This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 ABC Enlists Audience in Battle With FCC

— 🇵🇰 Pakistani Activist Sentenced to Life for ‘Provactive Speech’

— 🇮🇳 Telegram Sues Over India Block

— 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Parliament Restricts Press Access to Legislature

—📱Texas Urges Supreme Court Against Halting Age-Verification Bill

First of All 🇺🇸

» ABC Enlists Audience in Fight Against FCC Licensing Review

• Disney’s local ABC stations aired messages notifying viewers of its ongoing battle with the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission over the commission’s early review of their broadcast licenses, which asked them to submit public comments in support.

• ABC vs. FCC:

  • The move comes after the FCC ordered an early license review of ABC-owned television stations in April, a day after Trump pressured the network to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a controversial monologue, as detailed in a previous Free Flow.

  • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr insists that the early-renewal order is the result of a separate investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at Disney, ABC’s parent company.

• Details:

  • The ads urge viewers to contact the FCC by scanning a QR code linking to the agency’s public comment page and align with the FCC’s public comment period to demand that Disney reapply early for its stations’ license renewals.

  • The public comment period will precede any court battles between Disney and the FCC, and while the actions involving The View and the local stations are separate proceedings, the company has said they involve the same free speech principle.

» Thousands of Americans Submit Comments to FCC on ‘Equal Time’ Rule Inquiry into The View

• Over 40,000 public comments have been submitted to the FCC over its inquiry into whether The View should be exempt from the agency’s “equal-time” rule, which requires broadcast stations to provide equal airtime to all legally qualified candidates in a particular race.

• Background:

  • In February, the FCC accused ABC’s The View of violating the equal time rule over Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance on the show.

  • The agency opened a request for comment in May on whether the show is a “bona fide news interview program” and is exempt from the rule.

  • ABC also sent a legal letter accusing the Federal Communications Commission of attempting to threaten broadcasters and limit political discourse, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

Our Take: We, alongside the ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology, and National Coalition Against Censorship, submitted a public comment to the FCC urging it to reaffirm that The View qualifies as a bona fide news program.

“The First Amendment does not permit the government to decide which interview programs qualify as legitimate journalism based on their viewpoints or perceived political leanings,” said Ashkhen Kazaryan, the lead author of the filing. “For 40 years, the FCC has deferred to broadcasters’ good-faith news judgments. Abandoning that principle now would chill political coverage and invite government scrutiny of editorial decisions that the Constitution places beyond the government’s authority.”

» Texas ICE Protesters Sentenced to At Least 50 Years Imprisonment on Terrorism Charges

• A group of protesters has been convicted of terrorism charges and received sentences of at least 50 years in prison over a July 4 protest at the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Alvarado, Texas.

• The Protest:

  • The demonstrators planned to set off fireworks outside the facility for detainees to hear, as an expression of solidarity.

  • A few protesters separated from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed tires on a government van, and broke a security camera.

  • The incident comes after the Trump administration designated “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization in a September executive order and assigned federal agencies to “investigate,” prosecute, and “disrupt” protesters engaging in “anti-capitalism,” “anti-fascism,” and “anti-Americanism” in a memo days later.

• In Court:

  • The defendants denied ties to antifa, short for “anti-fascist.”

  • Prosecutors also focused on the cache of guns that several defendants owned and brought to the protest, though all the firearms were legally purchased, and only one person, Benjamin Song, fired a weapon, hitting an officer in the shoulder. He was sentenced to 100 years.

  • 6 protesters were convicted of riot, providing material support to terrorists, and explosive charges, with 5 sentenced to 50 years in prison and one sentenced to 70 years, with an additional conviction of corruptly concealing a document or record.

  • Several of the defendants, including Elizabeth Soto and her husband, Ines Soto, were not involved in the group that planned to bring firearms; they arrived separately at the protest and left the grounds when facility guards asked. Soto was among those sentenced to 50 years.

» Former Employee Sues EPA for Firing Over Petition Signature

• Elin Warn Betanzo, a former employee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has filed a lawsuit against the agency, alleging she was fired for signing a petition critical of the Trump administration’s environmental policies.

• Details:

  • Warn Betanzo, a drinking water expert who played a significant role in exposing the Flint water crisis, joined hundreds of EPA employees in July 2025 to sign the “EPA Declaration of Dissent,” a petition to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin criticizing recent agency policies.

  • The petition also alleged that the recent policies undermined the EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment.

  • Two days later, she and 144 other signatories were suspended despite warnings from the EPA’s own lawyers that retaliation over the petition would likely violate the First Amendment.

  • Betanzo was the only member removed from the council before the end of her term, a move the agency had not done since at least 2000.

  • The agency said it had a “zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda.”

  • Her lawsuit accuses the EPA of violating the First Amendment and Whistleblower Protection Act, among other violations, and asks a judge to reinstate her to the advisory council, clear any disciplinary records related to the petition, award lost pay and damages, and block enforcement of the agency’s “zero tolerance” policy against speech.

» Judge Frees Jordanian National from ICE Custody Amid Political Speech Retaliation Claims

• Salah Sarsour, a Jordanian national and lawful permanent resident, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after a federal judge found that the evidence supported a reasonable inference that his detention was, at least in part, motivated by his political speech.

• Context:

  • Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was arrested on March 30 outside his home.

  • An April 2 statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that he had previously been convicted in an Israeli military court for attempting to illegally possess weapons and ammunition and for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of members of Israel’s armed forces.

  • DHS also claimed he made false statements during the immigration process and had ties to terrorist organizations.

  • Although the DHS argues his original visa application was denied because of his prior convictions, Sarsour entered the U.S. in 1993 and became a lawful permanent resident 5 years later.

• In Court:

  • U.S. District Judge James Hanlon concluded that Sarsour presented evidence that supported a reasonable inference that his pro-Palestine advocacy was “at least a motivating factor” in his detention.

  • The ruling does not resolve Sarsour’s immigration case or whether he will be deported, but it releases him from custody while his First Amendment case against the government is litigated in court.

  • Hanlon noted that authorities had known about Sarsour’s Israeli convictions for decades and had reviewed them while allowing Sarsour to maintain his resident status after more than 30 years in the U.S.

  • The judge noted that while the government argued that foreign policy concerns justified the detention, those interests do not forego First Amendment protections.

The Digital Age 🤖

» Telegram Challenges Block in India

• Telegram, a messaging app, has sued Indian authorities over an order blocking its use until June 22 to prevent exam fraud.

• Details:

  • The order, which took effect on June 16, was a response to Telegram channels claiming to have exam copies of a national medical entrance test that was canceled last month.

  • The test was canceled despite millions having sat for the exam due to allegations of leaked papers.

  • Telegram’s court filing to the Delhi High Court argued that the order was issued “on the impermissible premise that misuse by a subset of users justifies blocking of an entire platform,” citing constitutional and access-to-information concerns.

  • The restriction was issued under a provision in India’s IT law that allows the government to block access to internet apps in the “interest of sovereignty and integrity of India.”

  • India’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the government would counter Telegram’s position in court and that it has repeatedly asked the platform to fix its systems.

» Texas Urges Supreme Court Against Halting Age-Verification Bill

• Texas officials have urged the Supreme Court to deny emergency petitions seeking to stop the state’s law requiring app stores to verify users’ ages.

• Details:

  • The emergency petitions were filed by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a student advocacy organization, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a tech trade association.

  • They aim to halt the Texas App Store Accountability Act, which would require app stores to verify all users’ ages and require parental permission for minors under 18 to download apps or make in-app purchases.

  • In its emergency application, SEAT argued that the law lets government officials regulate online speech under the guise of stopping children from accessing harmful content, and restricts minors’ access to news, community forums, and creative expression platforms.

  • In a separate emergency appeal, the CCIA warned, “Under SB2420, before a Texan may download the Wall Street Journal— or even a weather app or calculator — he must first verify his age.”

  • “And any Texan under 18 must link his account to a verified parent’s account (another verification hurdle) and obtain express parental consent for any app download or any in-app purchase — every audiobook, every movie, and so on—without any possibility of blanket consent,” the CCIA added.

  • A lower court had found that, because the state could not show a compelling interest in restricting every category of speech covered by the act or adequately connect its goals to the law’s mandates, it failed strict scrutiny.

  • The lower court enjoined the law enforcement before the Fifth Circuit paused the injunction, ruling that the law regulates commercial activity and not speech.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» Scotland’s Parliament Announces Building Restrictions for Reporters

• Scottish officials have designated an area in the Parliament where journalists must remain after First Minister’s Questions (FMQs), restricting access to public spaces where they previously questioned politicians.

• Details:

  • Journalists generally had broad access to the outside of chambers, where they could question or “doorstep” politicians following debates, major announcements, or FMQs.

  • Now, the media’s movement is restricted to the designated area after FMQs.

  • The parliamentary bureau said it had made the decision “following feedback from a range of building users and discussions with all parties.”

  • The Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association (SPJA) said that the change “represents a significant departure from established parliamentary practice.”

  • “It creates a physical and symbolic barrier between elected representatives and those tasked with holding them to account,” the SPJA added.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Australia’s Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Adopts IHRA Definition of Antisemitism

• The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the country’s regulator of health professionals, has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which critics argue blurs the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel.

• Details:

  • The definition will be used in the agency’s regulatory work, including investigations of complaints lodged against registered health professionals.

  • The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) argued APHRA’s decision risked silencing political expression about Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon, citing testimony from healthcare workers since October 2023 that revealed “fear of professional consequences for speaking publicly about Gaza and Palestine.”

  • APHRA Chief Executive Justin Untersteiner said the agency is aware of the potential “weaponization of the notifications process” and will view notifications with a framework.

  • It will also establish an advisory panel of practitioners to improve the process and “strengthen safeguards.”

» Pakistani Activists Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Over ‘Provocative Speech’

• Mahrang Baloch, an activist who has spent years campaigning against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, a Pakistani province, has been sentenced to life in prison over accusations of inciting a mob that fatally attacked a paramilitary soldier.

• Details:

  • Baloch began campaigning after her father was allegedly taken by security service officers in 2009 and found dead two years later. She leads an organization called the Balochistan Unity Committee (BYC).

  • She was convicted of murder and terrorism alongside Sibghatullah, a fellow activist, after prosecutors claimed the pair had incited a mob at a 2024 protest in Gwadar.

  • 30-40 people struck one of the soldiers’ vehicles with sticks and stones, according to a security official, who said Baloch had given a “very provocative speech.”

  • The official added that paramilitary soldier Shabbir Ahmed was beaten to death after he was separated from the other soldiers.

  • An anti-terrorism court in Quetta sentenced the pair to life imprisonment and ordered they pay a fine of 200,000 rupees ($719) to Ahmed’s heirs.

» Bangladesh Journalists Charged Over Reporting on State Minister

• Six journalists in Bangladesh have been charged, and one has been jailed over their reporting about the State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives, Mir Shahe Alam..

• Details:

  • The complaint, filed by Bogura Press Club Treasurer Tanvir Alam Rimon, accuses journalists, all employees of the Daily Agrajatra Pratidin, of false and defamatory reporting.

  • The complaint also accused the paper’s acting editor, who was jailed, Md. Rezanur Islam, of trying to extort 2 million taka ($16,400) from Rimon and Alam.

  • Islam was arrested on June 18, while efforts to arrest the other journalists remain ongoing, according to police.

  • The State Minister Alam has expressed regret over the arrest and urged others not to pursue action on his behalf.

» Turkey Reverses Order to Shut Down Private University

• Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has reversed his decision to close Bilgi University, a private foundation university, following backlash from students and faculty.

• Details:

  • On May 22, Erdogan ordered the university’s closure under a law that allows for private institutions to be closed if “the expected level of education and training… is insufficient.”

  • Students stayed overnight to protest the closure, and the number of demonstrators reached the hundreds before the order was reversed.

• Context:

  • In September 2025, the state seized Can Holding, the university’s corporate owner, in a criminal investigation into alleged fraud and money laundering, and placed the conglomerate’s companies under the management of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund.

  • 10 detention orders were also issued, three of which included Bigli principals.

  • According to Yaman Akdeniz, a professor at the university’s Faculty of Law, no one had heard about Can Holding when it took over the university. “We knew that they were close to the government; they owned many things, and they didn’t interfere with academia.”

  • Akdeniz added that there is no indictment for the alleged crimes yet, and that “Unofficially, some say this is a way to pressure the family into selling the university.”

  • Although Erdogan has reversed his order, Akdeniz notes that he doesn’t expect many students and or their families to choose to attend the university next year, and that could mean it has only a few years left.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Audrey Campbell is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and an international relations major at American University.

Isabella Dail is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a recent graduate from Princeton University with a bachelor’s in philosophy.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 Anthropic Pulls Plug on New AI Models after U.S. Order

— 🇨🇦 Canada Proposes Ban on Social Media for Under-16s

— 🇬🇧 UK Proposes Social Media Ban for Under-16s

— 🇮🇳 Mumbai Mayor Calls for Ban on Stand-Up Comedy

— 🇷🇺 Exiled Russian Artist Killed in Poland in Suspected Execution

First of All 🇺🇸

» FTC Sues Transgender Health Group for ‘Deceptive Claims’ on Youth Gender Medicine

• The Federal Trade Commission and four states have filed a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) over making “deceptive claims” in its health care guidelines for transgender children.

• Details:

  • WPATH is a nonprofit professional and educational organization whose members include psychiatrists, surgeons, pediatricians, endocrinologists, and primary care doctors. The organization does not provide direct medical care to patients.

  • “The FTC filed a lawsuit against WPATH alleging that the organization made false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the necessity, effectiveness and safety of puberty blockers, hormones and sex-change surgeries,” FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a press release.

  • In a statement, WPATH said, “The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is not a medical provider and has no place interfering with the process of individualized medical decision-making.”

  • The suit comes after the FTC probed WPATH and other physician organizations that created guidelines for gender-affirming care earlier this year.

  • WPATH, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society sued the agency separately, arguing the probe was retaliatory. A federal judge ruled in their favor.

  • WPATH noted in its statement that a federal court has already ruled against this effort from the FTC when it blocked the investigation: “WPATH is in a strong position to prove that the FTC is acting out of pure retaliation as part of the federal government’s relentless and targeted campaign to undermine gender-affirming care by attacking the First Amendment rights and the independence of professional medical organizations.”

» Anthropic Pulls Plug on Top AI Models after US Order to Limit Foreign Nationals’ Use

• Anthropic has announced it will “abruptly disable” its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for all users, following a directive from the Trump administration to suspend access to the models for foreign nationals, claiming the order violates principles of fair and fact-based regulation.

• Context:

  • Earlier last week, Anthropic unveiled Claude Fable 5, which has a new tier of capability it calls “Mythos-class” that experts claim could accelerate sophisticated cyberattacks if in the wrong hands.

  • Anthropic claims it worked with the U.S. government, among others, on safety ahead of the model’s launch, and that rival models demonstrated similar capabilities.

  • Yet, on June 12, the company said it had received an export control directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all foreign nationals due to national security concerns, though specific details were not provided.

• Anthropic’s Response:

  • Anthropic claims the directive stems from the government’s belief that there is a method to bypass, or “jailbreak,” a safeguard that prevents Fable 5 from being used to identify software vulnerabilities and unearth minor bugs in code.

  • However, it argues that the U.S. has provided only “verbal evidence of a potential narrow, non-universal, jailbreak,” and that that should not “be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people.”

  • In response, the company announced it must terminate all customers’ access to the models to ensure compliance, and that it is working to restore access as soon as possible amid what it believes is a “misunderstanding.”

• The tension follows an earlier battle between the AI company and the government after Anthropic refused to allow the U.S. military to use its models for domestic surveillance and for fully autonomous weapons systems, as detailed in a previous Free Flow.

Our Take: “Software and the publication of model components are expression,” Ashkhen Kazaryan argued in an X thread. “When the state restricts a general purpose information tool by invoking national security without particular demonstrated harm, it is doing exactly what the First Amendment exists to stop — a prior restraint on expression justified by speculative risk.

» Supreme Court Declines High School Student’s ‘Defund Planned Parenthood’ Poster Case

• On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a free-speech appeal from a former Indiana high school student who was barred from hanging anti-abortion club flyers reading “Defund Planned Parenthood” on school walls, leaving in place a lower-court ruling that the school could restrict the content.

• Details:

  • The case began in 2021, when a freshman identified as E.D. founded a chapter of Students for Life of America at Noblesville High School.

  • An assistant principal refused to approve two proposed meeting flyers featuring the phrases “Defund Planned Parenthood” and “I am the Pro-Life Generation,” telling her the posters could list only the club’s name, meeting date, time, and location.

  • A federal district court ruled for the school in 2024, finding the flyers “could reasonably be perceived to bear the imprimatur of the school,” and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld that decision.

  • The Seventh Circuit agreed: “This is not a case about tolerating private student speech. To the contrary, E.D. was permitted to wear her pro-life shirt to school and hand out her flyers to students at the activities fair. Instead, it is a case about whether the school must lend its resources (here, literally its walls) — and, by extension, its authority — to disseminate student messages.”

  • The district court had applied a 1988 Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which held that a school can exercise “editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”

  • Justice Samuel Alito criticized the denial, writing that the Court should “clarify the relationship between” the 1988 decision and its other government-speech rulings.

» Federal Judge Blocks Texas AG’s Lawsuit Against Fundraising Platform

• A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction halting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform, over its donation practices, arguing Paxton infringed on its free speech rights.

• Context:

  • Paxton alleges that ActBlue told Congress in 2024 that it had stopped accepting donations via gift cards and foreign prepaid debit cards, and later quietly resumed accepting gift-card donations, thereby misleading consumers about its fundraising processes and violating state law.

  • The lawsuit argued that the group’s actions facilitated illegal campaign contributions by anonymous foreign nationals and that it should be forced to pay penalties and be barred from accepting gift card donations.

  • ActBlue filed a federal case, claiming Paxton was retaliating after the group had made fundraising announcements about James Talarico, Paxton’s opponent in the race for a U.S. Senate seat.

• In Court:

  • U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued a preliminary injunction, arguing that the lawsuit was an attempt to suppress ActBlue’s political speech.

  • “The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign,” Stearns wrote.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Canada Proposes Social Media Ban for Under-16s, Expansion of Enforcement Powers

• Proposed Bill C-34 in Canada, also known as the Safe Social Media Act, would ban social media for kids under the age of 16, unless a social media company can prove that it has working safeguards in place for children.

