First Amendment News

Telegram, the instant messaging app popular in Russia and Iran, gained popularity partly from the fact it was started by a Russian citizen. The app makes it “nearly impossible” to listen in to other users without their consent. Critics say that it is easy for a skillful security expert to penetrate the app and that Telegram gathers too much information on users allowing intelligence agencies to mine the data for the identities of dissidents. (The

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to rank news outlets by trust soliciting user opinions to determine which sources are “broadly trusted.” Zuckerberg was responding to criticism of his company for its negative impact on democracy and said they would spend billions of dollars to fight fake news and hate speech. (Huffington Post, May 1, 2018, by Lydia Polgreen) Facebook executive Campbell Brown said identifying “trustworthy” news outlets was a “tricky” task that can’t be

California regulators fined the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $97.5 million for conducting back-channel communications after the disastrous 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. In announcing the fine, the Public Utilities Commission was enforcing California regulations that ban certain communications between utility executives and the commission and require any communications be reported publicly. (San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2018, by David R. Baker) PG&E will not be able to pass the fines off to consumers or

The federal regulatory agency that publishes a public database of consumer complaints is poised to scuttle the service in response to long-standing pressure from financial companies. Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, testified to Congress recently,  “I don’t see anything in here that says I have to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government.” (The New York Times, April 25, 2018, by Stacy Cowley) The agency is

Cal State Fresno President Joseph I. Castro expressed his regret to the Bush family for the tweet attacking Barbara Bush posted by Professor Randa Jarrar but said that the professor was protected from discipline by the First Amendment. (NBC4.com, April 25, 2018, by Reagan Roy) Kent State journalism student Drew Taylor, KENTWIRED.com, April 25, 2018,  warns against abandoning free speech principles in a rush to punish Jarrar and argues that it is dangerous “to pick