Supreme Court to Decide Whether State Laws Limiting Social Platforms Violate Constitution
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X and other social media platforms violate the Constitution.
Fifth Circuit to Decide if Texas Citizen Journalist’s Arrest Violated the First Amendment
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments en banc Jan. 25 in the case of a Texas citizen journalist who was arrested for asking a police officer a question.
Alex Jones Files for Personal Bankruptcy, Owes $1.5 Billion in Sandy Hook Trial Damages
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy Dec. 2, citing the $1.5 billion in damages he owes to nine families who lost their children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
A Social Media Censorship Law is Upheld in Texas, Lyrissa Lidsky Weighs In
First Amendment lawyer Lyrissa Lidsky weighs in on a recently upheld social media censorship law in Texas that would bar platforms with more than 50 million users from removing content with political viewpoints. A different circuit court in Florida filed a preliminary injunction against a similar law. Since both federal appeals courts disagreed, only the Supreme Court can decide if the platforms have a First Amendment right to censor, or if they don’t.
Constituents Sue Texas Attorney General For Blocking Them on Twitter
Filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin Division on April 8th, the complaint argues that because the Attorney General uses @KenPaxtonTX for “official purposes,” his account is a public forum and blocking users based on their viewpoint is a violation of the First Amendment.
Twitter Sues Texas Attorney General For Violating Company’s First Amendment Rights
The lawsuit claims Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used his official position to retaliate against the company by issuing a civil investigative demand (CID) seeking documents related to the company’s content moderation policies. Twitter’s lawyers said that Paxton’s actions infringed on the company’s First Amendment right to “make decisions about what content to disseminate through its platform.”
Texas Supreme Court Says Defamation Suits Against Alex Jones Can Continue
On January 22nd, the Texas Supreme Court rejected conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ request to toss four defamation lawsuits filed by parents whose children died in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The suits claim that Jones' statements calling the mass shooting a “giant hoax,” and accusing the parents of faking their children’s death were defamatory and caused the families emotional distress.
Texas Governor Says Teacher Who Showed Cartoon Comparing Police to KKK Should Be Fired
The cartoon is made up of five panels and starts with an image of a slave ship owner kneeling on a Black man's neck, and ends with a police officer kneeling on a Black man while he says "I can't breathe."