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
The nation’s universities are taking a less tolerant view of disruptive protests and are suspending or expelling students. The schools are reacting to criticism by conservative alums and donors but also are moved by the realization that protests are so disruptive that they have a negative effect on learning. Administrators are clamping down in the face of criticism that their role is to foster debate no matter how contrary it gets. (The New York Times,
Steven Brill in Politico, April 1, 2024, writes that there are ways to clean up the social media without government censorship. The platforms already have contracts with users and lists of prohibited content, but they claim they cannot prevent the hate and false information because of the algorithms and volume of content. The FTC has the authority to protect consumers and could enforce the contracts by exacting hefty fines. For related FAC coverage, click here,
NBC News reported that scores of subscriber X accounts and thousands of unpaid accounts posted or amplified Nazi content recently. The postings often praised Nazi soldiers, shared Nazi symbols and denied the Holocaust. X has not been enforcing their policies against this content. (NBC News, April 16, 2024, by David Ingram) Mike Masnick in techdirt, April 17, 2024, wonders if X owner Elon Musk will defend the content by declaring his commitment to free speech