Conservatives in Congress and in the courts are attacking scholars and private companies that study the spread of falsehoods online. They are tying up their adversaries with information requests and subpoenas for records of communications and notes, harming their ability to do research and raise money. (The New York Times, June 19, 2023, by Steven Lee Myers and Sheera Frenkel) In a related matter, Microsoft has launched a project to enable the public to find

Former Fox executive Preston Padden in Daily Beast, June 14, 2023, asks the question, is it time for the Federal Communications Commission to consider revoking Fox broadcasting licenses? Section 308 (b) of the Communications Act requires the FCC to assess the character of those licensed to broadcast on public airwaves. In the Dominion defamation case, Rupert Murdock’s admitted that Fox repeatedly disseminated falsehoods about the 2020 election. The FCC is limited in its power to

Local government officials are striking back at newspapers they consider to have given them unfair press by revoking their contracts to publish public notices. In the case of a Delhi, New York newspaper, The Reporter, that meant a loss of $13,000 a year, a crippling blow for a newspaper with 4,000 subscribers. The Reporter filed a First Amendment lawsuit and negotiated a settlement of a renewed contract for four years and $50,000 in damages and