• At the same time, the government has unveiled Bill C-36, also known as the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act (PPCDA), which would reform existing privacy laws to transfer authority from Canada’s privacy commissioner to an incoming Canadian Digital Safety Commission (CDSC).

• Bill C-34:

  • The law would require companies to block users under 16 from creating accounts, though they may seek an exemption if they can demonstrate guardrails in place to protect children from bullying or harmful content.

  • Companies would also be required to remove sexually explicit content that victimizes children and adults, including AI-generated deepfakes, within 24 hours.

  • Although AI chatbots are not included in the social media ban, they will face additional regulations, such as mandated notices directing users to help when prompts explore suicide ideation, self-harm, or criminal activity.

  • The bill would also create the Canadian Digital Safety Commission, which could take up to 18 months to establish after the bill becomes law, and have new powers under another recently proposed law, Bill C-36.

• Bill C-36:

  • Bill C-36 transfers the authority to oversee privacy in the private sector from Canada’s privacy commissioner to the CDSC, and grants it new powers, including the ability to issue platforms binding orders and monetary penalties of up to $10 million or 3% of companies’ global revenue.

  • Officials claim that a privacy and data commissioner will be appointed to the CDSC and will enforce both the PPDCA and the Safe Social Media Act.

  • Among a number of changes, Bill C-36 would allow individuals to request that companies delete their personal information and remove deepfake images or videos from commercial platforms such as social media.

» Florida Sues TikTok, Claiming It Flouts State’s Social-Media Law for Minors

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok, asking a state court to declare the company a public nuisance for failing to comply with a 2024 law requiring parental consent for teens aged 14-15 to use social media apps.

• Details:

  • Florida’s 2024 law, which took effect in November 2025, requires 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain a parent’s consent to have social media accounts and bars children 13 and under from apps with addictive features such as endless scrolling, push notifications, autoplay video, and live streaming.

  • Uthmeier, in a first lawsuit brought under the law, alleges that TikTok does not require the parental consent required by the law and misrepresents the maturity of its content.

  • Uthmeier said TikTok faces “potentially billions in damages” and asked the court to impose a $50,000 fine per violation.

» Illinois Governor Intends to Sign Social Media Age-Verification Law

• Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has said he intends to sign House Bill 5511, or the “Child Social Media Safety Act,” designed to protect children on online platforms — despite experts’ concerns about its constitutionality.

• Details:

  • State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, a sponsor of the bill, said she believes the law will allow parents to control the content shown to children through a one-time, device-level age verification.

  • Pritzker is slated to sign the legislation into law soon, and it could face challenges in federal court.

» NY Senate Passes Bill Requiring Publishers, Broadcasters to Label AI Content

• The New York State Senate and Assembly have passed companion bills as part of a legislative package called the FAIR News Act that would require publishers and broadcasters to disclose and label AI-generated content.

• Details:

  • The bill would require outlets to disclose content that is “substantially composed, authored, or otherwise created through the use of generative artificial intelligence.”

  • Labels of such content would be required to appear at the top of a print or digital story or at the beginning of audio or visual content.

  • The Attorney General is empowered to determine what content is “substantially created” by AI and requires labeling.

  • Failures to disclose could result in a $1,000 fine for the first infraction and $5,000 for subsequent violations.

  • State Sen. Patricia Fahy has claimed her bill is not aimed at mainstream news outlets or commercial television newsrooms, but rather targets “fly-by-night” digital outlets that distort, pirate, or misrepresent content from legitimate outlets using AI.

  • However, the press release issued by her office applies to “news organizations operating in New York” and makes no distinction between legitimate and rogue outlets.

  • The bill is now headed to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK Proposes Social Media Ban for Under-16s

• A proposed UK law would bar children under 16 from social media platforms and extend restrictions to gaming sites, to block children from accessing “harmful functions” such as livestreaming and the ability to communicate with strangers.

• Details:

  • The ban would apply to platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, though under-16s would still have access to messaging services like WhatsApp.

  • People under 18 would be banned from having AI “romantic companions,” though the details of the restriction and its enforcement are unclear.

  • Tech companies that fail to comply could face fines.

  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he hopes to have the regulations passed by lawmakers in late December and for them to take effect by the spring of 2027.

Our Take: “Although framed as a child-protection measure, the proposal would affect far more than teenagers,” Jeff Kosseff wrote at The Bedrock Principle. “By requiring intrusive age verification and limiting access to online platforms, it risks undermining privacy, anonymous speech, and freedom of expression for everyone.”

» UK Appeals Court Upholds Terrorism Ban on Protest Group Palestine Action

• Britain’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the government’s proscription of the activist group Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization under the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful, overturning a February High Court finding that the ban was unlawful and disproportionate.

• Context:

  • Since the group was banned in July 2025, more than 3,000 arrests have been made for displaying support for it.

  • Lawyers representing Britain’s Interior Minister, Shabana Mahmood, had argued at an April hearing that the claims the ban would significantly curtail free expression were “overstated and incorrect.”

  • Chief Justice Sue Carr cited the fact that the group’s activities have caused injury and property damage, and “at no stage has Palestine Action suggested that its terrorist activities were either a mistake or an aberration.”

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Exiled Russian Artist Killed in Suspected Execution in Poland

• Semyon Skrepetsky, a 44-year-old Russian artist known for creating unflattering caricatures of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in Poland in a parking lot near his home near Poland’s border with Belarus.

• Details:

  • Skrepetsky had lived in Poland for 5 years after escaping Russia, fearing arrest for his activism.

  • His paintings often depicted Putin with a bovine nose or hugging pigs, many times alongside Russian officials, world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Xinping, and even Elon Musk.

  • Marcin Kozak, a spokesman for Poland’s prosecutors’ office, said that according to current information, Skrepetsky fell to the ground after an unidentified man fired two shots at him. Then, the perpetrator fired three more shots before fleeing the scene.

  • Police detained two Belarusian men near the Belarusian Consulate after the shooting for suspected execution.

» Tunisian Court Sentences Government-Critical Journalist To Prison In Absentia

• A Tunisian court has sentenced Khaoula Boukrim, journalist and founder of the news website TUMEDIA, to four years in prison in absentia under a 2022 cybercrime law.

• Details:

  • The ruling is the latest move against critical voices under President Kais Saied, following the jailing of several media figures earlier this year, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi, and Borhen Bsaies.

  • Boukrim had fled to Paris in December 2025, after she was informed that two separate judgments had been issued against her under Decree-Law 54, a cybercrime law aimed at combating misinformation and online abuse.

  • According to Reuters, rights groups argue that the law has increasingly been used to prosecute critics and curb free speech.

» Mumbai Mayor Calls for Ban on Stand-Up Comedy Shows

• In Mumbai, India, Mayor Ritu Tawde has called for a ban on stand-up comedy shows after the Maharashtra Cyber, the state’s cybercrime and cybersecurity agency, launched an investigation into a comedy show that allegedly featured obscene and objectionable content circulating online.

• Details:

  • Content from the program, hosted by comedian Pranit More, began circulating on social media and allegedly contained offensive remarks concerning women, consent, and deceased persons.

  • Authorities claim the content was contrary to accepted societal norms and subject to provisions of criminal law.

  • The Maharashtra Cyber registered a First Information Report (FIR), which automatically initiates a formal police investigation, against comedians Pranit More, Himanshu Jangra, Sejal Pawar, and other individuals associated with the show.

  • Speaking about the show, Tawde said, “As the Mayor, I oppose this; it does not befit our Indian culture…Stand-up comedy shows should be banned. I will write a letter to the Chief Minister.”

» Azerbaijan Rearrests Exiled Journalist After Forced Return From Georgia

• Azerbaijan rearrested Afgan Sadigov, editor-in-chief of the online outlet Azel.TV, after he was arrested in Georgia in 2024 over an Azerbaijani extradition request alleging extortion, without evidence.

• Details:

  • Sadigov had applied to the European Court of Human Rights to halt his removal on the grounds that his rights in Azerbaijan would be violated, and the court suspended his transfer.

  • On April 1, Azerbaijani authorities terminated the criminal prosecution behind the extradition request. Georgian courts subsequently lifted the restrictions on Sadigov.

  • On April 4, Georgian authorities detained Sadigov on an administrative charge of “insulting a police officer on social media” and deported him to Azerbaijan.

  • Georgian authorities claimed that the ECtHR’s suspension of Sadigov’s transfer was no longer relevant since Azerbaijan had dropped the charges.

  • In Azerbaijan, authorities prevented him from leaving the country, telling him the case against him was active despite official documentation showing it had been closed.

  • Sadigov was detained on June 8, and his lawyer reports that an Azerbaijani court had ordered the case reopened.

» Pakistan Detains YouTube Journalist Over Kashmir Protest Coverage

• Pakistani authorities have arrested journalist Sohrab Barkat over his coverage of protests in Kashmir on his YouTube channel.

• Details:

  • The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) accused Barkat of violating the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), which criminalized the dissemination of “fake or false” information.

  • The NNCIA cited a June 5 report by Barkat, which they say promoted the views of a local protest movement called the Jammu Kashmir Join Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

  • JAAC was banned by Pakistan-administered Kashmir under anti-terrorism laws on the same day.

  • Bakarat appeared in court and was remanded in custody for three days.

  • This follows his earlier detention from November 2025 to March this year, which carried no charges and is linked to his journalism, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Audrey Campbell is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and an international relations major at American University.

Isabella Dail is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a recent graduate from Princeton University with a bachelor’s in philosophy.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 Trump Seeks to Revive $475M Defamation Suit Against CNN

— 🇬🇧 White House Opposes UK Social Media Ban for Under-16s

— 🇨🇳 China Suppresses Tiananmen Square Anniversary Remembrance

— 🇩🇪 German Court Says Google Liable for AI Overviews

— 📱FCC Targets “Burner Phones”

First of All 🇺🇸

» Trump Tells Supreme Court He Will Seek to Revive $475 Million CNN Defamation Suit

• President Donald Trump has reportedly told the U.S. Supreme Court that he plans to ask the Justices to revive his $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN over the network’s use of the term “Big Lie” in reporting on his claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

• Context:

  • Trump sued CNN in 2022, accusing the network of smearing him by frequently using “Big Lie” to describe his theory that Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was the result of mass voter fraud, and of harming his reputation by hosting guests who compared him to Adolf Hitler.

  • The case was dismissed in July 2023 by U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who said that while the network’s statements were “repugnant,” they were not “defamatory.”

  • “This case involves political speech of the highest order,” Singhal wrote, “The First Amendment has its fullest and most urgent application precisely to the conduct of campaigns for public office.”

  • The ruling was upheld by a three-judge federal appeals court panel in November 2025.

  • According to a request docketed by the Justices, Trump’s lawyers have now asked the Court for a 60-day extension to August 15 to file his petition for a review of the lower court’s dismissal of the case.

  • The filing indicated Trump also wants the Justices to weigh in on when a jury, rather than a judge, should decide whether an allegedly defamatory statement would be viewed by the public as opinion or fact.

» Press-Freedom Groups Demand Charges Be Dropped Against Journalists Arrested at Newark ICE Protests

• More than a dozen national and statewide press organizations have demanded that authorities drop charges against at least three journalists arrested while covering protests outside Newark, New Jersey’s Delaney Hall immigration detention center.

• Details:

  • Protests at Delaney Hall, the state’s largest immigration detention center, have been ongoing since May 22.

  • After authorities enforced an emergency curfew around the facility, they began “kettling” crowds, or surrounding and containing groups before making arrests.

  • Despite state guidelines that exempt journalists from the curfew, three were arrested on May 31, and one was reportedly charged with felony rioting and resisting arrest.

  • The allegations directly challenge state officials’ statements that journalists at Delaney Hall were not arrested, detained, or injured during operations.

• Broader Context:

  • According to the organizations, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is investigating at least three arrests, 38 assaults, and five incidents of equipment damage involving journalists covering the Delaney Hall protests.

  • The Tracker is also investigating an Essex County Prosecutor’s Office sergeant after they were charged with stealing an injured photojournalist’s gear.

  • Photographers report being pepper-sprayed and struck with batons by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while reporting.

  • A WNBC television crew claims state police removed them from their marked news vehicle and directed them into an area where tear gas was deployed.

» Hawaiian Think-Tank Sues Over State’s Corporate Political Spending Law

• Grassroot Institute of Hawai’i (GIH), a public policy think tank, has filed a lawsuit against “Act 11,” which establishes new restrictions on political spending by incorporated entities, including nonprofits, trade associations, corporations, and unions, arguing that the law violates organizations’ First Amendment rights.

• Act 11:

  • Act 11 directly challenges the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which affirmed independent spending by third parties on political advertisements as protected speech.

  • Existing campaign finance statutes allow organizations to make such contributions as long as they register “independent expenditures” and “electioneering communications” and disclose them to donors.

  • Act 11 prohibits incorporated entities, including nonprofits, from engaging in “election activity” and “ballot-issue activity,” which could potentially include any spending to speak out for or against candidates, ballot measures, or political parties.

  • Entities can face a range of penalties from suspension of authority to operate, revocation of tax exemptions, to involuntary dissolution.

  • According to the Institute for Free Speech (IFS), GIH’s legal representation, by prohibiting any spending to “directly or indirectly … support or oppose” a candidate, the law risks prohibiting routine legislative education and advocacy that may mention elected officials.

• The Lawsuit:

  • Keli’i Anika, President of GIH, said in a statement that Act 11 “prevents citizens from organizing and pooling resources, time, and effort to speak on topics of public concern.”

  • Owen Yeates, the lead IFS litigator on behalf of GIH, argued, “Americans have a constitutional right to join together through nonprofits and other associations to advocate for the causes that matter to them and their communities. Moreover, Americans have a right to decide for themselves which voices they want to hear. Act 11 strips those rights from the residents of Hawai‘i.”

  • The Act is set to take effect in July 2027.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» White House Urges UK Not to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

• In a submission to the UK government’s consultation on online safety, the White House has urged the country not to impose a social media ban for children under 16.

• Details:

  • The submission argues that age-gating content will not work and instead calls on the UK to give parents “robust tools” to manage children’s privacy settings and account controls, and to mandate that platforms offer a safe online experience.

  • It also explains, “We have concerns about regulations that impose disproportionate compliance burdens on American companies or that apply to one platform but not similar services.”

• Context:

  • Meta, whose platforms will be affected by the outcome of the consultation, has already launched a legal challenge against Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, regarding the fees and fines it is enforcing under the Act, as included in a previous Free Flow.

  • The news comes as the country’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to unveil a package of online restrictions that includes a ban on “harmful” social media apps and potential blocks on conversations with strangers on gaming platforms.

  • The “harmful” apps subject to the ban are unknown, though reports that YouTube Kids could be exempt indicate there may be exceptions for “educational” platforms.”

» FCC Proposes Telecom Providers Collect Identifying Information About Phone Customers

• A recent proposal from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would legally require telecommunications companies to store identifying personal information of all phone customers to prevent people from buying “burner phones.”

• Details:

  • “Burner phones” are phones that are not linked to your identity at the point of purchase, and can be important technology for journalists, domestic abuse survivors, or privacy-conscious people.

  • The proposed changes would require telecom providers to obtain the “name, physical address, government issued identification number, and an alternate telephone number of any new and renewing customer before granting access to its services.”

  • The agency claims the goal of collecting the data is to deter scammers and to allow enforcers to better identify them, but it also lists other ways the data could help authorities.

  • Authorities note that the data could help identify people involved in investigations into “fraud, espionage, or influence operations that undermine national security” as well as “abuse in text messaging networks.”

  • One section adds, ‘criminals continue to leverage the anonymity provided by phone calls and texts to defraud Americans and exploit communications networks…”

  • The proposal is open to public comment until June 25.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» German Court Holds Google Liable Over AI-Generated Overview Results

• The Regional Court of Munich has ruled that Google is directly liable for what its AI search overviews say, and that prior case law shielding search engine operators from liability does not apply to such overviews.

• Context:

  • The case was brought by two Munich-based publishing companies that Google’s AI overviews had falsely linked to scams, subscription traps, and shady business practices in certain search queries.

  • The publishers had sent Google a cease-and-desist letter, but even though specific texts were no longer being displayed, Google had not properly complied with the letter, nor had it implemented safeguards to prevent the algorithm from generating the same statements again.

  • The Munich Court issued a temporary injunction against the company, barring it from spreading false claims about the publishers in AI overviews.

• In Court:

  • Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has ruled that search engine operators are only subject to limited liability over third parties that they merely made findable.

  • The Munich court determined that such liability protections do not apply to AI overviews, which it found are a generation of “independent, new, and substantive statements,” made by evaluating and combining content.

  • It said that Google’s AI overviews differ from traditional search results because it rewrites information “in its own words and according to its own structure,” and that the claims against the publishers, which did not appear in search results, were the “defendant’s own statements.”

  • Google argued at the hearing that users could fact-check the AI overview using the linked sources themselves, but the Court rejected this, saying the possibility of disproving a statement doesn’t exempt its maker from liability.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» China Represses Tiananmen Square Remembrance Activities

• According to an anonymous source who spoke with the Associated Press, Chinese police told the relatives of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre that they would not be allowed to visit a Beijing cemetery on the 37th anniversary of the tragedy.

• Details:

  • Police increased security measures on the anniversary in a park where candlelight vigils have been held every year since the massacre, until a clampdown in 2019 following anti-government protests.

  • A handful of people showed up, and officers stopped and searched seven of them on suspicion of being disorderly in public.

  • The police said the individuals were taken for further investigation before being allowed to leave.

• Context:

  • The police presence is the latest in a yearslong campaign to erase the tragedy from public memory.

  • Authorities in Hong Kong have banned the vigil since 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Three of the vigil’s organizers have been charged under a 2020 national security law.

» Two Men Convicted in London of Stabbing Iranian Journalist in Attack Linked to Iran

• A jury at Woolwich Crown Court has convicted two Romanian men of stabbing Pouria Zeraati, a journalist from a Farsi-language television station, allegedly at the behest of Tehranian authorities.

• Details:

  • Zeraati, a presenter at London-based Iran International, was stabbed in the leg in March 2024.

  • Nandito Badea and George Stana were arrested in Romania in December 2024 for the attack and extradited to the U.K., while the third suspect, David Andrei, remains the subject of criminal proceedings in Romania.

  • The jury’s verdict does not conclude that the attack was executed on behalf of Iran, though the judge may determine that when the pair is sentenced in July.

  • Iran’s senior diplomat in England has denied it was behind the attack, though the broadcaster has previously received threats over its coverage of the country.

