaign trail may now find their emails, names and even contact information posted online. The posts convey the message that the reporters are engaging in partisan sabotage. (NOTUS, April 25, by Evan McMorris-Santoro and Katherine Swartz)
States are fighting back against the tide of book bannings across the U.S. with Democratic-majority legislatures passing laws against bans. Minnesota is now considering a law and Washington, Illinois and Maryland have already passed laws. (The Associated Press, April 23, 2024, by Steve Karnowski and Mike Catalini) The Illinois law punishes public libraries for banning books for “partisan or doctrinal” reasons. To keep their eligibility for state funds, public libraries must adopt the American Library
Award-winning student journalist’s public records requests remain unfulfilled for more than 18 months.