Need some space? đȘ
So did the Senate. Plus, we got quoted on antitrust and cited on 1A and Section 230 matters.
Europeâs national borders arenât as clean as they might seem. Our Dear Leader, Berin, has just returned from two weeks criss-crossing southern France, and spent some time exploring the countryâs beautiful territorial anomalies. Sounds like a great way to experience Spanish culture without having to buy a train ticket to Spain, or â heaven forbid â flying RyanAir!
The Spanish exclave of LlĂvia is tucked inside France among the Pyrenees. LlĂvia's strange isolation is the result of how France and Spain resolved the Thirty Years War in 1659. After Spain promised 33 villages to France, Spain argued that LlĂvia was exempt, since it was technically a âtown,â not a village. As Justice Scalia said, âthe text is the law!â Much as this might sound like a Model UN maneuver, it worked: LlĂvia remains Spanish today. It may be small, but it boasts excellent restaurants, hiking trails, and a charming, if quiet, medieval center.
Geography buffs might also know about Pheasant Island. The uninhabited isle just upstream from the Bay of Biscay alternates between French and Spanish ownership every six months. If only all international territorial disputes could boil down to âwhat if we just shared?â! Fun fact: this is also the site where all Franco-Spanish treaties are signed, including, you guessed it, the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees.Â
Note: many of the islandâs reviews on Google Maps involve complaints about the border shift not being marked in a timely manner. Blame Section 230, right?
Outer Space. We sent a letter to the Senate Space subcommittee in advance of their hearing yesterday, entitled âSpace Situational Awareness, Space Traffic Management, and Orbital Debris: Examining Solutions for Emerging Threats.â We included Jimâs excellent op-ed in SpaceNews to highlight the âloopholeâ in U.S. regulation that allows companies to get a âflag of convenienceâ satellite license from a foreign country. As it stands now, such a company could then seek a âmarket accessâ order from the FCC, bypassing critical license review procedures. Worse, if the foreign licensing country hasnât signed the key international space agreements, that leaves no country (except possibly the United States) internationally responsible for accidents the satellites cause.
Antitrust. Corbin was interviewed for a Kansas City Star piece on Bidenâs recent antitrust executive order. âThe information ecosystem we live in is not going to be controlled from the top,â Corbin said, in the quote that closes the article. âIt evolves so much faster than people in Washington can understand or predict.â (If youâd rather read the article en Español, The Chicago Tribune has got you covered.)
Misinformation & the First Amendment. In his latest New York Times op-ed, Farhad Manjoo criticized President Biden for demanding that Facebook take down misinformation about COVID vaccines â and cited us. âBiden fed into the bogus right-wing notion that Facebook and other social media giants now operate as media arms of the Democratic Party,â wrote Manjoo, âa belief that will only undermine whatever greater action against vaccine nonsense that the companies might take.â These companies have First Amendment rights to refuse to carry content they find objectionable, he noted, citing Berin and Ariâs February essay in Lawfare that rebutted MAGA arguments that social media could be compelled to carry misinformation, hate speech, etc. Bidenâs comments will only add fuel to the fire of MAGA claims that social media platforms are state actors (theyâre not).
Section 230. We got a shout-out from the Eleventh Circuit in an order affirming the dismissal of James Domenâs lawsuit against Vimeo for suspending his account. The appeals court cited to the book chapter we wrote last year explaining why Section 230, for the most part, does not bar competition suits against websites â provided theyâre actually based on economic conduct, rather than editorial judgments.