In the News
Washington Post: GOP appointee resigns from Federal Election Commission, once again leaving it without a quorum
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee
Caroline Hunter, a long-serving Republican appointee to the Federal Election Commission, announced her resignation Friday…
I fought against unnecessary government regulations and unfair enforcement actions; to promote transparency and consistency in the FEC’s operations; and to ensure due process in its dealings with the American people,” Hunter wrote in her resignation letter. “These battles were often hard won, and I am proud of our many accomplishments.” …
The White House announced its plans Friday to nominate campaign finance lawyer Allen Dickerson as FEC commissioner to replace Hunter. Dickerson is the legal director of the Institute for Free Speech, a nonprofit that opposes limits on political speech and advertising.
“It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the FEC. I am grateful for the president’s confidence, and hope to have the opportunity to serve the American people in this important role,” Dickerson said in a statement…
Ellen Weintraub, the Democrat, and current vice chair Steven Walther, an independent, are both serving on the panel beyond their six-year terms.
Wiley: Changes at the FEC
By Michael E. Toner, Lee E. Goodman, D. Mark Renaud, and Andrew G. Woodson
Commissioner Hunter, a Republican, was first appointed to the FEC in 2008. “Caroline has been a stalwart defender of limited government and agency accountability,” said Michael Toner, chair of Wiley’s Election Law and Government Ethics Practice and former FEC Chairman…
Allen Dickerson has been the Legal Director for the Institute for Free Speech, where he leads a nationwide First Amendment litigation practice. Previously, he was an Associate with Kirkland & Ellis, LLP. He also serves as Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Army Reserve.
“Allen has a brilliant legal mind and an established commitment to the proper balance between regulation and free speech,” said Lee Goodman, a former Chairman of the FEC. “Allen Dickerson and Trey Trainor will work well together on the Republican side of the commission and bring much needed stability to the agency.”
The White House’s decision to nominate Dickerson solo, without pairing him with a Democratic nominee, is a significant development.
Supreme Court
Courthouse News: Free Speech for US Charities but Not Partners Abroad, High Court Rules
By Jack Rodgers
Foreign charities are not entitled to the same First Amendment freedoms that protect American entities from having to make anti-prostitution pledges for U.S. grant money, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 Monday…
Kavanaugh called it a “long settled” that citizens outside U.S. territories do not possess rights under the Constitution. Even when foreign citizens are afforded the right to due process in a criminal trial, Kavanaugh emphasized that even this is observed only for individuals inside the United States or a U.S. territory…
Justice Stephen Breyer, joined in dissent by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonya Sotomayor, meanwhile emphasized that the case turned, not on the rights of foreign organizations, but those of their American affiliates.
“The court … asks the wrong question and gives the wrong answer,” he wrote, saying Congress is authorized to impose limits on the use of federal funds but not to leverage those funds to regulate that speech…
Justice Clarence Thomas joined the majority and also filed a 2-page concurring opinion to note his “continued disagreement” with the court’s previous decision.
Donor Privacy
Center Square: Troubling trend of states attacking private donors
By Dr. Jameson Taylor and Sean Parnell
Data from Gallup shows that charitable giving today is at a 19-year low. One reason donations to some nonprofits may be declining is fear of social and governmental targeting…
Making fears into reality, some states have decided to attack charitable giving and require dangerous and unconstitutional disclosures that threaten Americans’ ability to join the causes and give to the charities of our choice without fear of government intimidation or public reprisal.
The long-held right to anonymous giving and membership, protected by the First Amendment, is under assault.
One of the boldest attacks on the right to privacy has been in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget would have forced nonprofits to disclose the names of individual supporters to the state…
Fortunately, the language exposing nonprofit donors was removed from the bill after groups like Advocates for Children of New York, The Afrikan Poetry Theatre, Inc., the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and local Habitat for Humanity and YMCA groups spoke out…
In California, the state’s attorney general has been demanding that 501(c)(3) charities and other nonprofits turn over their donor lists. The policy was struck down in federal district court, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling and upheld the AG’s donor disclosure policies. The case is being looked at by the U.S. Supreme Court, with the U.S. Solicitor General having been invited to weigh in.
[Ed. note: The Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra.]
Online Speech Platforms
The Verge: Twitch temporarily bans President Trump
By Jacob Kastrenakes
Twitch has temporarily banned President Donald Trump, in the latest surprise and high-profile suspension from the streaming service. Trump’s account was banned for “hateful conduct” that was aired on stream, and Twitch says the offending content has now been removed.
