FCC Should Approve ABC’s Petition and Protect Political Speech
Plus online safety, AI, and more…
FCC: Berin and Ari filed comments urging the FCC to grant ABC’s petition, declare that The View qualifies as a bona fide news interview program, and rescind a notice issued in January that shatters 40+ years of deference to broadcasters’ and talk shows’ editorial judgments. The Commission should stop chilling political speech by pressuring broadcasters over interviews with political candidates it does not favor. Our comments explain why this jawboning campaign is wildly unconstitutional.
Online Safety: Andy was joined by thirteen scholars of youth mental health and technology in an amicus brief urging the Fifth Circuit to affirm a district court order blocking Texas’s App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420). Our brief explains why the law cannot be justified by speculative claims of harm to minors.
Online Defamation: Ari and Bilal filed an amicus brief in Banks v. Hoffman, making what should be a common sense argument: online speakers shouldn’t face defamation lawsuits for linking to allegedly libelous content, and certainly not for linking to a site that links to the defamatory material.
AI: In WLF Legal Pulse, Andy argues that a patchwork of state AI laws is unsustainable and that Congress should create a uniform national framework. However, bipartisan compromise will be needed, and states will likely continue shaping AI regulation in the near term.
Free Speech: On a new Tech Policy Podcast, we say our tearful goodbye to Corbin as host. To mark the occasion, he and new host Ari go on one final super rant about the state of social media and AI regulation.
First Amendment: Techdirt quoted Ari’s critique that Illinois’s social media tax is unconstitutional, highlighting how state officials’ own statements indicate that the tax targets social media companies for their editorial choices in violation of the First Amendment.
FTC: Berin was also quoted in Techdirt, explaining why the FTC’s lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (“WPATH”) is likely to be dismissed before a court even reaches the obvious First Amendment issues, because the FTC Act applies only to commerce.