  • In 2023, the broadcaster temporarily moved to studios in Washington, D.C., citing an escalation of “state-backed threats from Iran,” before later resuming operations at a new location in London.

  • U.K. security officials claim Iran is behind a growing number of plans in the country targeting opposition Farsi-language media outlets and the Jewish community in the country, with reports that more than 20 lethal plots were disrupted by the country’s MI5 domestic intelligence service between October 2024 and ‘25.

» Surge in Arrests Over False News & Offensive Speech in Ghana

• The Media Foundation for West Africa has reported a sharp uptick in arrests linked to false news and offensive speech in Ghana as authorities increasingly enforce the country’s Criminal Code and Electronic Communications Act.

• Details:

  • 14 such arrests have occurred in less than 16 months, nearly double the number documented during the previous administration’s eight-year tenure.

  • Opposition minority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has criticized enforcement efforts, arguing, “Arresting citizens for words that do not constitute genuine threats is not justice. It is intimidation.”

  • Meanwhile, the government has rejected allegations of a crackdown, and a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party communicator said: “Ghana’s laws, Section 208 of the Criminal Code and Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, have been on the books for decades.”

  • “What has changed,” he added, “is the sheer volume of reckless, anonymous, and sometimes dangerous content on social media. There is no systematic crackdown. There is simply enforcement of existing law.”

  • A legal consultant told Al Jazeera that after reviewing recent cases, Section 208 of the Criminal Code was misapplied at least 16 times in the past 18 months.

» Journalists Arrested in Mali for ‘Undermining the State’

• Malian authorities have arrested two journalists in the past two days as part of a crackdown on dissent, as a security crisis escalates.

• The Arrests:

  • The main press association in Mali, the “Maison de La Presse,” said that journalist Abderhmane Keita was arrested on charges of “undermining national unity and the credibility of the state” and “dissemination of false and misleading information.”

  • Chahana Takiou, a television presenter and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper 22 Septembre, was arrested on charges of “undermining the credibility of the State through the judicial system.”

  • Takiou had criticized the authorities’ application of a cybercrime law, which he argued was weaponized against press freedom.

• Context:

  • Public statements suggesting that Mali’s military leadership is losing ground to jihadist groups often lead to charges in the country.

  • The arrests come as reports of Islamic extremists attacking the country reach record numbers and government forces face accusations of killing civilians with suspected ties to militants.

  • The security crisis has been used as justification for the crackdown on dissent, with authorities banning magazines, French media outlets, and imprisoning opposition leaders.

» Amnesty International Report Shows Inadequate Protest Protections in Greece, Leading Demonstrations to Become Violent

• A report from Amnesty International finds that protest legislation in Greece, which fails to meet international standards, is underpinning an increase in the use of unnecessary or excessive police force against peaceful protesters in the country.

• Excessive Force:

  • The report is based on two years of research, video footage analysis, and interviews with protesters, journalists, and lawyers.

  • Of the 67 people interviewed specifically about unlawful use of force in policing demonstrations, 30 described authorities throwing stun grenades above peaceful protesters and journalists’ heads, or at their feet, or into dense crowds.

  • Verified video shows police using stun grenades next to a cafe where bystanders were sitting, and documents officers striking peaceful demonstrators with batons, chasing them, and beating people already under police control.

  • The report also covers incidents involving the use of chemical irritants, water cannons, and force during arrest and or detention.

• Broad Police Powers:

  • Police are empowered to stop protesters and bring them into stations for identity checks, which has resulted in people being subject to arbitrary detentions, body searches, and use of force despite no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

  • Peaceful protesters have been criminalized, including individuals charged for participating in demonstrations or engaging in civil disobedience.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Audrey Campbell is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and an international relations major at American University.

Isabella Dail is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a recent graduate from Princeton University with a bachelor's in philosophy.

— 🇺🇲 Pentagon Bars Journalists From Press Office

— 🤖 Meta Expands Teen Account Safety Restrictions Globally

— 🇲🇾 Malaysia Begins Enforcing Social Media Ban for Users Under 16

— 🇬🇧 UK Bars American Commentators Entry Ahead of SXSW Appearance

— 🇪🇺 EU Watchdog Moves to Strip European Political Party of Status and Funding

First of All 🇺🇸

» Pentagon Bars Journalists From Press Office, Designating It a Classified Space

• In its latest move to restrict media access to the Pentagon, the Defense Department barred reporters from its press office, designating the space as classified.

• Details:

  • Pentagon reporters have long held press credentials granting them wide movement in the building to interact with press officials.

  • Now, Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said the office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility because speechwriters who “routinely handle classified material” now occupy the space.

• The Bigger Picture:

  • The decision comes after major news outlets surrendered their access badges in October, following a refusal to agree to a new policy requiring journalists to pledge not to gather information not expressly authorized for release, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

  • In a lawsuit brought by The New York Times, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman blocked the policy in March, and the Pentagon responded by mandating that all reporters be escorted through the Pentagon grounds.

  • The following month, Friedman ruled that the interim policy violated his March order, but an appeals court stayed part of his ruling, keeping the policy in place while the government appeals.

  • The Times filed a second lawsuit against the escort requirement last month, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

» DOJ Subpoenas Reddit and X to Unmask Anonymous Critics of ICE

• Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., subpoenaed Reddit and X seeking the names, addresses, and banking information of users who have criticized the government’s deportation efforts on social media.

• Details:

  • Previous court records show the Trump administration had abandoned the use of administrative summonses to unmask critics, which don’t require a judge or court process to proceed, following legal challenges.

  • Now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has reportedly issued grand jury subpoenas to social media companies in which two anonymous posters criticized immigration enforcement efforts as part of criminal investigations.

  • Reddit and X have notified some users that they can oppose the data requests, giving them a brief window to intervene.

  • Users claim they remain unaware of the possible offenses under investigation, the posts that caught the government’s attention, or the laws allegedly broken.

• Grand Jury Subpoenas:

  • Grand jury subpoenas allow federal prosecutors to demand documents or testimony to present to grand jurors, who decide whether to indict the defendant. They indicate a criminal investigation, while administrative summons do not.

  • These subpoenas also do not receive judicial review unless they are challenged, and failure to comply can lead to fines and jail time.

  • The bar to quash a subpoena is high, and the challenger must prove that the request is unreasonable or oppressive.

Our Take: “For more than a quarter century, state and federal courts have held that the First Amendment protects the ability to speak anonymously on the internet. Despite this longstanding precedent, the Reddit and X subpoenas arise in a context that will be more challenging for the posters. Courts generally are more deferential to prosecutors seeking grand jury subpoenas than they are to plaintiffs’ lawyers in civil discovery, so it will be an uphill battle.”

» Judge Blocks National Park Service From Removing Anti-Trump ‘8647’ Flag From the National Mall

• A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against the National Park Service after a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleged a Park Police officer asked a protester to take down an “8647” flag, arguing it suggested a threat against President Trump.

• Details:

  • “86” is a common shorthand for “get rid of” or “throw out.” The phrase “8647” gained heightened scrutiny after two federal indictments were issued against former FBI Director James Comey over an Instagram post of seashells spelling out the digits on a beach, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

  • In April, the ACLU filed a complaint on behalf of Accountability NOW USA, a protest organization, alleging that the National Park Service violated the group’s First Amendment rights by threatening to revoke their protest permit over signs critical of Trump.

  • The ACLU requested a preliminary injunction to bar the revocation of the group’s permit on May 26, and submitted a request for a temporary restraining order the day after, alleging Accountability NOW USA was asked to take down the “8647” flag.

  • The judge rejected the government’s argument that the flag display amounted to incitement and said the evidence shows that the group’s purpose was “to urge that Congress impeach and remove President Trump from office.”

  • The temporary restraining order bars the government from ordering that the flag not be displayed and from revoking the group’s permit because of the flag.

» Judge Overturns West Point’s Prior Restraint on Civilian Faculty Speech

• A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from enforcing a February 2025 policy requiring its civilian faculty to obtain advance approval for “engagements” with external audiences on their academic disciplines.

• Context:

  • The policy applied to faculty “while on duty or when using any USMA affiliation or branding,” and included, but was not limited to, journal articles, conference presentations, media interviews, op-eds, and social media posts.

  • It followed an executive order from the month prior that banned West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy from “promoting, advancing, or otherwise inculcating…un-American, divisive, discriminatory, radical, extremist, and irrational theories.”

  • The theories listed in the executive order included “divisive concepts,” “gender ideology,” race or sex “stereotyping,” and “scapegoating,” and the idea that “America’s founding documents are racist or sexist.”

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had also commanded the service academies to ban instruction on critical race theory and DEI.

• In Court:

  • West Point law professor Tim Bakken sued the academy and six of its leaders in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in September 2025 over the policy and comments from the West Point Academic Board dean advising faculty not to “advocate for a particular position or ideology” in the classroom.

  • The court found the preapproval policy likely violates the First Amendment and issued a preliminary injunction barring its enforcement against any civilian faculty.

  • The ruling also forbade the academy from restraining Bakken “from expressing or offering his opinions, beliefs, or views to his students on the subjects he teaches.”

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Fifth Circuit Allows Texas App-Store Age Verification Law to Take Effect During Appeal

• A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas’s App Store Accountability Act, which requires app marketplace operators to verify users’ ages and mandates parental consent before minors under 18 download apps or make in-app purchases, can take effect.

• Details:

  • The law also requires app developers to indicate whether their apps are appropriate for children in four tiers: under 13, teens aged 13-15, older teens aged 16-17, or adults aged 18 or older.

  • In a case brought by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a tech trade group, and the advocacy group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, federal district judge Robert Pitman issued a temporary injunction in December 2025, arguing that the law likely violated the First Amendment.

  • “The Act is akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book,” Pitman wrote.

  • Upon appeal by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the injunction on the Act while it continues to review the case, without explaining its reasoning.

» Florida Sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, Seeking Personal Liability for Harms to Users

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over the company’s design and safety, claiming that its systems present a “great danger of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and related harms” to users.

• Context:

  • The civil action is separate from Uthmeier’s criminal investigation into the company, launched in late April of this year.

  • Uthmeier said he seeks civil penalties and a court order “to hold Altman personally liable.”

• The Lawsuit:

  • OpenAI is accused of four counts of deceptive and unfair trade practices, two counts of negligence, two counts of violating product liability laws, and one count each of fraudulent misrepresentation and causing a public nuisance.

  • A wide array of commonly cited risks from AI are cited, including that advertisements don’t display warnings about hallucinations or falsities, that ChatGPT’s sycophancy can cause dangerous psychological attachment, and the illicit provision of medical and legal advice.

  • The company maintains that it has integrated safety measures into its systems and that it has “safeguards in place to help people, especially teens, when conversations turn sensitive.”

» Meta Expands Teen Account Safety Restrictions Globally Following Court Losses

• Meta has expanded its content settings for teen accounts across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger globally, as part of an initiative launched last October in select countries to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content.

• The company has also announced an Instagram feature aimed at diversifying the content teens see to prevent repetitive exposure to certain themes.

• Details:

  • “We recognize that some content— like posts about nutrition, weightlifting, or how to cope with anxiety— can be helpful, but it should be balanced with other types of content rather than shown repeatedly,” the company said.

  • Meta has also said that a “limited content” setting will be made available on Facebook and Messenger this year to further restrict potentially harmful content.

  • The new features come after a Los Angeles jury found Meta negligent in designing social media platforms that are harmful to young people in March, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

» Malaysia Begins Enforcing Social Media Ban for Children Under 16

• Malaysia has begun enforcing a ban on social media accounts for children under 16, requiring social media platforms with at least 8 million users in the country to implement age-verification systems and block children from creating accounts.

• Details:

  • The country’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said that age-verification will be rolled out over the next six months, and current users under 16 will have a month to download or transfer any data before restrictions are applied.

  • Companies that violate the ban could face penalties of up to $2.5 million, though parents whose children manage to circumvent the rule will not be penalized.

  • Platforms have yet to describe how they will comply, though Clara Koh, Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, has cautioned that the ban could drive teenagers away from protected apps to unregulated corners of the internet.

» California Bill Barring Teens Under 16 From Social Media Passes the State Assembly

• The California Assembly has passed a bill that would ban minors under 16 from using social media platforms with “addictive features,” including notifications, endless scroll, and autoplay.

• Details:

  • The bill would require social media platforms with addictive features to verify users’ ages and delete the accounts of minors under 16, or face financial civil penalties.

  • An e-safety commission would also be established to oversee the legislation’s implementation.

  • The bill now heads to the state Senate.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK Bars American Commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker, Citing ‘Public Good’

• The British Home Office has canceled the electronic travel authorizations of American political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker because “their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good.”

• Details:

  • Uygur, co-host of “The Young Turks” on YouTube, draws over 200 million views per month. Piker, his nephew, has a daily audience of 30,000 on Twitch.

  • The pair claim they’ve been “banned for criticizing Israel.”

  • The statement from the Home Office did not mention Israel, and said that decisions to “refuse or cancel” people’s electronic authorization “on these grounds are based solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose ot U.K society.”

  • Both men had been scheduled to speak at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in London this week and at the University of Oxford.

  • Piker’s SXSW talk was titled “How the American Left Learned to Speak the Internet”; Uygur’s was “Techno-Feudalism is Here. Who Are the Lords?” Piker had also been scheduled to appear at the University of Oxford.

  • The UK previously blocked 11 people described as “foreign far-right agitators” in May who had been scheduled to speak at an event organized by Tommy Robinson, an anti-Islam activist.

» Germany Fines Facebook User for Calling Chancellor Merz ‘Lügenfritz’

• A German court has imposed a criminal fine on a Facebook user for calling Chancellor Friedrich Merz “Lügenfritz” (“Lying Fritz”), ruling that the remark constituted a criminal insult under Section 188 of Germany’s Criminal Code.

• Background:

  • The case arose after Merz visited the city of Heilbronn in October 2024. Local police posted a notice on Facebook about a temporary ban on drone flights during the visit, prompting dozens of comments criticizing the chancellor.

  • Prosecutors reviewed 38 comments for possible violations of Section 188, a controversial provision that grants enhanced protection against insults directed at public figures involved in political life.

  • The Öhringen District Court issued a penalty order of 30 daily income-based fines against a user who referred to Merz as “Lügenfritz.” The penalty has already become final.

  • Other cases produced mixed outcomes. Prosecutors dropped investigations into comments calling Merz “Pinocchio” or a “Lügen-Kasper” (“lying clown”), while courts also issued penalty orders against users who referred to him as “Ftzn Frieder” or “Fo****Fritz.”

  • Section 188 has long been criticized for its potential chilling effect on political debate. The law permits heightened penalties when speech directed at political figures is deemed capable of significantly hindering their public work.

  • Prosecutors argued that calling Merz “Lügenfritz” could undermine public confidence in the chancellor’s integrity and encourage further hostility among like-minded individuals, thereby satisfying the requirements of Section 188.

» German Police Detain Right-Wing Activist at Airport to Block Remigration Summit Attendance

• German federal border police detained Generation Identity activist Maximilian Märkl at the Munich Airport, where he was traveling to Porto, Portugal, to attend the Remigration Summit 2026.

• Details:

  • Märkl is one of the national spokesmen for Identitäre Bewegung Deutschland (IBD), a right-wing youth movement that seeks to preserve the cultural identity of European countries, and was scheduled to speak at the Remigration Summit, where leaders associated with anti-migration / remigration campaigns gather.

  • Märkl was taken into custody at the airport and banned from traveling to Portugal until the end of the event. He must report to his local police station twice a day in the interim, or risk a €500 penalty for each absence.

  • Authorities cited that Märkl’s participation in the event “threatens the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany” as justification for the ban, while a federal police citation also argued that the concept of “remigration” violates the German constitution.

  • A year prior, German police had arrested a group that had been similarly banned from attending the Summit after they circumvented the ban and drove to Italy, where the Summit was taking place.

» EU Watchdog Moves to Strip European Political Party of Status and Funding

• The Authority for European Political Parties and Foundations, the watchdog that oversees European parties, has initiated a process that could result in the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) party being banned and losing its funding for failing to uphold EU values.

• Details:

  • The watchdog monitors whether political parties and foundations comply with EU rules requiring them to uphold core values, including “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, including the rights of minorities.”

  • The ESN party is separate from the ESN political group in the European Parliament, which comprises 27 MEPs. The group and party were founded by Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2024, and comprise alliances of national parties funded by the EU budget.

  • The watchdog argued that certain evidence, including court rulings, screenshots, and social media posts from MEPs and party lawmakers that display anti-immigration, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, “cast doubt on the compliance” of the ESN party with EU values.

  • In a statement to POLITICO, the Authority said it had “provided facts…to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission” to allow them to decide whether to lodge a request for verification of compliance with Union values with the Authority.

Our Take: At the Bedrock Principle, Natalie Alkiviadou and Justin Hayes warn that banning or sanctioning political parties can backfire, “fueling narratives of martyrdom and persecution and weakening the legitimacy of democratic pluralism.”

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» The U.S. Revokes Visa of Chinese State Media Journalist After Beijing Expels NYT Reporter

• China expelled New York Times correspondent Vivian Wang in February over a Times event in December, in which Taiwan’s president appeared on video, though wang played no role in the event.

• In a diplomatic tit-for-tat, the Trump administration has revoked the visa of a U.S.-based Chinese state media journalist.

• Context:

  • Chinese officials had complained for months about Wang’s coverage, which often tackled topics related to censorship, Beijing’s response to COVID-19, and the expansion of China’s security state.

  • A couple of dozen foreign journalists employed by American news organizations are believed to be based in China after Mr. Xi assumed power; the Times now has one correspondent, and The Washington Post has not had one for several years.

  • China’s foreign ministry has reduced the number of long-term visas issued to American journalists, and short-term visas are less likely to be renewed if Beijing officials dislike the journalists’ coverage.

• Ongoing Feud:

  • In February 2020, three Wall Street Journal correspondents were expelled after the publication released an opinion essay critical of Beijing, despite having no role in the essay’s publication.

  • Around the same time, the Trump administration announced that five state-run Chinese news organizations operating within the U.S., including Xinhua, the outlet of the journalist whose visa it revoked, would be subject to regulations similar to those that apply to foreign diplomats.

  • The number of journalists allowed to work for those organizations in the U.S. was also capped at 100.

  • China retaliated by expelling a dozen more American journalists working for The Times, The Journal, and The Post, demanding detailed information about their activities.

  • Ms. Wang was admitted into China after the Biden administration struck an agreement with Beijing in 2021 that granted visas to several journalists.

