August 2024 Round-Up

Free Speech On Social Media – The Complete Guide
The First Amendment protects speech from government censorship. But what about free speech on social media? Social media platforms are private companies and are not bound by the First Amendment. In fact, they have their own First Amendment rights. This means they can moderate the content people post on their websites without violating those users’ First Amendment rights. It also means that the government cannot tell social media sites how to moderate content. Many state laws to regulate how social media companies can moderate content have failed on First Amendment grounds.  Read more here.

• Important Exception - Social media platforms can become First Amendment space if they act as agents of the government and censor information as the government directs.  This is called the ‘state actor’ doctrine.  Unfortunately, the Supreme Court turned away a challenge this year on technical grounds from two state attorneys’ general and other plaintiffs who demonstrated that 80 federal government agencies coordinated with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, the disturbing truth about COVID vaccines, and other truthful information the American people were entitled to have.  It is a clear and continuing case of social media platforms who have become ‘state actors’ to do the government’s censorship dirty work the government knows it could not do itself under the First Amendment. 
  

A Free Speech Firestorm – Liberty Nation Radio
Can the First Amendment weather the tide of censorship?  A recent edition of Liberty Nation Radio examined the threats to free speech in the U.S. and abroad.  Listen here.

Venezuela Just Proved Why Gun Rights Matter
As Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “[W]hat country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms…” If Venezuela has taught us anything, it is that the people’s right to bear arms will save our Republic, not destroy it. Let’s take heed of this warning, and remind the naïve among us who are flirting with socialist ideas that you can’t vote your way out of a dictatorship.  Read more here.

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Injunctions Blocking Biden’s Pro-transgender Title IX Rewrite
The new “Biden Rule,” released in April, added gender identity to Title IX, thus allowing female-identifying men into women’s bathrooms and requiring others to address them with their preferred pronouns — alongside other provisions unrelated to transgender issues.  The SCOTUS ruled unanimously in favor of the injunctions in 10 states blocking the new rule.  Read more here.

U.S. Appeals Court Rules Geofence Warrants Are Unconstitutional
A federal appeals court has ruled that geofence warrants are unconstitutional, a decision that will limit the use of the controversial search warrants across several U.S. states.  It found that geofence warrants are “categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment,” which protects against unwarranted searches and seizures.  Read more here. 

Judges, Not Bureaucrats, Interpret the Law
The separation of powers works only if the branches actually stay in their own lanes. The Supreme Court’s June 28th decision ending Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo was a big step toward making that happen.  Read more here.