First Amendment News

With the House of Representatives voting to ban TikTok unless it severs ties with China, David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation says the ban violates the First Amendment rights of U.S. users who communicate with one another and get information from the site. A ban could result in Tik Tok’s shutting down entirely or in a sale to a U.S. company that could have editorial policies that would hinder free speech as practiced on

Charlotte McBirney of the News Media Alliance, March 8,2024, writes that in spite of one Supreme Court justice’s criticism of New York Times v. Sullivan, the decision enjoys bipartisan support and continues to protect the press and in so doing our ddemocratic heritage. For related FAC coverage, click here, here and here.

A national check on how The Associated Press and CNHI News deals with open records requests revealed that too often it took going to court to get the records that by law should have been easily accessible. Fewer that one third of states have authorities that can force government agencies to release public documents. The upshot is that citizens are discouraged in finding out about police procedures, politicians decisions and how public money gets spent.

Jullie Marzouk of The Orange County Register, March 9, 2024, argues that activists are “weaponizing cracks in American democracy” to attack Israel, calling for cease fire, using hate speech and intimidating elected officials. In California they are taking advantage of the Brown Act, the state’s open government law, that allows citizens to address items not on the agenda. The Jewish community in Walnut Creek reacted to an anti-Semitic rant during the public comment session in

Contending that their business model cripples the news industry, Report for America is withdrawing support for hedge fund and private-equity news outlets. Gannett and Tribune Publishing will no longer get new reporters from the Report for America stable. (The Washington Post, March 6, 2024, by Jeremy Barr) Brian Dudley of The Seattle Times, March 6, 2024, argues that the move by Report for America will only hurt local reporting as the chains serve vast numbers