Free Speech Roundup: Week of Mar. 18th, 2018

snaves (39)in #freespeech • 6 years ago

Free Speech Roundup 031818

A summary of the top free speech related news and events from the past week. This week we have news on illegal jokes, a defamation lawsuit, a Supreme Court hearing, Trump's White House, and a newly passed bill.

Freedom of speech is the right from which all other human rights follow because it allows people to address grievances and protest for their other rights. It is therefore of the utmost importance to protect the right to express oneself freely from those who seek to restrict it.

Scottish Man Found Guilty of Hate Speech for Joke

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/16099568.Scots__Nazi_dog__film_maker_found_guilty_of__being_grossly_offensive_online/
Mark Meechan, aka Count Dankula on YouTube, was found guilty of posting a "grossly offensive" message online by Sheriff Derek O’Carroll. Meechan faced trial for a video he posted to YouTube in which he filmed his girlfriend’s pug raising its paw to phrases such as “Gas the Jews” and “Sieg Heil.” The video begins with him setting up the joke as trying to annoy his girlfriend by turning the pug into “the least cute thing I could think of which is a Nazi.” Despite the obvious comedic intent, the prosecution argued it was not intended to be a joke and the sheriff ruled it was “threatening and grossly offensive.” Sentencing was deferred to April. The ruling is a massive blow to free expression in the UK. As comedian Ricky Gervais commented about the case, “If you don't believe in a person's right to say things that you might find 'grossly offensive', then you don't believe in Freedom of Speech.”

Defamation Lawsuit for New Mexico Campaign Ad

https://www.abqjournal.com/1147411/defamation-case-tests-limits-of-free-speech.html
A defamation lawsuit over a campaign ad in New Mexico tests the limits of political speech. In the ad, Democrat Garrett VeneKlasen who is running for state Land Commissioner attacks current Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn. He says that Dunn negotiated a deal for a power line through his personal ranch “that’ll lead to a lot of money flowing his way.” However, the deal was already in place before Dunn owned the ranch or was Land Commissioner. Judge Matthew Reynolds agreed the ad’s claims are clearly false, but refused to halt its airing. Malicious intent must be proven and political speech enjoys greater protection under the law. Judge Reynolds noted the importance of protecting the First Amendment over the chilling of political speech.

Supreme Court Hears Anti-Abortion Center Case

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593675135/abortion-and-freedom-of-speech-a-volatile-mix-heads-to-the-supreme-court
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/us/politics/supreme-court-abortion-free-speech-crisis-pregnancy-centers.html
In the case of NIFLA v. Beccera, anti-abortion pregnancy centers are challenging California’s FACT Act. The law seeks to establish “truth in advertising” for such centers so women are not misled. It requires unlicensed centers to disclose they are not a licensed medical facility and licensed centers that don’t offer a full range of care to post information on free services offered by the state. NIFLA, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, is challenging the law on the grounds that it is compelled speech. In Tuesday’s hearing, justices expressed skepticism over aspects of the law. Justice Kennedy, for example, thought the law presented an “undue burden” in certain circumstances such as on billboards. Justice Kagan expressed concern that the law was “gerrymandered” to target only certain centers.

Trump Has White House Staff Sign NDA

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-nondisclosure-agreements-came-with-him-to-the-white-house/2018/03/18/226f4522-29ee-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html?utm_term=.5241e8ef6b5c
https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/employee-speech-and-whistleblowers/no-president-cant-legally-gag-white-house
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post reports that President Trump had senior members of his White House staff sign restrictive non-disclosure agreements. Trump wanted to clamp down on leaks by instituting major penalties. Under the NDA, staff members are on the hook for large fines to be paid to the federal government for any leak. It also extends beyond the terms of their service, keeping them in silence “at all times thereafter.” As private employees of the Trump campaign, such an NDA was legal, but it is unconstitutional for federal employees. According to Esha Bhandari of the ACLU, “Such a broad agreement is unenforceable because the First Amendment protects federal employees’ right to speak in a private capacity about matters of public concern.”

Online Sex-Trafficking Bill May Hurt Free Speech on the Internet

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/congress-oks-sex-trafficking-bill-that-critics-say-will-censor-the-internet/
Congress overwhelmingly passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) aimed at fighting online sex-trafficking. The bill updates Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act which protects websites from being liable for content posted by a third party. The update removes that protection for “websites that unlawfully promote and facilitate prostitution and websites that facilitate traffickers in advertising the sale of unlawful sex acts with sex-trafficking victims.” Critics are concerned that the broad wording of the bill could expose site owners who are unaware of trafficking activity to liability. Platforms are likely to self-censor by imposing more restrictive terms of service or implementing broader automated filters.

What do you think about these stories? Leave a comment below!

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