» Israeli Police Compile Dossiers on Critical Foreign Journalists to Support Entry Bans

• Court documents released in a legal challenge by Italian freelance photojournalist Alessandro Stefanelli reveal that Israeli police have established a police body to review foreign journalists’ work and recommend entry bans against those whose coverage is deemed critical of Israel.

• Details:

  • Stefanelli, a contributor to Le Soir, La Stampa, and other publications, had, with Israeli government press credentials, made 13 reporting trips to Israel and the West Bank over two and a half years and was banned in June 2025.

  • Police documents found his coverage to be “one-sided,” citing articles he had photographed for but had not written, and including a tweet authored by someone else as evidence.

  • The police document on Stefanelli stated that the police had recommended that population control authorities ban other foreign journalists based on a review of their work, but the names of the journalists in question were not released.

  • Reporters Without Borders (RSF) referenced a ban on Spanish freelancer Queralt Castillo, which authorities justified by arguing that entry to the country “will not be permitted for those who act against Israel.”

  • documents specified that police had recommended entry bans against other unnamed foreign journalists based on similar reviews. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) referenced a ban on Spanish freelancer Queralt Castillo, justified by authorities “as part of its fight against antisemitism and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.”

  • Israeli Interior Ministry spokesperson Sabine Haddad confirmed to Index on Censorship that the Government Press Office (GPO) — which had fully accredited Stefanelli for each of his reporting trips — “did not object” to his ban.

» Bolsonaro Family Allies Target Intercept Brasil Reporters Over Corruption Coverage

• A lawmaker in Brazil, Helio Lopez, has sent letters to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) requesting an investigation into The Intercept over “selective leaks.”

• Details:

  • The letters came a day after the outlet published an investigation into the relationship between Senator and current presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of Lopez, and jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro.

  • The investigation showed that Flávio negotiated with the banker to finance the film “Dark Horse,” about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

  • Dallas-based freelance reporter Steven Monacelli also faced harassment and threats after attempting to get a comment from Flávio’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is currently residing in Texas.

  • When Monacelli rang Bolsonaro’s doorbell, Bolsonaro called local Southlake, Texas, police and posted a social media video saying that “people in Texas have firearms at home.”

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 Trump Administration Proposes NDAs for Federal Workers

— 🇨🇳 Study Reveals China Silently Censoring WeChat Messages

— 🇻🇳 Vietnamese Police Summon 45 Social Media Users for Engaging with Disinformation

— 🇳🇱 Dutch LGBTQ+ Organizations Take Legal Action Against Meta

— 🇬🇧 UK Says TikTok, YouTube ‘Not Safe Enough’

First of All 🇺🇲

» Trump Administration Proposes Sweeping NDAs for Federal Workers to Crackdown on Press Leaks

• The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has proposed a draft non-disclosure agreement for use by federal agencies with both new and existing employees.

• Details:

  • Former government employees would need “written permission from an authorized agency official” to speak to journalists about information that the administration determines to be “confidential” after leaving their positions.

  • Federal law prohibits the government from retaliating against federal workers who disclose fraud, abuse, and misconduct in their workplaces to internal government watchdogs and Congress— disclosures that the draft agreement exempts.

  • The administration could pursue civil and criminal penalties against employees who violate the agreement and would be entitled to all “royalties” that employees received from disclosing information.

  • The proposal comes after President Trump has banned the Associated Press from the White House press pool and restricted reporters’ access at the Pentagon, which has itself allegedly planned random polygraphs and NDAs to stop leaks to the press.

» Dozens of Organizations Respond to FCC’s Inquiry into Warning Labels on ‘Gender Identity’ Programming

• More than 40 civil liberties, LGBTQ advocacy, and free expression organizations filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opposing a proposal that could require television programs featuring LGBTQ themes to carry special content warnings.

• Background:

  • The FCC’s inquiry, launched by Chairman Brendan Carr in April, asks whether current TV ratings systems provide parents with enough information about programming involving “gender identity themes” or “transgender and gender non-binary programming.”

  • In a comment submitted last week, The Future of Free Speech argues that the inquiry is “unconstitutionally vague” and raises serious First Amendment concerns involving viewpoint discrimination, compelled speech, and government coercion of private actors.

    • The filing argues that the FCC’s framing fails to clearly define what programming would qualify for additional labeling, making meaningful public participation difficult and risking arbitrary enforcement.

    • It also warned that labeling programs featuring transgender or non-binary individuals alongside descriptors for violence or sexual content would stigmatize an entire category of protected expression.

  • Separately, a coalition led by groups including GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG National, and PEN America submitted a joint filing denouncing the proposal as discriminatory and politically motivated.

  • The coalition argued that “content warnings that specifically single out LGBTQ+ people, including transgender and non-binary people, or mentions of gender identity on screen are unnecessary, unhelpful, and discriminatory,” adding that parents — not government regulators — should decide what content children watch.

» Public Employees Fired for Charlie Kirk Social Media Posts Receive Settlements in Free Speech Cases

• Following an $835,000 award to a former police officer in Tennessee, who spent 37 days in jail for social media posts following the assassination of Charlie Kirk (as mentioned in last week’s Free Flow), two public employees have received settlements after facing termination over similar online posts.

• In Tallahassee, Florida:

  • Brittney Brown, a biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was fired in September after she posted an Instagram story criticizing Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination.

  • The state of Florida must pay $485,000 to Brown, who has, in turn, agreed not to apply to, or seek reinstatement with, the FWC in the future.

• In Indiana:

  • Suzanne Swierc, former health director at Ball State University, was terminated after making a social media post on a private Facebook account where she called his death a tragedy and critiqued his political activism.

  • “Charlie Kirk’s death is a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed,” Swierc wrote. “It does not excuse his death, AND it’s a sad truth.”

  • The University did not admit to any wrongdoing, and President Geoffrey Mearns said in an email to university leadership that he stands by his decision to terminate Swierc, though the institution will pay Swierc $225,000.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Texas Sues Discord, Seeking Court-Ordered Age Verification Under SCOPE Act

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Discord, a social media platform, alleging that it violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by falsely advertising the platform as safe.

• Details:

  • The suit, filed on May 22 in Collin County District Court, seeks an injunction requiring Discord to default new accounts to maximum safety settings and adopt age-verification measures under Texas’s Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act.

  • The complaint alleges that Discord “built and maintains one of the internet’s most efficient hunting grounds for manipulation, grooming, and predatory behavior towards children,” citing design features the state says enable predation, including private servers, reliance on unpaid volunteers for moderation, and safety features that require users to opt in.

  • Last year, Discord announced that hackers stole 70,000 users’ government IDs from a third-party service used to verify ages and identities.

» University of Florida Law Student Expelled for Antisemitic Posts Will Argue Free Speech at Trial

• The University of Florida will defend its expulsion of law student Preston Damsky, a self-described white nationalist, over an antisemitic X post.

• Background:

  • Damsky was banned from campus and expelled after quoting a historian saying, “Jews must be abolished by any means necessary.”

  • He sued UF, arguing the punishment violated the First Amendment because his post was offensive political speech, not a true threat.

  • UF argues that the post disrupted the law school and threatened the student body.

  • A federal judge previously ordered Damsky reinstated, but the 11th Circuit paused that order, with one dissenting judge warning that the case turns on whether “offensive off-campus political speech” is protected.

» University of Toronto Lab Study Reveals China Censoring WeChat Messages in Real Time

• A recent study conducted by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto reveals that Chinese users of WeChat, an instant messaging service, are being unknowingly censored in real time.

• Details:

  • WeChat users have received messages informing them that a message they attempted to send was blocked for using government-restricted words, but now that censorship is happening without warning, the report claims.

  • The results showed that messages on WeChat accounts linked to mainland China phone numbers were silently filtered, and international accounts could be censored, though the censorship was not as extensive as on these accounts.

  • It also found that group chats are censored more heavily than one-on-one chats, and that on particular days or during certain periods, new words or phrases can be added to the list of restricted terms.

  • When messages pass through a server that scans for restricted words before transmitting them to the receiver, the messages are not sent, and neither party is notified, the report determined.

» Vietnamese Police Question Social Media Users for Engaging with ‘False Information’

• On May 20, Vietnam’s Hue City police “invited in for questioning” 45 account owners who had “regularly followed, accessed, and interacted with” information deemed to be “false, fabricated, distorted, and anti-state content from exiled reactionary elements.”

• Details:

  • The provincial police justified the summonses by claiming the users had “limited political awareness” and lacked the skills necessary to identify “false information” and “malicious schemes,” unintentionally helping the spread of “negative and distorted content about the country.”

  • Authorities added that after being educated by officers, the users “clearly recognized their violations,” removed related posts and comments, left the pages and groups in question, and “signed pledges not to reoffend.”

» Kenya Proposes $20.8 Million AI Initiative for Social Media Monitoring

• Kenya’s State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications has presented a proposal to parliament seeking $20.8 million USD to implement AI tools for social media monitoring, online sentiment analysis, and government communications management.

• The Proposal:

  • The proposal aims to counter misinformation, disinformation, and organized online narratives across platforms.

  • $2.96 million of the budget is allocated in the proposal for AI software to monitor social media discussions, which officials claim will provide insights into public opinion and improve communication strategies among ministries and agencies.

  • However, critics and digital rights advocates have raised concerns that the analysis tools can be abused to track dissent, stifle criticism, or shape public discourse.

  • The proposal follows earlier legal battles in the country regarding attempts to regulate or limit access to social media platforms.

  • The request is under examination by the Budget and Appropriations Committee before parliament reconvenes.

» Amnesty International Report Shows Indonesia Using Online Disinformation Campaigns to Brand Critics as ‘Foreign Agents’

• A report from Amnesty International reveals that since President Prabowo Subianto took office in Indonesia in 2024, state and state-aligned actors have launched coordinated disinformation attacks to portray human rights defenders and critics as ‘foreign agents.’

• Details:

  • The report claims that through public rhetoric and coordinated online campaigns, the government is seeking to delegitimize civil society, activism, and independent journalism.

  • Individuals accused of “entering into relations with persons or organizations domiciled abroad” to “overthrow or take over the government” can also face up to 10 years imprisonment under Indonesia’s newly enforced Criminal Code.

  • Four disinformation campaigns are outlined in the report, targeting human rights defenders protesting revisions to Military Law, participants in the ‘Indonesia Gelap’ protests that began in February 2025, the media outlet Tempo, and the Centre of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS).

  • Three of the campaigns involved social media accounts allegedly belonging to at least 63 military-affiliated entities.

  • To paint entities as “foreign agents,” allegations often used references to international partnerships, cross-border solidarity, or donor relationships.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK’s Ofcom says YouTube and TikTok ‘Not Safe Enough’

• British Internet regulator Ofcom published a new report into how five large social media platforms responded to its calls for stronger action on children’s online safety and said TikTok and YouTube “failed to commit to any significant changes to reduce harmful content being served to children, maintaining that their feeds are already safe for children.”

• Details:

  • “Our wealth of evidence, published today, suggests they are still not safe enough,” Ofcom added.

  • TikTok and YouTube both pointed to safety features in their apps, including TikTok’s prohibition of direct messaging for under-16s and YouTube’s short-form video timer, which allows parents to set time limits for scrolling shorts.

  • Ofcom spokesperson said the regulator was “ready to take the toughest enforcement action” if platforms do not comply with its rules, adding “we will absolutely move into a formal investigation if we need to.”

  • The report highlighted changes made by Snap (owner of Snapchat), Roblox, and Meta that focused on reducing grooming risks, including Snap’s decision to block adult strangers from contacting children by default in the UK as well as introducing “highly effective” age checks this summer.

  • Roblox plans to let parents switch off direct chat entirely for under-16s, and Meta plans to hide teens’ Instagram connection lists by default and develop AI tools to detect likely sexualized conversations in DMs.

• Broader Concerns:

  • The report found that 84% of children aged 8 to 12 were still using at least one major service with a minimum age requirement of 13.

  • A government spokesperson said Ofcom had its “full backing” to ensure that companies prevent and remove harmful content from their platforms and feeds, adding that age limits, app curfews, and an outright ban are being considered.

» Dutch LGBTQ+ Organizations Take Legal Action Against Meta’s Content Moderation

• Dutch LGBTQ+ organizations are pursuing legal action against Meta after a series of Instagram account suspensions affecting queer clubs, artists, publications, and communities in the Netherlands, alleging the company’s moderation practices are discriminatory.

• Details:

  • The coalition’s formal legal demand to Meta, issued on May 20, argues that the moderation systems have targeted LGBTQ+ accounts and “may have violated European fundamental rights law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), GDPR, and Dutch anti-discrimination law.”

  • A lawyer for the coalition said, “Removing queer accounts without reason, without warning, and without any possibility of appeal constitutes a violation of European law. Platforms are not allowed to structurally exclude minority groups from public debate.”

  • The lawyer added: “This is the first case in which the Digital Services Act is being used to challenge discriminatory content moderation by a Very Large Online Platform.”

  • Meta has previously denied accusations that it targets LGBTQ+ users or content, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Journalists Jailed in Mexico Under New AI-Image Law

• Journalists Erendira Reyes and her daughter Alejandra Hermosillo were arrested by state police in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, on May 21 over alleged illegal use of AI.

• Details:

  • Reyes, founder and editor of the Facebook-based news page San Wicho Times and the magazine Capital, and Hermosillo are being held at the “La Pila” state penitentiary, according to Mexico’s National Registry of Detentions.

  • In a May 21 statement, the San Luis Potosí state prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrests and alleged “deliberate and illegal manipulation of the digital identity of the victim,” without naming the alleged victim.

  • Sources report that the pair’s arrests are related to a widely circulated video on Facebook last year of a local criminal gang accusing Gov. Ricardo Gallardo of corruption.

  • Gallardo denounced the video as containing AI-manipulated images of him, and the next month, the state penal code was amended to criminalize AI-manipulated images, punishable by up to three years in prison.

  • Sources also shared with the Committee to Protect Journalists a photo that appeared to be an arrest warrant for several journalists, among 11 people, and they believe they are on the same charges.

» Egyptian Filmmaker Detained for Spreading ‘False News’

• Egyptian director and screenwriter Omar Salah Marei has been held behind bars in Cairo since May 11, when he was arrested for “deliberately spreading false news” based on posts from his social media accounts.

• Details:

  • Marei is known for blending humor with sharp social and political commentary in his short films.

  • Plainclothes security officers reportedly broke down the door to his apartment, seizing four laptops, two phones, cash, and scripts for future projects, before taking Salah Marei to an undisclosed location without a warrant.

  • Salah Marei reappeared on May 16 before Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution, and it was confirmed he had been held for 15 days of pretrial detention on charges of “deliberately spreading false news, based on posts on his social media accounts.”

  • Marei remains behind bars until his next judicial hearing on May 25, which will determine whether his pretrial incarceration is extended.

  • The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk affirmed that Omar “is a filmmaker who came to cinema from engineering through his own initiative, and who uses comedy as a vehicle for social commentary.”

» Belarus’ Banned Books Lists Surpasses 250 Titles

• Belarus’ Ministry of Information has added 17 more titles to its list of publications that are banned in the country.

• The List:

  • The list of total banned books that “may harm the country’s national interests” now contains 258 titles.

  • Among the banned titles is Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye to Berlin,” which was prohibited for its LGBTQ+ themes, and “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robert H. Harris.

  • Books by historians, including “Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe” by Anne Applebaum, the wife of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, as well as her earlier book on the Gulag, appear on the blacklist.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Justin Hayes is the Director of Communications at The Future of Free Speech and the Managing Editor of The Bedrock Principle.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 NYT Sues Pentagon Over Press Requirements

— 🤖 Nebraska’s Social Media Age Verification Law Challenged

— 🇬🇧 X Pledges Faster Action on Hate Speech, Terrorist Content for UK Users

— 🇳🇪 Niger Suspends Nine French Media Outlets Over Threat to Public Order

— 🇮🇩 Indonesia Plans to Vet Who Qualifies as Human Rights Defender

First of All 🇺🇸

» New York Times Sues Pentagon Over Press Restrictions

• The New York Times sued the Pentagon on May 18 to block a requirement that all reporters be escorted on Pentagon grounds, calling the policy unconstitutional.

• Context:

  • The suit follows an earlier Times victory: a federal judge had previously blocked the Pentagon’s strict credentialing rules that limited how defense reporters could solicit information. The Pentagon's escort requirement is its response to the judgment.

  • The suit asks the court to block the escort requirement and to restore access rules in effect prior to the Trump administration.

  • In its filing, the New York Times argues the restrictions have a clear aim: “closing the Pentagon to any journalist or news organization unwilling to report only what Department officials approve,” and that is “patently unconstitutional.”

  • The Times’ complaint lists examples of what stories reporters would no longer be able to cover under the escort requirement, including “routine unplanned interactions” with Pentagon personnel and stories that “capture the mood and atmosphere within the Pentagon during times of consequential military operations.”

  • Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X: “The latest filing by the New York Times, while dressed up to look like a constitutional challenge, is nothing more than an attempt to remove the barriers to them getting their hands on classified information.”

» Ninth Circuit Affirms University of Washington Violated Professor’s First Amendment Rights

• The Ninth Circuit has ruled in favor of University of Washington computer science professor Stuart Reges, affirming that the university violated his First Amendment rights after he included a parody of its “land acknowledgment” statement in his course syllabus.

• Details:

  • In his winter 2022 syllabus, Reges replaced the university’s land acknowledgment, which recognized UW’s location on Coast Salish tribal land, with a parody drawing on John Locke’s labor theory of property: “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.”

  • A lower court had ruled the statement unprotected because it caused disruption on campus. A 2–1 Ninth Circuit panel disagreed, reversed the ruling, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

  • In the ruling, Judge Daniel Bress said, “When we place limits on what professors may say or impose punishment for the views they express, we destock the marketplace of ideas and imperil future generations who must be exposed to a range of ideas and readied for the disharmony of a democratic society.”

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Tennessee Man Jailed Over Charlie Kirk Post Wins $835,000 Settlement

• Tennessee officials agreed to pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Larry Bushart, a retired police officer who spent 37 days in jail over Facebook memes posted after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

• Details:

  • Bushart was arrested in September after refusing to remove posts mocking reactions to Kirk’s killing, including a meme quoting President Trump’s remarks following a 2024 Iowa school shooting: “We have to get over it.”

  • Perry County authorities claimed one post referencing “Perry High School” caused panic because residents believed it threatened the local school, even though Sheriff Nick Weems acknowledged the meme referred to a school in Iowa.

