First Amendment News

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) used copyright laws to limit videos from the World Cup. It used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to take down a videotape of Pussy Riot members protesting against the Putin regime during the final match between France and Croatia. And to the disgust of fans took down a five second video of a seven-year-old celebrating a goal. (techdirt, July 17, 2018, by Mike Masnick)

Sinclair Broadcast encountered a stone wall in its bid to obtain Tribune Media Company as Federal Communication Commission Chair Ajit Pai said he would reject the acquisition given its current structure. Pai suggested an administrative law judge should review the deal which would certainly bog it down and most likely deal it a mortal blow. Critics had accused Pai altering broadcast TV station ownership limits to help Sinclair. (Ars Technica, July 16, 2018, by Jon

A federal district judge withdrew an order that required the Los Angeles Times to censor an article with information about a former Glendale, California police detective with alleged ties to the Mexican mafia. Judge John F. Water issued the order on the belief that the Times had obtained the information about a plea agreement illegally and said he acted to protect the safety of the former detective. (Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2018, by Victoria

University of Texas professors are taking their challenge to the law allowing guns in classrooms to federal appeals court expected to argue that the guns would create  a “chilling effect” on classroom discussion. (KUT 90.5, July 11, 2018, by Matthew Choi of the Texas Tribune) In 2016 a federal district judge ruled against the professors that the law was not a content-based regulation of speech or a direct regulation of speech so does not fit

The Russian government attacked the U.S. during the 2016 by exploiting public trust in local news by creating Twitter accounts that posed as sources for headlines in hometown newspapers. The accounts used names such as @ElPasoTopNews and @Seattle_Post. The accounts posted credible news to build trust and readership in preparation for a future attack as part of an extended campaign to destabilize the U.S. Twitter figured it out and suspended the accounts. (MPR, July 12,