First Amendment News

OpenMind Magazine took form in March to address science controversies and deceptions. Their stories address how people “misperceive or don’t perceive important science issues in the world,” says co-founder Corey S. Powell. “Our canvas is things that are misreported or misunderstood in popular culture, on science issues that matter. This is the magazine that sets things straight.”(Nieman Lab, April 13, 2022, by Shraddha Chakradhar) The magazine aims to help readers discern fake scientific news and

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its earlier decision that scraping data from public profiles on the web was not a violation of a federal computer hacking law. The decision was good news for archivists, academics, researchers and journalists who scrape the web for information. Linkedin had brought the lawsuit to protect its user information. (techcrunch, April 18, 2022, by Zach Whittaker) The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act had empowered corporations to criminalize

The Securities Exchange Commission has since 1972 muzzled principals after their cases have been settled. They must promise never to speak publicly about any allegations in complaints or plant the idea that the complaints were without factual basis. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear a case on the gag order Romeril v. Securities and Exchange Commission some time in the next few months. (The New York Times, April 18, 2022, by Adam

A federal district judge found some grounds for a First Amendment challenge of a new Florida law mandating annual surveys of political beliefs at public colleges, passed by conservative lawmakers to ensure “freedom and viewpoint diversity.” (24 News, April 12, 2022, by Zachary Rogers) Drake Brignac in the Reveille, April 14, 2022, claims that when the Louisiana State University student Election Commission struck the F— word from the name of a ticket, they were striking

Experts on information manipulation found that some American right wing politicians and media hosts are bonding with Russia in promoting lies about the invasion of Ukraine. “A feedback loop between the Kremlin and parts of the American right has been palpable since the war’s start in February,” writes Peter Stone, “which Moscow falsely labeled as a ‘special military operation’ aimed at stopping ‘genocide’ of Russians in Ukraine and ‘denazification’ – two patently bogus charges that