FIRE weighs in on Murthy v. Missouri & we need your help and support defending freedom of speech for all Americans!

Bringing you the latest free speech news (6/29/24)

Stories of the week

• FIRE statement on Murthy v. Missouri

When government officials attempt to force platforms into censorship, Americans need to know. To secure transparency, Congress must take action. 

• FIRE’s model legislation to bring more transparency to government jawboning: 

  Social Media Administrative Reporting Transparency (SMART) Act

The SMART Act requires the federal government to tell the public whenever its employees are talking to social media companies about how they’re moderating our speech online. This sunlight would go a long way toward ending the censorship by coercion at issue in Murthy.

Greg’s take: The court punted on an extremely important case for all Americans' free speech rights. So in light of that, it's going to be one of my and one of FIRE's top priorities to get this legislation passed. 

This week in ERI

• Is the Efficient Rhetorical Fortress insufficient? You tell us! by me

• A Tennessee journalist is being threatened with jail time for reporting on a school shooter’s ‘manifesto’ by

  Adam Goldstein

This week in FIRE’s blog

• ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl wasn’t fired from her job — and that’s a good thing by

  Talia Barnes

• What is your major malfunction, Amazon by William Harris

• Feds’ new ‘anti-harassment’ mandate to universities: Violate the First Amendment

• Why Julian Assange couldn’t outrun the Espionage Act by Jordan Howell

• VICTORY: Vermont man jailed for flipping off cop receives $175K settlement

• Wherefore art thou, Romeo? South Carolina’s new, one-size-fits-all library regulations will restrict access to the classics by John Coleman

This week on ‘So to Speak’

• Should social media platforms come with a warning label? Should the government regulate minors’ access to porn? This week,

  So to Speak
  hosted a lively debate between Clare Morell —  senior policy analyst at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of the forthcoming book, “The Tech Exit: A Manifesto for Freeing Our Kids” — and
  Ari Cohn
  — free speech counsel at TechFreedom (and former FIRE staffer!) on these questions and more.

 International free speech stories of the week

• Dissident Iranian rapper Toomaj has death sentence overturned (CNN) by Niamh Kennedy, Rosa Rahimi, and Artemis Moshtaghian

FIRE in the press!

• Social Media Does Not Capture Americans’ True Views (AEI) by FIRE Board Member Sam Abrams

• Most Comments Deleted From Social Media Platforms in Germany, France, and Sweden Were Legal Free Speech — Why That Should Raise Concerns for Free Expression Online (TechPolicy.com) by FIRE Senior Fellow

  Jacob Mchangama

• President Biden Should Pardon D.M. Bennett (Reason) by FIRE Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere

Pitch of the month

If you’re a regular reader, chances are you know about FIRE and all the critical work we’re doing to defend free speech rights and renew our society’s gut-level appreciation for these rights. In fact, all proceeds from this blog go directly to supporting FIRE’s work,  so if you’re already a paid subscriber— thank you!  If you’re not, I hope you’ll consider becoming one today. It’s harder than ever these days to find people who see the value in principled, non-partisan defense of free speech, and frankly, we need your help if we want freedom of speech to exist for our kids and grandkids. 

If you’re in the position to give more, I’m humbly asking that you consider making a special contribution before our books close this month. Your contribution goes directly to supporting FIRE’s uniquely non-partisan work. You can dive deeper into our track record, but that work includes litigation against California Community Colleges’ DEI mandate, defending individuals like this journalist who was arrested for doing her job, as well as efforts like our annual College Free Speech Rankings, our summer intern program, and so much more. 

We need allies and support more than ever, so please contribute if you can and nag your friends and family too as well! Thank you in advance!