News & Opinion

Hassan Kanu in Reuters, February 24, 2023, writes of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision concerning a man’s attempt to livestream police officers making a routine traffic stop of his brother, a Black man, “On balance, the decision makes clear that Americans have an expansive First Amendment right to record and publish law enforcement activity. But it also means police departments can likely override the right in some circumstances simply by invoking their

Universities are secretly cutting deals with sports betting companies to allow them to advertise in stadiums, on radio and athletic department websites. Louisiana State, Michigan State and Maryland have all made deals though third-party companies, private companies not subject to open records laws. (ABC24, February 28, 2023, by Shane Connuck and Blake Townsend)

Baton Rouge paid out a $1.17 million settlement to protesters and two journalists for arrests during protests over a police shooting of a Black citizen in 2016. (Louisiana Record, March 3, 2023, by Michael Carroll) The plaintiffs were arrested for allegedly blocking a highway. The police were never charged, but the city made a $4.5 million settlement to the man’s children. For related FAC coverage, click here, here and here.

U.S. copyright law is being exploited to take down articles critical of oil lobbyists. “Unknown parties” are creating phony articles with content similar to the real news reports. The U.S. law allows an online poster to claim his content has been stolen and demand that the stolen content be taken down. There has been a number of these incidents in Africa over recent months. (BBC News, March 2, 2023)

The Biden administration and Congress members are considering a ban on TikTok, owned by ByteDance, based in Beijjing and subject to Chinese laws including one requiring businesses to help the Chinese government whenever asked. China could ask TikTok to provide it with user data or to upload propaganda or false information on its platform fueling risks to national security. (Vox, March 2, 2023, by Sara Morrison, Christian Paz, and Rebecca Jennings) TikTok says it is