The Supreme Court Should Reject Clandestine Government Censorship of Online Speech
The Biden administration’s social media meddling went far beyond "information" and "advice."
Censorship
'Hamstringing the Government': A Viral Narrative Distorts Ketanji Brown Jackson's Understanding of Free Speech
If partisans have one thing in common, it's confirmation bias.
Supreme Court Says Officials Who Block Critics on Social Media Might Be Violating the First Amendment
The justices established guidelines for determining whether that is true in any particular case.
SCOTUS Ponders Whether the Biden Administration Coerced Social Media Platforms To Censor Speech
Several justices seemed concerned that an injunction would interfere with constitutionally permissible contacts.
The CCP Sucks. So Does Banning TikTok.
Plus: A listener asks about Republicans and Democrats monopolizing political power in the United States.
The New York Times Again Worries That Free Speech Endangers Democracy
The newspaper portrays the constitutional challenge to the government's social media meddling as a conspiracy by Donald Trump's supporters.
Banning TikTok Would Give the Feds Way Too Much Power
"It's a disturbing gift of unprecedented authority to President Biden and the Surveillance State," said Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.).
TikTok's Opponents Want Chinese-style Censorship in America
Instead of freeing Americans from censorship, the TikTok bill would tighten the U.S. government's control over social media.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Your Local DMV May Have No Sense of Humor
Censorship of 2,872 Pennsylvania license plates raises free speech questions.
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Gut Restrictive Social Media Laws
The First Amendment restricts governments, not private platforms, and respects editorial rights.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
States Try To Strip Sex From Literature in Libraries, Schools
These aren't outright bans. But they still can chill free speech and academic freedom.
Shoshana Weissmann: Online Age Verification Rules Are Unconstitutional and Ineffective
"None of these laws prevent kids from viewing anything. They just prevent kids from posting," argues Shoshana Weissmann.
Was Amazon 'Free to Ignore' White House Demands That It Suppress Anti-Vaccine Books?
The Biden administration's interference with bookselling harks back to a 1963 Supreme Court case involving literature that Rhode Island deemed dangerous.
A Constitutionally Dubious California Bill Would Ban Possession of AI-Generated Child Pornography
The proposal seems to conflict with a Supreme Court ruling against laws that criminalize mere possession of obscene material.
Democratic Attorneys General Support Censorship
In an amicus brief filed in Murthy v. Missouri, they ignore basic tenets of First Amendment law in order to quash online speech they don't like.
James Kirchick: 'Abolish Speech Codes Entirely'
How identity politics and institutional cowardice have undermined the free speech on which our society relies.
Hong Kong Police Targeting Overseas Activists and Speech
Police have set bounties on 13 activists, some living in the U.S.
A Bad Year for Drag Queen Foes
New anti-drag laws were deemed unconstitutional in every state where they were challenged this year.
Social Media Censorship and The First Amendment
Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya debates St. John University's Kate Klonick on the federal government's role in social media censorship.
Social Media Censorship: Jay Bhattacharya vs. Kate Klonick
Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya debates St. John University's Kate Klonick on the federal government's role in social media censorship.
Infographic: Florida's Public School Book Bans
The Bluest Eyes and 13 Reasons Why top the list of controversial books in Florida.
Georgia Judge Issues Potentially Unconstitutional Gag Order in 'Cop City' Trial
The trial of the first of 61 defendants starts today, but the judge has seemingly forbidden any of the defendants or their attorneys from discussing the case.
He Wants To Label Food 'Low FODMAP.' The Government Won't Let Him.
Lots of Americans have an intolerance to FODMAPs—the sugars prevalent in garlic, onion, and many other foods.
Trump Gag Order Raises Unsettled Constitutional Questions
A D.C. Circuit judge says the government’s defense of the order gives short shrift to "the First Amendment’s vigorous protection of political speech."
Free Speech Advocates Are Often Hypocrites. This Doesn't Make the Cause Less Important.
When people from historically privileged groups are facing censorship, that doesn't mean people in historically marginalized groups are actually being empowered.
How The Simpsons Strangled Itself Into Irrelevance
The once-subversive show now traffics in the clichés it used to mock so effectively.
Salman Rushdie: 'Literature Is Powerful, Writers Are Fragile'
"If we can't trust ourselves as a culture to accommodate ideas we don't like," the novelist said at the Library of Congress, "then our ideas lose their value as well, because they become authoritarian."
'A Tyranny of the Minority': Why This College Dropout Wants To Cancel Cancel Culture
"Being a true free speech champion does require that you defend speech that even you disagree with," says libertarian Rikki Schlott.
These Public Officials Blocked Critics on Social Media. Was That Constitutional?
The Supreme Court considers whether and when banishing irksome constituents violates the First Amendment.
The Bipartisan Urge To Control Online Speech
Democrats and Republicans are united in thinking their political agendas trump the First Amendment.
SCOTUS Will Decide When the Government's Social Media Meddling Violates the First Amendment
The justices agreed to consider whether the Biden administration's efforts to suppress online "misinformation" were unconstitutional.
The Latest Trump Gag Order Is Relatively Narrow but Still Raises Constitutional Questions
A federal judge barred the former president from "publicly targeting" witnesses, prosecutors, or court personnel.
Supreme Court Will Hear This Texas Woman's Challenge to a Politically Motivated Arrest
Sylvia Gonzalez, an anti-establishment politician, spent a day in jail for allegedly concealing a petition that she organized.
California Quietly Repeals Restrictions on Doctors' COVID-19 Advice
Several federal judges had expressed skepticism about the constitutionality of penalizing physicians for departing from a government-defined "consensus."
Court Denies Preliminary Injunction in Case Alleging Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment of Doctoral Student
"Plaintiff cannot likely show that her rejection of Dr Greeson's alleged conduct was the basis for her asserted adverse educational action (i.e., failure of the Qualifying Exam)—Plaintiff appears to have failed the Qualifying Exam every which way."
Federal Prison Censors Reason Issue About How Federal Prison Employed Serial Rapists
The issue was rejected because it "jeopardizes the good order and security of the institution."
Aella: Is Porn Too Pervasive?
The former OnlyFans star and outspoken libertarian defender of sex workers considers the acceleration of government crackdowns on online porn, the sexual revolution, and sex work.
Is There Too Much Porn?
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook at 1 p.m. Eastern this Thursday for a discussion with Aella about the escalating government crackdown on online porn, the sexual revolution, and sex work.
Defenders of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws Contradict Themselves
If Facebook et al. are pushing a "radical leftist narrative," why don’t they have a constitutional right to do that?
New Net Neutrality Rules Could Threaten Popular Services
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has initiated a new rulemaking that would enact what are largely the same net neutrality rules tried back in 2016.
Bahrain's Dictatorship Gets More Biden Administration Help
The U.S.-Bahraini security pact is the first step towards a future U.S.-Saudi “mega-deal.” Critics say it violates the U.S. Constitution and aids torturers.
A Former Twitter Executive's Highly Selective Concern About 'Coercive Influences' on Social Media
Yoel Roth worries about government meddling in content moderation, except when Democrats target "misinformation."