One of the streams in question was a rebroadcast of Trump’s infamous kickoff rally, where he said that Mexico was sending rapists to the United States. Twitch also flagged racist comments at Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa.
“Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules,” a Twitch spokesperson told The Verge. The statement was originally issued last year when Trump’s channel was launched.
The suspension arrives a week after Twitch swore it would crack down on harassment within the community following reports of assault and harassment from streamers. It’s a sign that Twitch may be starting to take moderating streams a lot more seriously.
The Verge: Reddit bans r/The_Donald and r/ChapoTrapHouse as part of a major expansion of its rules
By Casey Newton
Reddit will ban r/The_Donald, r/ChapoTrapHouse, and about 2,000 other communities today after updating its content policy to more explicitly ban hate speech. The policy update comes three weeks after Black Lives Matter protests led several popular Reddit forums to go dark temporarily in protest of what they called the company’s lax policies around hosting and promoting racist content. It marks a major reversal for a company whose commitment to free expression has historically been so strong that it once allowed users to distribute stolen nude photos freely on the site.
“I have to admit that I’ve struggled with balancing my values as an American, and around free speech and free expression, with my values and the company’s values around common human decency,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said in a call with reporters…
“Reddit’s mission is to bring community and belonging to everybody in the world, and there is speech in the world and on Reddit that prevents other people from doing so,” Huffman told reporters. “Harassing speech or hateful speech prevents people from coming to Reddit and feeling safe and sharing their vulnerabilities … So if we have speech on Reddit that’s preventing people from using Reddit the way that we intend it to be used, or that prevents us from achieving our mission, then it’s actually a very easy decision.” …
While Monday’s removals hit some high-profile political communities, Huffman said the company would continue to support a broad range of political speech.
“Political speech continues to be safe,” Huffman said. “But all communities, including our political communities, have to abide by our policies. And while we will do everything we can to help bring them in line, if they fail in doing so they are not allowed on Reddit.”
Wall Street Journal: Woke Capital Targets Free Speech
By The Editorial Board
Now large firms are joining a campaign to turn social media platforms into tools of political surveillance and enforcement against conservatives.
Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Verizon, North Face, Eddie Bauer and other major brands have paused Facebook advertising after left-wing activist groups claimed that it does not censor enough political speech. CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week promised further controls, including flagging posts by politicians. This predictably did nothing to satisfy the activists, who see the opportunity to expel more of their political enemies from the public square.
Facebook already takes down content promoting violence and has a broad definition of impermissible hate speech. Yet the coalition of left-wing groups urging the corporate boycott, “Stop Hate for Profit,” wants a progressive power-grab. It demands that Facebook “empower permanent civil rights infrastructure” to search for speech it deems biased…
The activists also want Facebook to use algorithms to more closely surveil “private groups” as well as remove any that focus on “climate denialism.” Watch out if you debate climate projections in what you thought was a private forum. They also want Facebook to fact-check speech by politicians, but don’t expect claims consistent with officially sanctioned social-justice ideology to face any scrutiny.
Techdirt: As Predicted: Parler Is Banning Users It Doesn’t Like
By Mike Masnick
Well, that did not take long at all. On Friday we predicted that just like every other social media platform out there, the new favorite among people who falsely say that Twitter is censoring conservatives, would start taking down content and shutting down accounts just like everyone else. Because, if you run any sort of platform that allows 3rd party speech, sooner or later you discover you have to do that. In Friday’s post, we highlighted Parler’s terms of service, which certainly allows for it to take down any content for any reason (we also mocked their “quick read on Wikipedia” style understanding of the 1st Amendment).
What we did not expect was that Parler would prove us right so damn quickly. Over the weekend, Parler was apparently busy taking down accounts…
There’s a lot more as well. Parler seems to be banning a bunch of people. And it has the right to do so. Which is great. But what’s not great is the site continues to pretend that it’s some “free speech alternative” to Twitter when it’s facing the same exact content moderation issues. And, yes, some people are claiming that Parler’s quick trigger finger is mostly about shutting down “left” leaning accounts, but as with Twitter’s content moderation, I won’t say that for sure unless I see some actual evidence to support it.
Candidates and Campaigns
Washington Free Beacon: Iowa Senate Candidate Takes Thousands From Corporate-Funded PACs
By Collin Anderson
Iowa Democratic Senate hopeful Theresa Greenfield has benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate special interest money even as she campaigns against the influence of money in politics.