  • Bushart was charged with a felony, held on $2 million bail, lost his post-retirement job, and missed major family milestones while detained. Prosecutors later dropped the charge in October.

  • The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which helped represent Bushart in his lawsuit, stated that the settlement should serve as a warning to law enforcement officials that “respect the First Amendment today, or be prepared to pay the price tomorrow.”

» Texas Woman Sues City After Arrest Over Facebook Post on Water Quality

• A Texas woman filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Trinidad after she was arrested over a Facebook post claiming residents had been hospitalized due to bacteria in the local water supply.

• Background:

  • Jennifer Combs was charged with felony “false alarm or report” after posting that residents had reported illnesses linked to Trinidad’s water system and urging locals to share information about discoloration, odors, or health issues.

  • Trinidad police accused Combs of spreading “false information” that caused panic in the community, while Police Chief Charles Gregory defended the arrest as “cut and dry.”

  • City officials acknowledged ongoing water infrastructure problems, including aging pipes dating back to the 1950s, and the city later issued a boil-water notice in April. Texas environmental regulators also confirmed an investigation into water quality complaints is ongoing.

  • Combs argues the arrest was politically motivated retaliation for criticizing city leadership and raising concerns about a matter of public interest.

» ACLU Sues Indiana AG Investigator Who Threatened Man Over ‘86’ Facebook Post

• Indiana resident Lee Lawmaster and the ACLU of Indiana have sued Kurt Spivey, Director of Investigations for the Indiana Attorney General’s office, alleging that he threatened Lawmaster with an indictment for posting “86” on state officials’ Facebook pages.

• Details:

  • After Lawmaster posted “86” to the Facebook pages of Indiana officials, Spivey visited his home, where a door camera recorded him telling Lawmaster to “tone down the rhetoric” or face indictment.

  • ‘86’ is a common shorthand for “get rid of.” The term gained heightened scrutiny after former FBI Director James Comey used it in an Instagram post apparently referencing President Trump, which served as the basis for two federal indictments against Comey, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • The ACLU seeks damages and an injunction blocking Spivey from further intimidating Indiana residents in the exercise of their First Amendment rights.

  • Ken Falk, legal director for the ACLU of Indiana: “If someone who’s law enforcement [says] you could be indicted right now if you do this again, people aren’t going to do it again. And when that thing that they’re not doing again is exercising their First Amendment rights, that is very serious.”

  • AG Rokita’s office declined an interview. Spokesperson Joshua DeFonce said in a statement: “With death threats against elected officials being very prominent across the nation and in our state, the Attorney General and his family are a top target.”

» NetChoice Challenges Nebraska’s Social Media Age-Verification Law

• NetChoice, a tech trade group, has sued Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers over the state’s Parental Rights in Social Media Act, which would require all social media platforms to verify a user’s age before an account can be created.

• Details:

  • The Act, set to take effect July 1, would allow minors to create social media accounts only with “express parental consent”—parental age-verification and a signed form submitted to the social media company by the parent.

  • Parents must also have the ability to revoke consent under the law, and companies would be required to establish a dashboard that allows parents to access all posts, interactions, and private messages from minors’ accounts.

  • NetChoice argues that the Act violates minors’ constitutional rights by “significantly curtailing (and, in some cases, eliminating) their ability to engage in core First Amendment activities on many of the most popular online services.”

  • The group adds that the “severe burdens” that the requirements impose could force some social media companies to “restrict Nebraskans from accessing their websites altogether.”

  • Companies violating the law could face fines of up to $2,500 per violation.

» Minnesota Senate Passes Social Media Restrictions for Minors

• The Minnesota Senate passed legislation on May 15 that would require parental consent for users under 16 to create social media accounts, clearing the chamber 66–0 with bipartisan support.

• Details:

  • The bill also bans addictive platform features for minors — including infinite scrolling, push notifications, autoplay videos, and targeted advertising.

  • The bill requires the strictest available privacy settings for minors’ accounts and also seeks to limit the data companies can collect from these users.

  • The bill was passed by the House but amended on the Senate floor, and will return to the House for a concurrence vote before heading to the governor’s office.

  • If signed into law, the state would join about 20 others that have enacted laws regulating minors' social media access, many of which are currently being challenged in court.

» Survey Suggests Australian Social Media Ban Leaves Teens With Less News

• A new survey finds that among Australian teenagers whose social media use has been affected by age restrictions, over half report consuming less news.

• Details:

  • Researchers surveyed 1,027 young people aged 10 to 17 in Australia two months after the country barred minors from social media.

  • Among the 26% of young people whose social media use had been affected by the ban, 51% reported consuming less news as a direct result.

  • Many also reported diminished opportunity to discuss news and civic issues with peers.

  • 61% of under-16s who had previously been using banned platforms reported little or no change in their social media use.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» ECtHR Upholds Fine Against Georgian Man Over TikTok Video Criticizing Tbilisi Officials

• A new ruling from the European Court of Human Rights upheld an administrative fine against a food-delivery driver from Georgia, Irakli Miladze, for uploading a TikTok that insulted the Tbilisi mayor over the city’s bus lane policy.

• Context:

  • In 2018, Tbilisi city authorities announced a transport policy reform intended to reduce car use by bolstering public transport and improving infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

  • Public opinion surveys in 2021 and 2022 revealed that some Tbilisi residents found the reform process ineffective, and discussions about the driving practices of public buses driven by law-enforcement officers have been criticized.

  • In his TikTok, Miladze criticized the traffic situation. “This is your [mayor’s] doing. You turned a three-lane Tchavtchavadze Street into a single lane, and even in that one lane your own people – city hall employees, ministry employees, State Security Service employees – flying down the bus lane with tinted windows like they own the road.”

  • “Go f**k your mothers,” Miladze added, which the ECtHR determined was violent verbal aggression exempt from free speech protections enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

  • The Court also treated TikTok’s reach and youth engagement as factors weighing against the speaker, and because speech travels further on the platform, it should be subject to stricter scrutiny.

Our Take: “A delivery driver on a scooter, raging about traffic policy on social media, has been placed juridically in the same conceptual neighborhood as physical violence,” Jacob Mchangama wrote on X. “That framing comes close to treating citizens like subjects owing deference to rulers.”

» X Pledges Faster Action on Hate and Terrorist Content in The UK

• Following months of regulatory pressure, Britain’s media regulator Ofcom announced that social media platform X has agreed to strengthen protection for UK users against illegal hate speech and terrorist content.

• Details:

  • Following concerns that flagged content was not always addressed, the platform agreed to engage external experts to improve its reporting systems.

  • The agreement stipulates that X will review suspected illegal hate and terrorism-related posts within 24 hours on average, and assess at least 85% within 48 hours.

  • X had also promised to restrict UK users’ access to accounts operated by or on behalf of organizations banned under the country’s terrorism laws.

• Context:

  • The new commitments as Ofcom continues its investigation into X’s systems for tackling illegal content and issues relating to its chatbot, Grok, after it responded to user prompts with sexualized images in February.

  • The company also faces a separate probe from the European Commission into whether it fails to curb hate speech, as well as pressure from the EU, Australia, and Singapore over illegal or militant content on X.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Niger Suspends Nine French Media Outlets Over Alleged Threat to Public Order, Burkina Faso Joins Ban

• Niger’s military junta suspended nine France-based news outlets on May 8–9, accusing them of broadcasting content “likely to seriously endanger public order, national unity, social cohesion and the stability of institutions.”

• Burkina Faso, a West African country and ally of Niger and Mali, within the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), banned the broadcasting of one major French channel.

• The Suspensions:

  • The suspended outlets include France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI), France Afrique Média, AFP (Agence France-Presse), TV5Monde, Jeune Afrique, Mediapart, and TF1 Info.

  • The suspension is “immediate” and applies to “satellite packages, cable networks, digital platforms, websites, and mobile applications.”

  • RFI and France 24 had already been suspended in July 2023, a few days after the coup d’état that brought the junta to power, and the British BBC was suspended in December.

  • The suspensions follow a similar ban by Burkina Faso on TV5Monde. Both are members of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a bloc of military-led governments in West Africa.

• Burkina Faso’s Ban:

  • Burkina Faso banned the broadcasting of TV5 Monde, accusing the channel of “disinformation” and “apology for terrorism” in its coverage of jihadist violence in the country and Mali, which has also banned French media.

» Nicaragua Shuts Down 31-Year-Old Independent Radio Station

• Nicaragua’s telecommunications authority canceled the license of and seized equipment from Radio Stereo Romance, a radio station that had been on the air for 31 years, on May 8.

• Details:

  • The Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services (Telcor) claimed the station had “failed to comply with the requirements for license renewal” under administrative resolution 024-2026.

  • Owner and general director of the station, Francisco Gadea, disputed the justification: “Our payments are up to date. We paid the corresponding fees for 2026. They argued that we had not fulfilled the requirements properly and on time, and they came and shut it down.”

  • He added, “They simply requested certain documents all at once, and the different state institutions delayed the process, so it did not go through. But that is beyond our control.”

• The closure adds to a wave of media outlet shutdowns in Nicaragua since 2018, with more than 309 journalists forced into exile. At least 61 media outlets had been shut down or confiscated by March 2025.

» Indonesia Plans to Vet Who Qualifies as a Human Rights Defender

• Indonesia’s Minister of Human Rights, Natalius Pigai, announced that an assessment team will review whether individuals qualify as human rights activists and are entitled to legal protections.

• Details:

  • The team would be created by proposed amendments to the 1999 Human Rights Law and include government officials, civil society, and law enforcement, who would evaluate whether someone is a “genuine” activist.

  • Pigai said state protection would extend only to activists defending the public interest without personal or commercial interests. Activists who are paid for their work would not qualify.

  • Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch: “It’s not up to President Prabowo Subianto’s government to decide who is or isn’t a human rights defender. The Indonesian authorities should protect all those who work to uphold human rights instead of rooting out government critics under the guise of identifying ‘genuine’ rights defenders.”

  • A final draft is expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives for a vote in June or July.

» Sierra Leone Sentences Singer and Opposition Figure to Four Years in Prison

• International calls are growing for the release of Zainab Sheriff, a Sierra Leonean singer who became a political opposition figure who was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on charges of incitement and threatening language.

• Details:

  • Sheriff, a reality-TV show contestant turned opposition politician, was arrested on February 20, repeatedly denied bail, and sentenced on April 14 by a Sierra Leone court.

  • The charges stem from a speech she made at a political rally in January 2026, a video recording of which was played at trial.

  • Prosecutors argued she stated that anyone who rigged an election had committed treason and that they and their families should be killed. Sheriff pleaded not guilty.

  • Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr (All People’s Congress opposition party): “A lot of us feel this isn’t about Sheriff’s words. This is about Sheriff being used as a very, very visible, high-profile example of what you must not do in this society now. You must not speak your mind or you can be charged and end up in jail.”

» Thailand Detains Hong Kong Activist Wanted Under Chinese National Security Law

• Zhang Xinyan, a 54-year-old Hong Kong activist holding UN refugee status, has been arrested in Thailand on charges of overstaying her visa.

• Zhang is wanted by national security police in China for committing subversion, which is illegal under Article 23, and could face deportation from Thailand, where she is currently being held in a detention center.

• Context:

  • The Hong Kong Security Bureau declined to comment on law enforcement actions in other jurisdictions, and said, “Endangering national security is an extremely serious crime… no fugitive should harbour the illusion that they can evade criminal liability by fleeing Hong Kong.”

  • Hong Kong and Thailand have no formal extradition agreement, though transfer of fugitives can be arranged.

  • Zhang holds refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and is among a group of 19 activists named in a round of arrest warrants issued in Hong Kong in July 2025 under the city’s national security law.

  • Authorities cited the activists’ involvement in the “Hong Kong Parliament,” a group of overseas activists who held unofficial polls outside the city to form a shadow legislature to “pursue the ideal of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong,” as justification for the warrants.

  • In total, 34 people are wanted under the law on suspicion of offenses such as subversion, inciting secession, and colluding with foreign forces.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 DOJ Subpoenas WSJ Reporters in Iran Leaks Probe

— 🇺🇸 ABC Claims FCC Threats Chill First Amendment Speech

— 🤖 LGBTQ+ Creators Claim Meta Is Suppressing Queer Content

— 🇩🇪 German Culture Minister Calls to Regulate YouTube’s Algorithm

— 🇸🇻 El Salvador Freezes Assets of Investigative News Outlet

First of All 🇺🇸

» ABC Claims FCC Threats Chill First Amendment Speech

• ABC has sent a legal letter accusing the Federal Communications Commission of attempting to threaten broadcasters and limit political discourse through an ongoing inquiry into its daytime talk show, “The View.”

• The Letter:

  • The letter responds to an FCC investigation into “The View” that began in February, following Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance on the show.

  • The agency claimed that “The View” had violated the “equal time rule,” which requires stations to give equal airtime to all legally qualified candidates for public office.

  • Although talk shows have historically been considered “news interview programs” and therefore exempt from the rule, the FCC is challenging whether such programs are “bona fide” news and qualify for exemption.

  • In a statement sent to the media, the FCC said it will review the matter, but that “the equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.”

  • ABC maintains that it has abided by the law and that the FCC is redefining what’s exempt and using regulatory power to restrict views.

• The Bigger Picture:

  • The letter also suggests that an FCC order issued last week for early license reviews of ABC-owned television stations is suspicious.

  • The order came one day after Trump pressured ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a controversial monologue, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • “Uncertainty as to the scope of broadcast licensees’ editorial discretion threatens to limit news coverage of political candidates and chill core First Amendment-protected speech for years and potentially decades to come,” ABC’s letter read.

» DOJ Subpoenas WSJ Reporters and Investigates Iran Leaks

• The Wall Street Journal has received grand jury subpoenas dated March 4 for records of certain reporters amid a push from the Justice Department to pursue investigations of journalists who have worked on sensitive national security stories.

• Details:

  • The subpoenas target reporters related to a February article that detailed Pentagon officials’ warnings about the risks of a military campaign against Iran.

  • The move comes as the Justice Department is pursuing investigations against reporters following complaints from President Trump about media leaks related to the Iran war last month.

  • According to officials, Trump is focusing on articles that provided details on how he arrived at his decision to launch the war, and what his advisers told him as he deliberated.

  • Sources revealed that prosecutors have sent subpoenas to media organizations and email and phone providers seeking information in leak inquiries over recent months.

  • The administration has also vowed to go after reporters who covered the downing of an American jet in Iran and the rescue operation that followed, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

» Trump Counterterrorism Strategy Links ‘Transgender Ideology’ to Violent Extremism

• The Trump administration’s new national counterterrorism strategy, released May 6, 2026, names “violent left-wing extremists” and “extremist transgender ideology” as among the top threats facing the country.

• Details:

  • Sebastian Gorka, the senior director for counterterrorism, also told reporters that the team is focused on online groups that are “inciting violence against innocent individuals” on both sides of the aisle.

  • “It’s also about the ideology, whether it’s against Western Civilization, America, the U.S. Constitution, our friends, our allies, peace in general, you fit under that rubric,” he added.

  • Gorka said the administration would use “all the tools constitutionally available to us” to identify members of political groups whose ideology is “anti-American, radically pro-gender or anarchist, such as antifa.”

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The Digital Age 🤖

» OpenAI Endorses U.S. Kids Online Safety Act

• OpenAI has endorsed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would require social media companies and other online platforms to implement stronger protections for children.

• Details:

  • The bill, first introduced in 2022, has been revised several times, though the current version requires platforms to allow minors to opt out of “addictive features” and algorithmic recommendations.

  • Platforms also have a “duty of care” to mitigate harmful content, including that which promotes eating disorders, suicide, and sexual exploitation under the Act.

  • OpenAI joins Apple, Microsoft, Snapchat, and X as endorsers of the bill.

» Denver Activist Sentenced to Jail for Doxing Police Commander

• A Denver activist, Regan Benson, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, two years’ probation, and a $1,000 fine for violating the state’s anti-doxing statute.

• Details:

  • Benson’s charges stem from a September livestream outside the District 3 police station, where she asked viewers to look up the home address of the Denver police commander, Joel Bell.

  • Benson suggested holding a “pig roast” there, and repeated the idea when users found the address, and read and repeated users’ suggestions for things to write in chalk outside the station.

  • After her sentencing, Benson vowed to appeal the decision, adding, “There’s a woman in jail right now for joking about a pig roast,” and that she never advocated for true threats.

• The Law:

  • The statute prevents the publishing of personal information of people with certain public-facing jobs in a way that creates a serious and imminent threat to their safety.

  • The person publishing such information should reasonably know if the information poses a threat under the law.

» LGBTQ+ Creators Fear Meta Is Suppressing Queer Content on Instagram

• LGBTQ+ creators and advocates are raising alarms about the suppression of queer and sexual-health-related content on Meta platforms, Instagram and Facebook.

• Details:

  • Sources have reported widespread concerns among queer influencers and advocates about moderation and algorithmic suppression.

  • Repro Uncensored, a group that tracks online censorship of reproductive and sexual health content, claims it documented the suspension of more than 100 queer and creative accounts in April alone.

  • A sex toy retailer’s account with more than 700,000 followers, Bellesa Boutique, was removed, sparking renewed backlash against Meta.

  • Meta maintains that the account violated its solicitation policies on more than three occasions and that every organization and individual is subject to the same set of rules.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» German Culture Minister Calls to Regulate YouTube’s Algorithm

• German Minister for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer argued in an op-ed that YouTube and other large social media platforms should face broadcast-style regulation — including rules governing algorithmic content promotion — because they now function like traditional television.

• Details:

  • Weimer wrote in the German newspaper Die Welt that when YouTube CEO Neal Mohan declared his platform “the new television” in 2025, the statement carried regulatory implications: platforms that shape public discourse as TV once did should face comparable rules.

  • He called for rules governing content “prominence” — meaning which content gets surfaced and recommended by algorithms — arguing that these decisions carry the same publication responsibilities as broadcast editorial choices.

  • Weimer also called for binding age verification, arguing that the current minimum age of 13 — derived from U.S. data protection law — is effectively meaningless without enforcement mechanisms.

  • He simultaneously advocated deregulating outdated rules for traditional broadcasters, including advertising limits designed for scarce TV spectrum that no longer make sense in a fragmented digital landscape.

  • The op-ed comes as the EU considers reforms to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) — the key EU law governing video content across member states — which could be expanded to cover large streaming and social media platforms.

» EU Moves to Crack Down on TikTok and Instagram’s ‘Addictive Design’ Targeting Children

• At the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children in Denmark, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the region will take action against “addictive design” features on TikTok and Meta’s platforms.

