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Issue Advocacy: A Cornerstone of Democracy

January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

The First Amendment protects speech from burdensome government regulation. Until the 1970s, federal law largely did not regulate either campaign speech or issue speech by advocacy groups. That changed with the adoption of the Federal Election Campaign Act. The Act attempted to regulate any speech “relative to a clearly identified candidate.” This law, and the subsequent Supreme Court decision Buckley…

H.R. 1 Will Force Organizations – and Their Donors – to Publicly Profess Allegiance to Politicians

March 18, 2021   •  By Margaux Granath   •  , , ,

If H.R. 1 becomes law, organizations, including nonpartisan nonprofits, would be bound to publicly declare their support or opposition to any candidates named in ...

As H.R. 1 Moves to the Senate, Consider What Motivates Politicians

March 16, 2021   •  By Alex Baiocco   •  , , , , ,

In comments celebrating the House of Representatives’ partisan passage of H.R. 1, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) explained that achieving the Democrats’ legislative agenda will ...

“For the People Act” gives politicians more power, curtails speech

The threats to free speech in the so-called “For the People Act” span hundreds of pages and are too numerous to cover in their ...

Letter to U.S. House of Representatives in Opposition to H.R. 1

The Institute for Free Speech strongly opposes H.R. 1, the Orwellian “For the People Act.” More appropriately known as the “For the Politicians Act,” ...

The Democrats’ New Schemes to Control Political Speech

This, apparently, is the president’s vision of democracy: a status quo-preserving machine wherein those in power get a monopoly on political speech, while the ...

Letter to U.S. House Administration Committee on H.R. 1’s Harms to Speech and Assembly Rights

The Institute for Free Speech writes to express serious concerns about the devastating effect H.R. 1 would have on Americans’ freedom of speech and ...

Analysis of H.R. 1 (Part One)

February 22, 2021   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , , ,

This analysis examines Title IV, Subtitles B (“DISCLOSE Act”), C (“Strengthening Oversight of Online Political Advertising”; formerly known as “Honest Ads”), and D (“Stand ...

Misleading H.R. 1 Poll Manufactures Support for Limiting Speech

January 26, 2021   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , , , , , , ,

A new poll from progressive supporters of H.R. 1 misleads about the bill's impact and ignores the many restrictions the legislation imposes on First ...

H.R. 1 and S. 1 Resource Guide (2021)

H.R. 1 and S. 1 would impose sweeping new restrictions on speech about campaigns and public affairs. The Institute for Free Speech has created ...

Facebook takes the muzzle off Georgia Senate races, but is it too late?

December 18, 2020   •  By Tiffany Donnelly   •  , ,

For over six weeks, Facebook held two Senate races hostage, blocking four candidates from reaching Georgia voters with ads before next month’s election. On ...

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