The Iowa Democrat has accepted nearly $200,000 in campaign contributions from leadership PACs bankrolled by corporations. Greenfield received $30,000 from PACs affiliated with senators Gary Peters (D., Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.)-groups that have accepted more than $1 million in corporate PAC contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Those donations have helped Greenfield bombard Iowa’s airwaves with advertisements calling for campaign finance reform. Greenfield claimed in a June 19 ad that she does not take corporate PAC money, saying she does not “think politicians should put corporate interests ahead of you.”
In addition to leadership PAC money, Greenfield has benefited from millions in corporate PAC money through outside groups supporting her bid to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst (R.). Senate Majority PAC, a Chuck Schumer-aligned group backed by corporations and liberal billionaires, has spent nearly $7 million on ads supporting Greenfield.
The Hill: Steyer endorses Markey in Massachusetts Senate primary
By Julia Manchester
[F]ormer Democratic presidential contender Tom Steyer on Monday threw his support behind Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the incumbent’s Senate primary race against challenger Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.)…
The endorsement comes seven years after the Massachusetts senator denounced Steyer’s involvement in his first Senate bid, in 2013. Markey’s campaign argued at the time that Steyer’s plan to spend a significant amount of money in the primary to defeat Markey’s then-opponent, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), would violate Markey’s commitment to the People’s Pledge, which prevented him from accepting outside advertising…
Kennedy responded to Steyer’s endorsement on Monday by highlighting his own opposition to super PACs and calling on Markey to sign the People’s Pledge.
“I have made it clear that I want to run this race without Super PACs, without dark money, and focused solely on the issues and on the merits of our candidacies,” Kennedy said in a statement. “That’s why, so far, I have rejected Super PAC money on my behalf. From day one of the campaign, I have asked Senator Markey to sign the same pledge he signed seven years earlier. But Senator Markey — a so-called progressive champion — has refused and already allowed dark money to infiltrate this race.”
The States
By Michael Isaac Stein
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration is asking all city employees to sign a new policy memorandum that adds expectations and restrictions on employee social media use…
[T]he new memo also adds five new social media restrictions. Among them is a new rule stating that employees cannot “engage or respond to negative or disparaging posts about city departments, employees or policies.”…
The wording of the policy leaves some questions about what social media actions, exactly, would violate the policy, what kinds of social media posts might qualify as “negative or disparaging” and whether the implementation and enforcement of the policy could pose a potential violation to employees’ First Amendment rights to free speech.
Fox 2 Detroit: 2 Bloomfield Twp officials suing social media app Nextdoor
The neighborhood social media app Nextdoor is being sued by two Bloomfield Township officials.
The township supervisor and treasurer claim the site has become a platform of misinformation and bullying and is in turn causing the township to lose services.
It was during the height of the COVID-19 crisis that the two officials became concerned over what they say was false information posted on Nextdoor, which is a hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods.
“‘Bloomfield Township was completely closed and don’t expect to get any help from them,'” Leo Savoie, the Bloomfield Township supervisor, recalls from one of the posts. “That was completely untrue. … We opened up our emergency Operation Center, we had people going seven days a week. We are here for people.”
That information was posted by resident Val Murray, who also posted information on how to deal with COVID-19 from a medical viewpoint
“Those were things we found that were unacceptable,” said Savoie.
Maine Beacon: Lawmakers call to defund Maine’s secretive police intelligence agency
By Dan Neumann
Responding to a breach of the Maine Information and Analysis Center (MIAC) database that released the private information of Mainers as well as evidence of the secret police unit’s monitoring of recent racial justice protests, lawmakers and activists said it’s time to shut it down.
Last week, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck, who oversees MIAC, came before members of the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to answer questions about the secretive police intelligence agency, also referred to as a “fusion center.”
“I think we certainly need to have another hearing and have more questions answered,” state Sen. Shenna Bellows (D-Manchester) told Beacon late last week. As former director of the Maine ACLU, Bellows opposed the creation of MIAC in 2006 in the wake of 9/11.
“The documents that were released indicate that the fusion center is spending seemingly a substantial amount of time engaged in gathering information on law-abiding Mainers,” she said. “Law enforcement shouldn’t be wasting time spying on the citizenry engaged in First Amendment-protected activity.” …
“We look back at what the FBI did to Martin Luther King when they had him under surveillance through COINTELPRO,” said Bellows, referring to the FBI’s counterintelligence program which surveilled and attempted to discredit political organizations until the 1970s. “We feel disgust and repugnance at what was done to MLK. That’s exactly what the fusion center is doing to the Black Lives Matter protesters today, and it’s wrong.”