• Details:

  • “We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design — endless scrolling, autoplay, and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13,” Von der Leyen said.

  • The EU’s executive branch has also designed its own age-verification app that member states can integrate into their digital wallets, though it has sparked security concerns, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

» Meta Challenges UK Regulator Over Online Safety Fees and Fines

• Meta is challenging the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, in London’s High Court over how fees and penalties are calculated under the Online Safety Act.

• Details:

  • The Online Safety Act sets standards for social media platforms and allows Ofcom to fine companies up to 10% of their global revenue.

  • Meta is arguing that Ofcom’s approach is disproportionate and unlawful, as well as its policy that renders two or more providers owned by the same organization jointly liable for breaches.

  • “We believe fees and penalties should be based on the services being regulated in the countries they’re being regulated in,” a Meta spokesperson said.

  • The challenge is due to be heard in October.

» Finnish Lawmaker Appeals Hate Speech Conviction Over Decades-Old Pamphlet to ECHR

• Finnish member of parliament Päivi Räsänen is appealing her hate speech conviction over a decades-old pamphlet that referred to homosexuality as a “developmental disorder” to the European Court of Human Rights.

• Details:

  • The conviction focused on a pamphlet Räsänen published in 2004 titled “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relationships Challenge the Christian Understanding of Humanity,” as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • “[T]he scientific material unequivocally proves that homosexuality is a disorder of psycho-sexual development,” Räsänen wrote. “Those who claim that homosexuality is a natural ‘healthy’ variety of sexuality nullify the evidentiary value found in family background studies for political reasons.”

  • Räsänen was charged with “agitation against a minority group” in 2021 over a 2019 tweet that questioned her church’s sponsorship of an LGBTQ+ pride event, though she was acquitted twice by lower courts in 2022 and 2023.

  • Now, Räsänen says she feels it is her duty to appeal her conviction, and “to reinstate respect for the basic human right that all are free to peacefully express their views in the public square.”

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» California Bill Would Impose Jail Time on Protesters Near Houses of Worship

• A bill is moving through the California state legislature that would make it a crime to approach a person within 100 feet of a place of worship to hand out a leaflet, hold a sign, or “engage in oral protest.”

• Details:

  • Violators could face up to six months in jail, and up to a year if they violate the law twice.

  • The 100-foot buffer zone would apply to all houses of worship in the state, barring protesters from coming within eight feet of any person and handing them a pamphlet, showing a sign, or engaging in “oral protest or education.”

» Rutgers Disinvites Graduation Speaker After He Criticizes Israel

• Rutgers University has disinvited Rami Elghandour, a School of Engineering convocation speaker, after graduating students complained about his social media posts criticizing Israel.

• Details:

  • The university pointed to an April 20 post on X, where Elghandour accused Israel of carrying out a “genocide” in Gaza and alleged it was “training dogs to sexually assault prisoners.”

  • Afterward, the university released a statement that the invitation had been rescinded after discussing concerns with Elghandour.

  • The University Senate responded to the cancellation by voting to formally censor the dean of the engineering school for his “one-sided, opaque, and harmful” handling of the matter.

» Tunisia Sentences Prominent Journalist Zied el-Heni to One Year in Prison

• A Tunisian court has sentenced reporter Zied el-Heni, who was detained on April 24 after writing a post criticizing a judicial ruling, to one year in prison.

• Details:

  • El-Heni was convicted under Article 76 of Tunisia’s Telecommunications Code after he made a social media post criticizing the imprisonment of Khalifa Guesmi.

  • The post described the judiciary as a “conspiracy” that led to the wrongful imprisonment of both Guesmi and a national guard officer, who were later acquitted.

  • El-Heni said he would not appeal any ruling because he does “not recognize any outcome” resulting from an “illegitimate trial in which my rights are being violated.”

» El Faro Says El Salvador Froze Its Assets in Retaliation for Reporting on Bukele

• Salvadoran investigative outlet El Faro has revealed that the assets of two staff members were frozen, alleging that the freeze was retaliation against their work exposing corruption in President Nayib Bukele’s government.

• Details:

  • Tensions between Bukele and El Faro over its corruption investigations have played out in public, including when the outlet revealed that his administration had negotiated with gangs.

  • The move comes after the outlet released a documentary with PBV Frontline about the gang negotiations.

  • El Faro had previously been subject to Pegasus spyware surveillance, with researchers documenting that the phones of at least 22 of its employees were infected between June 2020 and November 2021 (revealed in January 2022).

  • In April 2023, El Faro relocated its legal and administrative base to Costa Rica — establishing the Fundación Periódica in San José — citing the deteriorating environment for independent journalism in El Salvador.

  • The May 2026 asset freeze shows that the Bukele government can still reach the outlet’s remaining in-country operations.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 FCC Commissioner Condemns Disney Stations’ Early License Review

— 🌍 RSF Report: Global Press Freedom at Lowest Point in 25 Years

— 🤖 Meta Threatens Shut Down of Instagram, Facebook in New Mexico

— 🇺🇲 U.S. Senate Considers Bill to Require ID Checks for AI Chatbots

— 🇲🇲 Myanmar Revokes Publishing Licenses of Three News Outlets

First of All 🇺🇸

» FCC Commissioner Condemns Disney-Owned Stations’ Early License Review

• Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Anna Gomez publicly condemned the agency’s initiation of an early review process for Disney-owned broadcast stations’ licenses as “the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date.”

• Details:

  • The criticism focuses on the FCC’s order directing Disney’s eight television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule following a controversial monologue from Jimmy Kimmel, a late-night host on Disney’s ABC network, as mentioned in last week’s Free Flow.

  • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly said that the agency has a duty to scrutinize whether broadcasters that rely on public airwaves are serving “the public interest.”

  • Gomez argued that the move, which comes after a separate FCC investigation into Disney’s diversity practices, is evidence that the Trump administration is attempting to intimidate critics in the media.

  • “This should be a lesson to media companies that no amount of capitulation to this Administration will buy them protection,” Gomez added. “The only choice is to stand up and stand firm in defense of the First Amendment.”

» FBI Launches Criminal Leak Investigation Over The Atlantic’s Reporting on Director Patel

• The FBI has launched a criminal leak investigation into The Atlantic magazine journalist who wrote that FBI Director Kash Patel had “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”

• Details:

  • The investigation comes two weeks after Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the publication and the reporter, Sarah Fitzpatrick, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • Criminal leak investigations typically look into government officials who may have disclosed state secrets or classified documents, which makes its application to this case, where unclassified information was leaked to a reporter, unusual.

  • The investigation could allow agents to obtain Fitzpatrick’s phone number, run her name and personal information through databases, and examine her social media contacts, though it is not known what steps have been taken.

  • A spokesperson denied the existence of the investigation to MS NOW, and said, “Every time there’s a publication of false claims by anonymous sources that gets called out, the media plays the victim via investigations that do not exist.”

  • Fitzpatrick’s story included over two dozen anonymous sources that detailed concern among FBI officials over Patel’s alcohol consumption.

» Federal Trade Commission Withdraws Appeal, Comes to an Agreement with Media Matters

• Media Matters for America has won its case against the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation into the organization last June.

• Context:

  • In June 2025, Media Matters sued to block the FTC’s investigation following its article about social media platform X’s placement of antisemitic posts next to major brands’ advertisements.

  • In August, the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. granted a temporary injunction blocking the agency from enforcing its investigation and determining it had likely acted with “retaliatory animus.”

  • Two months later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to stay the lower court’s decision, preventing the investigation from moving forward.

  • In April of this year, judges questioned the FTC’s counsel, asking that the FTC explain whether there was something “radically left” about being anti-Nazi.

  • The FTC later sought to withdraw its appeal and has now agreed to a binding agreement that guarantees it will never reissue investigative demands to the company.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Meta Threatens to Pull Instagram and Facebook from New Mexico Over Age-Verification Dispute

• Meta warned it may shut down Instagram and Facebook in New Mexico entirely rather than comply with a push by state prosecutors for fundamental changes to platforms’ child accounts.

• Context:

  • The push comes after a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for knowingly harming children’s mental health and concealing what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

  • The second phase of the case will unfold next week during a bench trial on allegations that Meta poses a public nuisance.

  • State prosecutors are now asking the court to order a series of changes to children’s social media accounts, including age-verification mandates, default privacy settings, and more stringent oversight.

• The Warning:

  • In a court filing, Meta argued it was unrealistic for the company to meet a proposed requirement for 99% accuracy in verifying that platforms’ child users are at least 13, among other demands.

  • “As a practical matter, this requirement effectively requires Meta to shut down its services — for all users in the state — or else comply with impossible obligations,” the filing read.

» U.S. Senate Panel Advances Bill to Ban Minors From AI Chatbot Companions

• A Senate committee unanimously advanced a bill that would prohibit minors under the age of 18 from accessing AI “companions” and require systems to disclose their “non-human status and lack of professional credentials” for all users.

• The GUARD Act:

  • The bill, known as the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act, defines an AI companion as a chatbot designed to simulate interpersonal or emotional interaction with the user.

  • It would also establish a new crime for companies that “knowingly” make chatbots that “solicit or produce sexual content” available to minors.

  • The Act proposes age-verification measures to ensure compliance, including the submission of government ID.

Our Take: In a statement to The Hill, Ashkhen Kazaryan said, “By mandating government ID or equivalent age verification for any American who wishes to interact with an AI chatbot, the bill burdens the speech and associational rights of every adult, not just minors.”

» Lawsuit Pushes Back on Minnesota Law Mandating Social Media Health Warnings

• NetChoice, a tech trade group, has filed a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota law that requires social media companies to show users health warning labels on their sites.

• Details:

  • The warnings provided in the legislation were designed by the Minnesota Department of Health and will be required to appear on social media users’ feeds on July 1 if the law is passed.

  • The lawsuit argues that the law violates platforms’ First Amendment rights by requiring them to express “the government’s preferred message.

  • Similar social media warning legislation has passed in states like California (effective Jan 1, 2027), New York (effective date pending state rulemaking), and Colorado, though a federal court has paused Colorado’s law after a similar lawsuit by NetChoice.

• Potential Required Warnings Include:

  • “Warning: The app may repeatedly show similar or upsetting content, which may negatively affect your mental health. Use tools (mute, unfollow, “not interested”) to change what you see. Support is available: Call/text 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org.”

  • “Warning: Infinite scrolling and videos that play automatically may make it difficult to stop. Extended use may affect sleep, school, work, and mood. Call/text 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org.”

  • “Comparing yourself to ‘perfect’ posts? Call/Text 988 or visit 988Lifeline.org. Warning: Many images are edited and may affect self-esteem and mood.”

» UK Children Are Drawing Fake Mustaches to Beat Online Age Checks — and It’s Working

• A report from Internet Matters reveals that a third of children in the UK claim to have bypassed online age checks in the past two months, some by drawing mustaches to trick facial recognition software.

• Details:

  • The report follows the passage of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which began enforcing safety measures, including reporting tools, content warnings, and restrictions on features such as livestreaming, in July 2025.

  • According to the report, 46% of children said they believe age checks are easy to bypass, while 17% said they are difficult to bypass.

  • Children described using fake birthdates, someone else’s identification, submitting videos of other people’s faces, and using video game characters to circumvent facial recognition software.

  • The report also found that 26% parents have allowed their child to bypass age checks, with 17% actively helping them to do so.

» Utah Law Targeting VPN Use Goes Into Effect

• On May 6, Utah’s first-of-its-kind law targeting the use of VPNs to avoid age-verification mandates took effect.

• Details:

  • Utah lawmakers pushed for the bill as VPN usage surged after Pornhub blocked Utah IP addresses from accessing the site because of the state’s age-verification law.

  • The bill, known as the Online Age Verification Amendments, includes provisions that regulate access to websites based on geographic location, regardless of VPN use, and bans the sharing of VPN instructions.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» EU Accuses Meta of Age-Verification Failures

• The European Commission’s preliminary ruling has found that Meta has failed to implement required safeguards to keep children under the age of 13 off its platforms, Instagram and Facebook.

• Details:

  • The ruling determined that there is no adequate system in place to identify and remove the accounts of minors who manage to bypass the platforms’ age limits.

  • Regulators said Meta’s tool for reporting minors is “difficult to use and not effective,” and that the lack of effective controls appears to violate the Digital Services Act.

  • Under the DSA, the commission can issue a fine of up to 6% of Meta’s worldwide revenue.

  • The findings come as the EU is investigating Meta on other issues, including whether its platforms have an addictive design, and a probe into its recommender systems.

» European MEPs Call for Sanctions Against Georgian TV Channels

• The European Parliament is due to vote on proposed amendments to its annual report on Georgia that call for sanctions against several pro-government broadcasters.

• The Amendments:

  • The amendments, published on March 19, call for restrictive measures against three Georgian TV channels: Imedi, Rustavi 2, and POSTV.

  • Another Amendment raises the possibility of extending sanctions to leaders of Georgia’s National Communications Commission and the Public Broadcaster.

  • Individuals from Imedi and POSTV who are explicitly named in the report for spreading “deliberately misleading information” about the war in Ukraine could also face sanctions.

• The Report:

  • The report describes the TV outlets as a “communications arm” of the ruling Georgian Dream party that spreads disinformation and hostile propaganda.

  • It focuses on campaigns targeting EU institutions and representatives, condemning “demeaning narratives” and “manipulative reporting” that undermine public trust in the bloc.

  • Georgia’s status as an EU candidate country is highlighted, with the report adding that such practice runs counter to the country’s commitments to obtain that status, and that disinformation undermines the fundamental principles of democratic accountability.

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index Shows Sharp Global Decline

• Reporters Without Borders (RSF) latest Press Freedom Index shows media freedom is at a 25-year low, with countries like the U.S. falling as many as seven places in the rankings.

• Findings:

  • Out of the 180 countries in the report, 100 experienced a decline in press freedom, and more than half of the countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ categories for press freedom.

  • The U.S. has fallen to 64th place, seven places below its previous ranking, which the report attributes to the Trump administration’s “systematic policy” of “repeated attacks on the press and journalists.”

  • The steepest decline took place in Niger, which fell 37th places to 120th, as a wave of suppression washed over the Sahel region with armed groups and ruling juntas attacking journalists.

  • Meanwhile, Syria saw positive improvements, rising from 177th to 141st, and Ukraine moved by seven places to 55th.

• Pushback from Hong Kong:

  • The Hong Kong government and legislature condemned the reports after it was ranked 140th.

  • The report cited the 20-year sentence given to journalist and activist Jimmy Lai, which the government said was an attempt to “sugarcoat the criminal acts of a national security offender.”

  • The government also called out Deutsche Welle after it awarded Lai its 2026 freedom of speech award, and said the “so-called ‘award’” was an attempt to “slander, smear, as well as attack” authorities.

» 50,000 Protesters Were Arrested During Iran’s Crackdown, Some Face Death Penalty

• Around 50,000 people were arrested in total during anti-regime protests across Iran in January that led up to the Iran war, with some facing charges that carry the death penalty.

• Details:

  • The United Nations reports that at least 21 political prisoners have been executed since the start of the war, and many were forced to confess under torture.

  • Primary reports have revealed that several thousand simply disappeared in custody as well.

» China Pressures Zambia to Cancel World’s Largest Digital Rights Conference

• Access Now, the group that organizes the world’s largest digital rights conference, RightsCon, has said the event was canceled following pressure from the Chinese government.

• Details:

  • A week before the conference was scheduled to take place in Lusaka, Zambia, the Zambian government announced it would be postponed to an unspecified date.

  • Two days before the announcement, Access Now learned that the Chinese government had been informed of the in-person participation of Taiwanese people.

  • It claims the Chinese government tried to influence the Zambian government’s approach to Taiwanese participants’ move across the border.

  • According to Access Now, it was told “informally from multiple sources” that “in order for RightsCon to continue, we would have to moderate specific topics and exclude communities at risk, including our Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation.”

» Myanmar Junta Revokes Publishing Licenses of Three Media Outlets

• Myanmar’s military junta revoked the publication licenses of three news agencies (Khonumthung Media Group, Chin World, and Myatmaukkhit News Agency) for publishing and broadcasting content detrimental to national security, the rule of law, and public peace.

• Details:

  • The revocation prohibits the news outlets from publishing or broadcasting on any media platform or technology.

  • The bans took effect on April 9 and were formally announced on April 24.

  • The Independent Myanmar Journalists Association told the Committee to Protect Journalists that several journalists associated with the banned outlets have gone into hiding to avoid arrest or harassment.

» Uganda Passes ‘Foreign Agents’ Law

• The “Protection of Sovereignty” bill, passed on May 5, criminalizes actions deemed to promote the “interests of a foreigner against those of Uganda” and labels anyone receiving money abroad as a foreign agent.

• Details:

  • The bill drew outrage among Ugandans, prompting lawmakers to remove a clause classifying Ugandans abroad as “foreigners” and creating an exemption for certain institutions, including medical, academic, and faith-based organizations, from restrictions on foreign funding.

  • Human Rights Watch said the bill’s vague language could be used to target activists and organizations, and risks shrinking civic space in a country already accused of suppressing dissent.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 Trumps Call on ABC to Fire Kimmel After Monologue

— 🇺🇸 DHS Announces Plan to Vet Immigrants for ‘Extremist’ Views

— 🇦🇺 Australia Says Platforms Fail to Apply Age-Verification Consistently

— 🇹🇳 Tunisia Suspends Rights Group and Protesters Rally for Press Freedom

— 🇦🇷 Argentina Blocks Journalists from Government Headquarters

First of All 🇺🇸

» Trumps Call on ABC to Fire Kimmel After Monologue, FCC Considers Early License Review

• President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump publicly called on ABC to immediately fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he joked that Melania had “the glow of an expectant widow.”

• Details:

  • Trump called the joke “a despicable call to violence” and wrote on social media that Kimmel “should be immediately fired” by ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney Co.

  • Melania Trump separately said, “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”

• Pressure from the FCC:

  • Following the incident, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order directing Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule.

  • According to Semafor, the agency is moving toward a review of the licenses, though “a person familiar with the FCC’s thinking” said the timing was not related to the monologue.

  • The company’s licenses have been threatened before, including this month when Chairman Brendan Carr criticized its diversity programs.

» DHS Announces Plan to Vet Immigrants for ‘Extremist’ Views

• The Department of Homeland Security has announced a new policy to scrutinize immigrants’ past statements for signs of “extremist views.”

• Details:

  • The policy would allow immigrants to be denied a green card for expressing political opinions, from participating in a pro-Palestinian protest to desecrating the American flag.

