California School Board Trustees Lose Suit Over Blocking Users on Social Media
The three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit argued that annoyance and concern that the couple's posts were distracting others and interfering with others commenting wasn’t corroborated by the facts.
Teacher Guide: Disinformation and the First Amendment
Disinformation is more pernicious and widespread today than at any other point in history, largely because of social media and the Internet. For instance, it is now widely known—and verified by the U.S. intelligence community—that Russians interfered with the 2016 presidential election.
Former President Trump Sued for Defamation Over Calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus”
On May 20th, Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition, a nonprofit organization, filed a defamation lawsuit against former President Trump both in his former official capacity and as a private citizen for his comments about COVID-19. The complaint includes a list of Trump’s allegedly defamatory statements, including tweets and campaign speeches in which Trump referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” “China virus,” “China plague,” and “kung flu.”
Are Defamation Lawsuits Being Used to Rein in Disinformation Spread by News Outlets?
Using defamation suits to combat misinformation has some free speech advocates uneasy, as the First Amendment provides broad protections for news organizations.
Dominion Employee Sues Trump Campaign and Others for Defamation
On December 22nd, Eric Coomer, the Director of Product Strategy and Security for Dominion Voting Systems, filed a suit against President Donald Trump’s campaign, podcast host Joseph Oltmann, Trump’s personal lawyers Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell, conservative news outlets One American News Network (OANN) and Newsmax, and others, for defamation and inflicting emotional distress.
Former Cybersecurity Official Christopher Krebs Sues Trump Campaign for Defamation
Christopher Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who was fired by President Donald Trump last month, is suing Trump, Trump lawyer Joseph diGenova, and Newsmax Media for defamation and the infliction of emotional distress.
Universities Halt Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs, Fearing Loss of Federal Funds
At least two universities have postponed activities that may violate the President Sept. 22 directive against "race and sex stereotyping." It's likely more will opt to cancel activities, rather than risk being cut off from federal funds.
Military Newspaper “Stars and Stripes” Threatened With Closure is Safe for Now
Hours after the story broke that the Pentagon was planning to close Stars and Stripes, Donald Trump tweeted that he would not allow the newspaper to get shut down. The tweet took some by surprise, not only because the President is not known for defending the press, but because it was his administration's 2021 budget that had cut the newspaper’s funding in half.