MCViewPoint

Opinion from a Libertarian ViewPoint

Posts Tagged ‘Rob Bonta’

Are You in an Anti-Free Speech State? We Now Have The Definitive List

Posted by M. C. on January 2, 2024

By Jonathan Turley
JonathanTurley.org

For years, we have discussed the alarming shift in the Democratic party on free speech with candidates running on pledges to censor opposing views and politicians supporting blacklisting and censorship on social media. Many citizens oppose such efforts to restrict their rights under the First Amendment, but are unaware of the work of their representatives to limit free speech. Now, a filing in the Supreme Court supporting censorship efforts by the Biden Administration has supplied a handy list of the anti-free speech states for citizens.

The 5th Circuit previously ruled in Missouri v. Biden that administration officials “likely violated” the First Amendment and issued a preliminary injunction banning the government from communicating with social media companies to limit speech.

Not surprisingly, the state of California is leading the effort to get the Supreme Court to reverse a decision enjoining the government from censorship efforts. California has long sought to impose speech limits on doctors, businesses, and citizens to silence opposing viewpoints.

However,  23 Democrat-led states joined this ignoble effort in signing on to the brief of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.  The brief lauds past efforts of these states to combat “harmful content” on the Internet and to protect the public from “misleading information” through partnerships with social media companies.

So here is the list to see if you are residing in an anti-free speech state:

Arizona

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Hawaii

Illinois

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico,

New York

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington

Wisconsin

District of Columbia

Here is the brief: Amicus Brief for NY et al in Support of Petitioners

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Dailywire Article-Babylon Bee, Tim Pool File Lawsuit Against California Attorney General Over New Social Media Law

Posted by M. C. on April 13, 2023

https://www.dailywire.com/news/babylon-bee-ceo-tim-pool-file-lawsuit-against-california-attorney-general-over-new-social-media-law

By  Brandon Drey

Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said Wednesday that the satire outlet, podcaster Tim Pool, and Minds, Inc. filed a lawsuit against California’s attorney general, alleging a new law regulating social media companies violates the First Amendment.

In a Substack post, Dillon wrote that the plaintiffs filed the complaint against California attorney general Rob Bonta to stop state officials from enforcing AB 587, a new law that took effect this year that requires social media companies to file quarterly reports detailing content moderation policies with the Attorney General’s Office.

Such content moderation policies include several speech categories the state could label as misinformation/disinformation, extremism/radicalization, and hate speech. Failing to file reports could lead to the state imposing fines for non-compliance.

According to the lawsuit, AB 587 was “written with the express intent to discourage expression” of constitutionally protected viewpoints and failed the vagueness doctrine of the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires criminal laws to state explicitly and definitely what conduct is punishable.

See the rest here

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