  • A spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that “espousing terrorist ideologies, expressing hatred for American values, advocating for the violent overthrow of the United States government, or providing material support to terrorist organizations” would warrant closer scrutiny.

  • In DHS training materials, a social media post that declares “Stop Israeli Terror in Palestine” and shows the Israeli flag crossed out was cited as an example of questionable speech.

• Context: The Trump administration has previously cracked down on pro-Palestinian movements by attempting to deport protesters, threatening to freeze funds for universities where protests were held, and vetting immigration applications for antisemitism as well as ‘anti-Americanism.’

» Ex-FBI Director Indicted Over Social Media Post

• Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted over a social media photo that officials argue constitutes a threat against President Trump.

• The Post:

  • The new indictment focuses on a photo Comey posted nearly a year ago of seashells arranged on a beach that he had seen on a walk, which spelled out “86 47.”

  • “86” is slang for “to get rid of” or “throw out,” and 47 alludes to Trump, the 47th president of the U.S. Officials accused Comey of advocating for the president’s assassination.

  • Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, and wrote, “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” and that he took the post down because he opposed “violence of any kind.”

  • He was then interviewed by the Secret Service and is now accused of “knowingly and willfully” making a threat to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the president, as well as transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.

  • The indictment does not provide evidence that Comey knowingly threatened Trump, but suggested that a “reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret” the message as a threat.

• Context:

  • The latest action follows a separate indictment against Comey on charges that he lied to Congress in 2020 about whether he had authorized providing information to a journalist about an investigation.

  • That indictment was dismissed after a judge determined that the prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

  • Comey’s relationship with the administration has been strained, with Trump firing Comey months into his first term as president amid an investigation that Comey was overseeing into whether Trump’s campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 election outcome.

» Emory Professors File First Amendment Lawsuit Over Campus Protest Arrests

• Three professors at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, have sued the institution over its decision to call in police to disperse a pro-Palestine campus protest, resulting in 28 arrests, arguing the crackdown violated their First Amendment rights and Emory’s own free-speech commitments.

• Details:

  • The complaint alleges Emory broke its own policies by calling in Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers to clear protesters, who had set up tents on the university’s main quad to protest the war, without seeking alternatives.

  • The lawsuit demands the university reimburse three students who paid to defend themselves against misdemeanor charges that were later dismissed, along with punitive damages.

  • One protester was charged with disorderly conduct after she yelled, “Stop!” at a police officer arresting a protester. Another was arrested on the same charge while trying to help an elderly woman.

  • Emory claimed that those arrested were trespassing on school property and not students, but 20 of 28 arrested individuals were affiliated with the university.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» California Advances Social Media Age Ban That Would Require Government ID From All Users

• California’s AB 1709, which would ban all users under 16 from social media platforms with ‘addictive features,’ has cleared two committees and is on track for a full Assembly vote next month.

• Details: Companies would be required to verify every user’s identity, regardless of age, before allowing access to their platforms, or risk penalties.

Our Take: “Democracies have always worried about dangerous ideas corrupting the young. Intellectuals and lawmakers should absolutely be concerned about how and when our children navigate social media,“ wrote Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff at the Wall Street Journal. “But they should also be concerned about whether, in our rush to protect our children, we are building an infrastructure of surveillance and censorship that will ultimately threaten the hard-won freedoms we want future generations to enjoy.”

» Australian Authorities Say Platforms Fail to Apply Age-Verification Consistently

• Australia’s eSafety Commissioner said that platforms’ weak deployment of age-assurance products, rather than the limits of the technology, is responsible for enforcement problems with the country’s social media ban for minors under 16.

• Details:

  • The findings push back against social media companies’ claims that continued underage access was a reflection of inadequate age-checking products.

  • The Commissioner flagged failures to verify ages at account setup, repeated attempts to verify ages until users pass, and continued reliance on self-declared ages as compliance gaps.

  • It is currently investigating Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Google’s YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat over suspected breaches of the ban.

  • The platforms face up to $49.5 million AUD in fines for each breach, and the government has said it is gathering evidence to support federal court action if compliance does not improve.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» Greece to Ban Anonymous Posts on Social Media

• Greece’s minister of digital governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, has announced that the government is moving forward with a plan to ban anonymity on social media.

• Details:

  • “The major problem behind anonymity is toxicity— anyone, especially on social media, can smear an individual and carry out character assassination without facing any consequences,” Papastergiou explained.

  • He added that platforms must be required to verify account identities, and that there are many technical ways to do so.

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Argentina Blocks Journalists from Government Headquarters

• Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has expelled reporters and the press corps from Casa Rosada, or the “Pink House” — the equivalent of the White House.

• Details:

  • A spokesperson for Milei said that the block, which affects roughly 60 reporters with press credentials covering Casa Rosada, was a “preventative measure” after footage filmed with smart glasses from inside the headquarters was aired on local TV channel Toda Noticias without authorization.

  • Casa Rosada security is also suing the network for “illegal espionage,” though a journalist from the network claims they had notified press officers of their filming plans in advance.

  • The footage showed accessible parts of the Casa Rosada that had already appeared on TV.

• Previous Attacks on Media:

  • The government had constrained the media’s movements in the building last year, capping attendance at news briefings and barring certain wings of the headquarters.

  • Six accredited media outlets were barred from entering Casa Rosada and the lower house of Congress this month following accusations of involvement in Kremlin-backed disinformation.

  • Milei has taken to X to insult journalists multiple times, with 86 written posts and 874 re-shares between April 2 and 5th alone, including a re-share of a post asking him to designate the press as a terrorist organization.

  • He has also filed defamation suits against at least eight journalists in the last year, and encouraged his allies to do the same.

» Tunisia Suspends Rights Group and Protesters Rally for Press Freedom

• In the latest crackdown on civil society, Tunisian authorities have ordered a one-month suspension of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, one of Africa’s oldest rights groups.

• The same day, dozens of people demonstrated outside the Tunisian journalists’ union’s headquarters in Tunis, the country’s capital, demanding press freedom.

• The Suspension:

  • The President has frequently cited foreign funding as grounds for suspensions, claiming it is a threat to Tunisia and is used to stir unrest.

  • The suspension follows similar measures targeting rights groups over the past year.

  • It also comes shortly after a journalist, Zied El-Heni, was detained for 48 hours over a Facebook post, highlighting a pattern of arrests and legal pressure.

• Public Backlash:

  • Protesters gathered to support Mourad Zeghidi, a columnist, and his colleague, Borhen Bsales, who have been in detention since 2024 for spreading false news.

  • The pair faced later charges of money laundering and tax evasion, and were sentenced to three and a half years in prison in January 2026.

» Bangladesh Arrests Four For Criticizing the Government on Social Media

• Bangladesh has arrested at least four individuals for social media content criticizing the government.

• Arrests:

  • Hasan Nasim:

    • Nasim was arrested on April 17 after following a police complaint from a ruling party supporter about his post of a cartoon that depicted a government lawmaker and quoted a joke he had made in parliament.

    • A case was filed against him relating to online blackmail, prompting a local newspaper to ask, “How can a joke made in a public forum, printed in newspapers, and a cartoon based on that joke constitute blackmail?”

    • Nasim was granted bail on April 21.

  • Sawoda Sumi:

    • Sumi was arrested on April 5 for allegedly posting comments on Facebook that were deemed “anti-government.”

    • Sawoda was arrested under section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Bhola municipality, southern Bangladesh, which allows arrest without a warrant if authorities have “credible information” of a “cognizable offense.”

    • She was granted bail two days later.

  • Azizul Haque:

    • Haque was arrested after ruling party supporters filed a complaint about a post on his Facebook page featuring a controversial depiction of the Prime Minister.

    • A magistrate upheld his detention on April 1, and the police said, “We can arrest him immediately. He has been spreading misinformation about the Prime Minister.”

  • Shaon Mahmud:

    • Mahmud was abducted by members of the ruling party’s youth wing and turned over to the police for “insulting” the Prime Minister on Facebook.

» U.S.–Kuwaiti Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin Acquitted After Nearly Two Months in Detention

• A Kuwaiti court has acquitted U.S.–Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin of all charges following roughly seven weeks in detention for publishing footage of a US Air Force plane crashing west of Kuwait City, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

• Details: Press freedom groups note that while the acquittal is a positive outcome, the prolonged detention itself represents a significant press freedom violation and a potential deterrent for other journalists covering sensitive topics in the region.

» CPJ Sounds Alarms About Belarus’ Surveillance and Doxxing of Exiled Journalist

• The Committee to Protect Journalists has sounded alarms following an April 2 broadcast by a state-owned TV channel in Belarus that exposed the address and phone number of an exiled investigative journalist, as well as personal information on about 20 other journalists.

• Details:

  • STV host Raman Pratasevich claimed that Stanislau Ivashkevich, the director of the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC), has “led to entire sectors of the Belarusian economy being added to the sanctions list.”

  • He disclosed Ivashkevich’s phone number and address, released private recordings of him and his son, and shared video instructions on how to access the apartment where he is currently residing in Warsaw.

  • Pratasevich also listed 12 exiled journalists he said are working with BIC and shared their dates of birth and departure from Belarus, as well as 4 exiled journalists who left BIC in 2023 to form an investigative outlet known as Buro Media.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 FBI Director Files Defamation Suit Against The Atlantic for $250 Million

— 🇭🇺 EU Top Court Strikes Down Hungary’s LGBTQ Law

— 🇪🇺 EU Age-Verification App Sparks Criticism Over Security Risks

— 🇬🇧 20+ Arrested in Australia Protesting Ban on ‘Antisemitic’ Phrases

— 🇹🇷 Turkey Arrests Journalist Under ‘Disinformation’ Law

First of All 🇺🇸

» FBI Director Files Defamation Suit Against The Atlantic for $250 Million

• FBI Director Kash Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick over an article alleging that he has “alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”

• Context:

  • The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Fitzpatrick’s article falsely portrays Patel as “a habitual drunk, unable to perform the duties of his office” and “a threat to public safety.”

  • Patel threatened to sue The Atlantic before publication, telling the magazine, “I’ll see you in court — bring your checkbook.”

  • The lawsuit claims the publisher “published these statements with actual malice,” and Patel’s lawyers say that it ignored pre-publication denials and “failed to take even the most basic investigative steps” that “would have easily refuted their claims.”

  • A spokesperson for The Atlantic called the suit “meritless” and said it will “vigorously defend” its reporting and journalists. Fitzpatrick, in an MS NOW interview, said she stands by “every word of this reporting.”

• The lawsuit comes a day before a federal judge dismissed a separate lawsuit of Patel’s that alleged former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi defamed him by saying he had been more visible at nightclubs over the past year than the bureau’s headquarters.

» Federal Judge Rules for ICE App Creators in First Amendment Case

• A federal judge in Illinois has granted a preliminary injunction to the creators of two ICE-monitoring projects, finding they are likely to succeed on First Amendment claims that the Trump administration illegally coerced Apple and Facebook into removing them.

• Details:

  • Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in favor of Kassandra Rosado, creator of the ICE Sightings – Chicagoland Facebook group, and Kreisau Group, developer of the Eyes Up phone application.

  • Both projects used publicly available information to track ICE activity. Similar apps, including ICEBlock and Red Dot, were also removed from Apple’s App Store and Google Play following pressure from officials.

  • The lawsuit cites social media posts by former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem demanding — and taking credit for — the removals. Judge Alonso called those posts “thinly veiled threats.”

» U.S. to Bar World Cup Attendees Who ‘Fostered Antisemitism’ Abroad

• Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, announced that the United States will bar foreign nationals, including European politicians, accused of “fostering antisemitism” in their home countries, from attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

• Details: Kaploun framed the restriction as a use of visa-issuance authority, saying, “Coming to this country is a privilege. It’s not a right.”

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Federal Judge Blocks Reworked Arkansas Minors Social Media Law

• A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Arkansas law restricting minors’ social media access, finding that the plaintiff, tech industry trade group NetChoice, was likely to succeed on multiple First Amendment challenges.

• Details:

  • U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks said the challenge against the vagueness of a provision of the law prohibiting platforms from engaging in “addictive practices” was likely to succeed.

  • He also said that other parts of the law, including a requirement that platforms maintain certain default settings for minors, such as ceasing notifications during specific time windows and requiring stronger privacy and safety settings, are likely not consistent with the First Amendment.

  • “Imposing small burdens on vast quantities of speech for no appreciable benefit is not consistent with the First Amendment,” Brooks wrote, “Arkansas cannot sentence speech on the internet to death by a thousand cuts.”

  • The order follows Brooks’ decision in December to grant a temporary block against Act 901 of 2025, another social media law in Arkansas that would have allowed parents to sue platforms if exposure to content on their sites resulted in their child developing eating disorders, committing or attempting suicide, or becoming addicted to the app.

» DOJ Refuses to Assist French Prosecutors Investigating Grok

• The U.S. Department of Justice has informed French authorities that it will not contribute to an ongoing French investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, and accused them of trying to use the country’s legal system to regulate the public square of ideas “in a manner contrary to the First Amendment.”

• Context:

  • The two-page refusal letter follows a raid of X’s offices in France as part of an investigation into its algorithms, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • X is also currently under investigation in the EU over whether the company “properly assessed and mitigated risks” in its AI model, Grok.

  • In February, the platform appealed a $120 million first-of-its-kind fine issued by the EU for violating the Digital Services Act.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» EU Top Court Strikes Down Hungary’s Anti-LGBTQ Law

• The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Hungary violated EU law when it banned children from accessing LGBTQ+ content.

• Details:

  • The case stems from a 2021 law restricting or banning the “promotion” of homosexuality and gender transition in media accessible to children.

  • Last year, the Hungarian government banned Pride events and authorized police to use biometric cameras to identify organizers and attendees, despite pressure from EU officials against the law.

  • The Court said the legislation “consistute[s] a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights,” including freedom of expression.

  • As Peter Magyar prepares to replace Prime Minister Viktor Orban next month, he can seek financial penalties if Hungary fails to comply with the judgment.

Our Take: European courts have a long record of being pretty mediocre when it comes to protecting free speech. But in this case, the CJEU decision is laudable and should be welcomed by everyone concerned about creeping censorship in Europe. — Jacob Mchangama.

» EU Rolls Out Age Verification App, Cybersecurity Experts Say It Takes 2 Min. to Hack

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the EU’s age-verification app for online platforms is ready and will soon be available across member states, escalating Europe’s push to restrict minors’ access to social media.

• However, cyber and privacy experts reported several issues with the app’s design after reviewing the source code.

• The App:

  • The app is designed to provide a centralized age-verification layer that platforms can use to comply with national and EU-level age-based access rules, reducing the need for platforms to collect additional identity data themselves.

  • Users will need to upload a passport or ID card to confirm their age anonymously when using the app.

  • The rollout comes as at least a dozen European countries, including non-EU nations such as Britain and Norway, have enacted or are considering legislation setting minimal age limits for social media use.

• Security Issues:

  • Security consultant Paul Moore found the app would store sensitive data on a user’s phone and leave it unprotected. He claims to have hacked the app in under 2 minutes.

  • Baptiste Roert, a prominent French white-hat hacker, said it was possible to bypass the app’s biometric authentication, allowing people to access the app without entering a PIN or using Touch ID.

  • “It’s a good thing they made the app open source for experts to try and test it,” said Oliver Blazy, a cryptographic researcher who is part of a French task force on digital identity. “The problem is the released source code does not meet cybersecurity standards we would expect for such an important app.”

» England Universities Could Face £500,000 Fines Under New Free Speech Complaint System

• The Office for Students (OfS) has planned a new system that could leave England’s universities that fail to protect free speech subject to £500,000 or 2% of institutional income, and in some cases, loss of public funding.

• Details:

  • From next April, the system will allow the OfS to fine universities for breaches of their duties under the Freedom of Speech Act, which came into force in August 2025, and requires universities and colleges in England to promote academic freedom.

  • University staff, external speakers, and non-student members can report free-speech concerns to the Department for Education (DfE) under the new system, which the DfE said would “empower more people to raise concerns confidently.”

  • The DfE will investigate these complaints and can recommend that universities review decisions, pay compensation, or improve their processes.

  • Students raise their concerns about free speech to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Over 20 Arrested in Australia While Protesting Ban on ‘From the River to the Sea’

• Queensland police arrested more than 20 people over a weekend of protests in Brisbane against new state laws banning the phrases “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada,” which carry a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

• Details:

  • Twenty people were arrested on Saturday for reciting or displaying the prohibited phrase, though police advised protesters that “similar words to the banned phrases” were “not captured by the legislation.”

  • Justice for Palestine spokesperson Magan-djin told reporters that according to that advice, “if we say… ‘between the river and the sea,’ we should be fine.”

  • “This is how absurd these laws are,” the spokesperson added. “But they are also dangerous,” and the organization would be coordinating a high court challenge to argue that the law is invalid under the Australian Constitution.

  • Premier David Crisafulli denied the laws amounted to a crackdown on free speech, claiming the proscribed phrases constitute a call for genocide and drawing a link to the Bondi terror attack.

• Other Instances:

  • At least two more were arrested the day after during a march on Parliament House.

  • Moments after the Justice for Palestine spokesperson’s comments, a protester led a chant of “From the river to the sea” and was arrested within minutes. Those who responded with “Palestine will be free” were not.

  • Stephen Heydt, a Jewish man, was charged for wearing a t-shirt that said “Jews for a free Palestine from the river to the sea” and for chanting the banned phrase.

  • Premier David Crisafulli denied the laws amounted to a crackdown on free speech, claiming the proscribed phrases constitute a call for genocide and drawing a link to the Bondi terror attack.

» Turkey Sentences Veteran Journalist Under ‘Disinformation’ Law

• An Istanbul court has sentenced a veteran Turkish journalist to two years and six months in prison on charges of “spreading misleading information” under the country’s disinformation law.

• Details:

  • The case against Zafer Arapkirli, a columnist for the opposition daily BirGün, stemmed from posts he made on X about internal clashes in Syria following the 2024 overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

  • Turkey backed the rebel offensive that toppled Assad, and has since forged ties with Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leadership.

  • The court acquitted Arapkirli of a separate charge of inciting hatred and enmity. In a parallel case, a separate panel sentenced three other journalists to prison terms over a discussion of alleged Turkey–Israel trade on an opposition television program.

• Context:

  • Turkey’s 2022 “disinformation” law makes the dissemination of “misleading” information punishable by up to three years in prison, extending earlier media regulations to online publications and social media.

