First Amendment News

Sinclair Broadcasting’s editorial stance supports ex-president Donald Trump’s view that cities run by Democrats are failing and dangerous. With 185 stations across the U.S., Sinclair dominates the news as local newspapers fail, leaving no one to contest the distorted view of cities. (The Washington Post, February 16, 2024, by Sarah Ellison) Some years ago, journalism professor Mark Feldstein, The Washington Post, April 10, 2018, warned of Sinclair’s efforts to indoctrinate the public, “…Sinclair stands alone

A New York University survey found that the greatest threat to democracy and elections in 2024 is the social media. Meta, Google and X have not fixed the problems that enabled the January 6 insurrection. (The Washington Post, February 14, 2024, by Will Oremus) In 2023 X has lost its leadership in content moderation, not only failing to remove hate speech but subtracting features allowing users to report misinformation. TikTok and Meta have also been

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there was no free speech right to refuse to wear face masks at school board meetings during the height of the Covid pandemic. (The Associated Press, February 6, 2024, by Mike Catalini) New Jersey citizens brought suits challenging the rule, but the court rejected their arguments, “Skeptics are free to — and did — voice their opposition through multiple means,” the court wrote, “But disobeying a

FIRE announced the 10 worst censors for 2024 featuring the Kansas small town police raid of a local newspaper investigating among other things misconduct by the police chief. Otherwise educational institutions dominated the list: Muirlands Middle School in San Diego, the Mayo Clinic College of Medical Science, San Francisco State University, California Community Colleges, Texas A&M and Harvard. (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, February 13, 2024) For related FAC coverage, click here, here and

A District of Columbia jury found that two men had maliciously and falsely attacked the Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann for his graph in Nature illustrating a warming planet. One of the men, Rand Simberg, compared investigating Mann’s work to the case of Jerry Sandusky, once at Penn State, convicted of sexually assaulting children. (The Associated Press, February 8, 2024, by Suman Naishadham) Mann said about the finding, “”I hope this verdict sends a