  • “When the law was introduced in 2022, authorities claimed it would not be used against journalists,” Arapkili said. “In reality, however, it is now being used precisely against them.”

  • Arapkili added that jail sentences of three years or less are rarely enforced in Turkey, but are a tactic to “create obstacles and restrict our work,” and he plans to appeal.

» Algeria Re-Arrests Freelance Journalist Hassan Bouras

• Algerian provincial security forces have arrested journalist Hassan Bouras and conducted a raid on his home, confiscating his laptop.

• Context:

  • Bouras is known for reporting on corruption and human rights violations, and is a former member of the dissolved Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights.

  • He has faced legal harassment since 2003 and been arrested 3 times, before his most recent sentence to two years in prison in November 2022.

  • On April 13, an investigating judge in northwestern Algeria ordered Bouras’ detention pending an investigation into four accusations that have not yet been disclosed.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Abigail Pope is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a student at Vanderbilt University studying economics.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Reddit Over Anti-ICE Posts

— 🤖 India Proposes New Digital Rules to Regulate Online News

— 🇫🇷 France Debates Bill Criminalizing Calls for Israel’s Destruction

— 🇷🇺 Masked Agents Raid Novaya Gazeta, Arrest Journalist

— 🇰🇼 US-Kuwaiti Journalist Detained Over Social Media Posts

First of All 🇺🇸

» Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Reddit Over Anti-ICE Posts

• Reddit has been ordered to appear before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., as part of an investigation into an anonymous user who posted criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

• Details:

  • The company received an administrative summons, also known as an administrative subpoena, last month to provide the name, address, phone number, and other personal data associated with the anonymous account.

  • On March 4, Reddit received an initial summons from an ICE agent stating, “You are requested not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time,” and that failure to comply could result in prosecution.

  • The agent requested more than a month’s worth of electronic data from the anonymous account, though an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California notified the user’s attorneys that the government was withdrawing its request.

  • Four days later, on March 31, Reddit received an order from a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in D.C. to appear before a grand jury.

• Context:

  • Administrative subpoenas do not require judicial approval and have increasingly been used to target online critics of the Trump administration, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

  • Reddit reports that from January to June 2025, it received its highest volume of requests for users’ data, and 66% of those came from U.S. agencies.

  • This included 423 subpoenas and 27 court orders, and several were categorized as “other/unknown investigation types.” Reddit disclosed user data in 82% of the cases.

» Meta Vows Appeal of Social Media Verdicts, Warns of Free Speech Erosion

• Meta has announced it will appeal jury verdicts in social media addiction cases — including a $375 million award in New Mexico and a $4.2 million award in California — arguing the cases should not have been brought under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

• Details:

  • In New Mexico, Meta was held liable for misleading customers about the safety of its platforms.

  • In California, a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM alleged that the platforms contributed to her depression and suicidal thoughts through addictive design.

  • Ethan David, BP and Head of Global Litigation Strategy at Meta, said that courts have repeatedly recognized that “you cannot hold a platform liable based on the content that’s on that platform or on that platform’s publishing decisions” under Section 230.

  • “We think these cases threaten to erode fundamental principles of free speech,” he added.

• The appeal comes as Massachusetts’s highest court ruled that the state can sue Meta over allegations that its platforms are too addictive to minors.

Our Take: “When courts recharacterize editorial judgments as product defects, they dismantle [federal law] without a single legislative vote and expose every platform that displays user content to broad liability,” Ashkhen Kazaryan recently told the Boston Globe. “If these precedents stand, this might lead to the end of the open Internet as we know it.”

» Trump Defamation Suit Against Wall Street Journal Dismissed, Can Be Refiled

• A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Trump against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch, ruling that Trump did not plausibly allege the “actual malice” required under the First Amendment precedent.

• Details:

  • Trump claimed the newspaper had defamed him when it published a story saying he had sent a “bawdy” 50th birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier.

  • Plaintiffs who are public figures have to show that a defendant made the alleged defamatory statements with actual malice.

  • Judge Darrin Gayles found that Trump’s complaint “comes nowhere close to” the standard for actual malice.

  • The court gave Trump until April 27 to refile an amended complaint.

» Kansas Legislature Overrides Veto to Enact KIRK Act

• The Kansas legislature has overridden the governor’s veto to enact the KIRK Act (Kansas Intellectual Rights and Knowledge Act, named after Charlie Kirk), which imposes new regulations on student protests at public universities, including the University of Kansas.

• The KIRK Act:

  • Imposes fines of at least $500 and $50 per day on universities for policies that violate the act or prevent organizations from protesting on campus.

  • Allows schools to place time, place, and manner restrictions on protests, but requires that students are able to “spontaneously and contemporaneously assemble or distribute literature.”

  • Generally makes any outdoor area on campus an eligible spot for protests and limits universities’ ability to designate specific “free speech” zones.

  • Limits when schools could charge a group a security fee for providing police officers or other similar services.

  • Requires schools to submit an annual report detailing any incidents or disruptions related to campus gatherings.

  • Requires universities sued over a matter involving a protest or gathering to submit a separate report within 30 days of the lawsuit’s filing.

  • Extends protections of religious student organizations to “political or ideological” student organizations, allowing these groups to deny membership if the leaders suspect an individual does not “sincerely” hold the same core beliefs.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Meta Tightens Restrictions on ‘Antifa’ Content

• Documents obtained by The Intercept indicate that Meta has updated its Community Standards policy to impose new limitations on posts that include the word “antifa.”

• Details:

  • The company now treats any “content that includes the word ‘antifa’ as a potential rules violation,” if it appears alongside content that Meta deems a “content-level threat signal.”

  • Under the new rules, any “visual depiction of a weapon,” “reference to arson, theft, or vandalism,” or “military language,” can trigger a threat signal if accompanied by the word “antifa.”

  • Uses of “antifa” will also be penalized if mentioned in “references to historical or recent incidents of violence,” including “historic wars” and “battles.”

  • Comments could be hidden or suppressed, or accounts could be fully banned for violating Meta’s Community Standards.

  • Meta spokesperson pointed to a recent transparency report that noted the company would “remove QAnon and Antifa content when combined with content-level threat signals.”

» Massachusetts House Passes Social Media Ban for Minors

• The Massachusetts House has passed legislation requiring platforms to prohibit kids under 14 from having social media accounts without parental consent.

• Details:

  • The bill would allow parents to consent to minors’ use of platforms.

  • However, it would also ban students from using cellphones throughout the school day.

  • It defines “social media platform” as public websites, apps, and online services that display “content primarily generated by users and allow users to create, share, and view user-generated content with other users.”

  • Email, text messaging, and telecommunications are excluded.

» India Proposes New Rules to Regulate News and Political Posts on Social Media

• India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has proposed new amendments to the Information Technology Act that would give the government broader authority to regulate news-related and political content on social media platforms.

• Details:

  • The proposed rules would subject “users who are not publishers” who share content related to “news and current affairs” to the Act’s “code of ethics” currently applicable to registered news publishers.

  • The proposal arrives as India’s government faces growing criticism for using existing IT rules to compel takedowns of content critical of Prime Minister Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

» India Cracks Down on Satirists Mocking Prime Minister Modi

• Indian authorities are targeting political satirists and cartoonists who mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi, using legal pressure and content-removal orders to suppress criticism that has flourished online since the government’s handling of the Iran conflict.

• Details:

  • The crackdown has hit accounts that post memes, cartoons, and parodies of Modi.

  • Political cartoonist Satish Acharya is among those who have faced legal threats. Social media accounts, including that of commentator Dr. Nimo Yadav, have been suspended after government complaints.

  • Under India’s IT rules, platforms face a three-hour deadline to remove content flagged by the government as an emergency, a timeframe critics say makes meaningful review impossible.

» Apple Removes Jacky Cheung Tiananmen Song from China Store

• Apple has removed a song by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung that references the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre from its Chinese platform.

• Context: Apple has consistently complied with Chinese content restrictions, including removing the Taiwanese flag emoji from Chinese iOS devices, removing all VPN apps from the App Store, and moving Chinese iCloud users’ data from its servers to a state-owned telecom company.

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The Brussels Effect 🇪🇺

» France Debates Bill Criminalizing Calls for Israel’s Destruction

• French lawmakers are preparing to vote on a government-backed bill that would criminalize calls for the destruction of Israel as a form of antisemitism.

• Details:

  • The bill, known as the “Yadan law” after its sponsor, lawmaker Caroline Yadan, would broaden the scope of two charges: incitement to terrorism and glorification of terrorism.

  • Under current law, only “direct” incitement to terrorism is punishable — but this would extend it to acts that “implicitly” incite terrorism.

  • The phrase “from the river to the sea” would also be considered a call for Israel’s destruction.

  • It would also make it an offense to glorify a perpetrator of terrorism, not just the acts of terrorism themselves.

  • Additionally, the bill creates a new offense of publicly calling for the “destruction of a state recognized by the French Republic,” which is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.

  • The existing offense of Holocaust denial would be expanded to cover any “denial,” “downplaying,” or “gross trivialization” of crimes against humanity.

  • A petition with more than 500,000 signatures has called on MPs to reject the bill, and the National Assembly is obliged to consider holding a debate on the demand.

• Elsewhere: France’s law comes as Italy seeks to become the first country to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism into law, which includes certain criticisms of Israel.

» European Commission Reviews Whether ChatGPT Falls Under Digital Services Act

• The European Commission is examining whether OpenAI’s ChatGPT should be classified as a very large online search engine under the Digital Services Act, which would subject the AI chatbot to enhanced transparency and risk-assessment obligations.

• Details: The assessment follows OpenAI’s revelation that ChatGPT has reached more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU, a key criterion for stricter oversight under the DSA.

» First Results Published Under EU Hate Speech Code of Conduct

• The first results under the revised Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech + were published, including platforms’ self-assessed data and that of independent monitors.

• Details:

  • The Code forms part of the co-regulatory framework under the EU’s Digital Services Act.

  • The monitoring period ran from early November until mid-December 2025, and measured how quickly platforms respond to allegations of illegal hate speech and how they address hateful content.

  • The assessment found that all signatories of the Code, with the exception of X, either disputed allegations or classified them as errors.

  • A significant number of cases classified as errors appear to result from monitoring reporters using the incorrect reporting channels.

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Belarus Parliament Passes Anti-LGBTQ+ ‘Propaganda’ Bill

• The Belarusian parliament has passed a bill that imposes penalties for promoting LGBTQ+ causes.

• Details:

  • Under the legislation, “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender charge, refusal to have children, and pedophilia” would be punishable by fines, community labor, and a 15-day arrest.

  • The bill now heads to President Alexander Lukashenko for his signature and is expected to become law.

» UK Museum Censors Exhibition Catalogs After Chinese Printer’s Demands

• The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) censored content in exhibition catalogs after its Chinese printing company, C&C Offset Printing, suggested it be replaced.

• Details:

  • For the Music is Black exhibition catalog, the V&A wanted to use 1930s illustrations of British trade routes, but an email from the printer said that Beijing’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) had rejected them.

  • “...there is a China border here, and we need to use the standard maps from the Chinese government,” the email read, “Our suggestion is to delete this map or use another image.”

  • In 2021, the V&A pulled a map it intended to use in a catalog and removed a photograph of Lenin because Chinese printers said it could be deemed “sensitive” by GAPP.

  • The V&A said the changes were “minor” and that they consider on a case-by-case basis where to print books and catalogs to “maintain close editorial oversight.”

» Masked Russian Agents Raid and Arrest at Novaya Gazeta

• Masked Russian security agents have raided the Moscow offices of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and arrested its executive director, Oleg Roldugin.

• Details:

  • The newspaper claims it was not informed of the reason for the search, and that its lawyers were not allowed to enter the building.

  • Russia’s Interior Ministry later confirmed that the search was part of an investigation into the “illegal use, transfer or storage of information containing personal data.”

  • It added that a “group of individuals” had obtained and used personal information in news articles and online content that “painted a negative picture of Russians.”

  • Employees of the newspaper are under investigation in addition to Roldugin.

» Detention of US-Kuwaiti Journalist Raises Alarm Over Kuwait’s Press Crackdown

• US-Kuwaiti dual national journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait since March 3 after he published footage of a US Air Force plane crashing in Al Jahra, west of Kuwait City.

• Details:

  • Shihab-Eldin reported on his Substack that the three US planes were shot down by Kuwait air defenses the day before in a friendly fire incident in which none of the pilots were killed.

  • Campaigners fear Shihab-Eldin will be charged under new security laws being introduced in Kuwait and in a new security court.

• New Security Laws:

  • Several Gulf states are using anti-terror laws to restrict publicity about attacks on infrastructure during the Iran conflict.

  • Kuwait has passed two new laws, including one that defines terrorism as spreading terror among the people by endangering the safety and security of society.

  • Another proposes fines and sentences on anyone who “publishes statements or spreads false rumors in relation to military entities…”

  • This includes statements intended to weaken the military’s confidence, diminish its prestige, cast doubt on its existence, or undermine its morale.

» Thai Journalists Sued for Reporting on Minister’s Bribery Case

• Journalists in Thailand are facing lawsuits for reporting on a government minister’s bribery case.

• Context:

  • The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment sued Hathairat Phaholtap, editor in chief of the Isaan Record, over Facebook posts citing the publication’s report that Thai politicians were involved in trafficking Thai berry pickers.

  • The report also claimed that politicians accepted bribes from brokers supplying Thai workers to a Finnish berry company.

  • The Minister then filed a separate claim against Kowit Phothisan, another editor at the Isaan Record, for sharing the posts.

» Kazakhstan Court Convicts 19 Anti-China Protestors

• A court in Kazakhstan has convicted all 19 defendants in a case linked to a protest demanding the release of a naturalized Kazakh citizen who has been detained in Xinjiang, China, since July 2025.

• Details:

  • The protest took place in November of last year near the border between the two countries.

  • In videos of the protest, defendants can be seen burning small Chinese flags and a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping, while chanting slogans against the President, the Chinese Communist Party, and calling for the release of the Kazakh citizen.

  • The court found the group guilty of “inciting interethnic hatred.”

  • Several received five-year prison sentences, while others were placed under state supervision, with limits on movement, residence, and daily activities.

  • All 19 are banned from engaging in political activity for three years.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Abigail Pope is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a student at Vanderbilt University studying economics.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 Trump Threatens to Jail Journalists Over Iran Fighter Jet Leak

— 🇮🇪 Ireland Tests Digital Wallet for Social Media Age Verification

— 🇬🇷 Greece to Block Social Media for Minors Under 15

— 🇫🇷 French MEP Detained Over “Apology for Terrorism” Charges

— 🇭🇺 Hungary Files Espionage Charges Against Investigative Journalist

First of All 🇺🇸

» Trump Threatens to Jail Journalists Over Iran Fighter Jet Leak

• President Trump has threatened to imprison journalists who reported details about a missing airman following the downing of a U.S. fighter jet by Iran.

• Details:

  • Trump said that he would pursue whoever leaked information about the second airman, and said, “We’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security. Give it up or go to jail.’”

  • The pilot of the aircraft was recovered within several hours, while the “back seater” was stranded in Iranian territory until April 5, when he was recovered by American forces.

  • The President said the government had hoped to keep the second airman’s status a secret to prevent him from being captured or killed in Iran.

» University of Alabama Closes Student Magazines, Prompting Free Speech Lawsuit

• The University of Alabama has shuttered two student-run magazines for discrimination. This prompted a lawsuit alleging the university violated students’ First Amendment rights by silencing independent student media.

• Details:

  • On December 1, the university immediately suspended Alice, a women’s lifestyle magazine, and Nineteen Fifty-Six, a magazine named for the year Autherine Lucy became the first Black student to enroll at UA.

  • University officials argued the magazines were “unlawful proxies” for discrimination on the basis of race or gender, discriminating against groups that do not belong to the magazines’ respective target audiences, Black and female students.

  • The Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the ACLU of Alabama have filed a federal lawsuit against the magazines’ suspension.

  • The case comes amid a memo from former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, which outlined “best practices” for institutions receiving federal funding to avoid the “significant legal risks” of engaging in programs that may discriminate.

  • Gabrielle Gunter, the editor-in-chief of Alice, said, “Every single magazine has a target audience. The problem with Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice is that our target audiences are groups this presidential administration doesn’t like.”

» Missouri Senate Passes Anti-SLAPP Bill to Shield Free Speech

• The Missouri Senate has passed a bill aimed at combating strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), joining a growing number of states with anti-SLAPP protections.

• Details:

  • The legislation would replace Missouri’s current Anti-SLAPP laws with the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, and allow defendants to seek early dismissal of cases against speech or journalism tied to matters of public concern.

  • The motion to dismiss would pause discovery and other proceedings while a court reviews the order, and allow a defendant to recover damages if the motion is approved.

  • The bill now heads to the Missouri House for consideration.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» White House Requests Satellite Imagery Providers to Indefinitely Withhold Images

• Planet Labs, a satellite imaging firm, told customers that it would indefinitely withhold imagery of Iran and the conflict region in the Middle East to comply with a request from the U.S. government.

• Details:

  • The decision comes after the company imposed a 14-day delay on imagery of the Middle East, which it said was to prevent adversaries from using images to attack the U.S. and its allies.

  • It said it will withhold imagery dating back to March 9, and that the policy will likely remain in effect until the end of the conflict.

  • While satellite technology is used for military purposes, including target identification, weapon guidance, missile tracking, and more, it also helps journalists and academicians study hard-to-reach places.

  • Planet Labs said it will release imagery on a case-by-case basis for urgent, mission-critical requirements or for public interest.

» Arizona Considers Requiring Parental Consent for Minors’ Social Media Use

• Arizona lawmakers are considering banning social media for children under 16 without parental permission.

• Details:

  • The latest versions of House Bill 2991 and Senate Bill 1747 require app stores to “determine or estimate” the age of new and existing users, and prevent users under 16 from downloading or accessing pre-downloaded apps without parental consent.

  • App developers would be expected to rely on app stores’ age findings and comply with the minimums.

  • Developers would also have to provide safeguards and parental controls for accounts held by minors, which could include daily time limits and restrictions on the sharing of users’ geolocation data.

  • Companies that violate the rules could face civil lawsuits from minors or their families for “actual damages,” or $1,000 per violation, whichever is greater.

  • If the violation was “egregious,” companies could face punitive damages, and the attorney general could seek a civil penalty of up to $75,000 per violation.

» Greece to Block Social Media for Minors Under 15

• Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said the country is expected to ban social media for children under 15.

• Details:

  • Although the legislation has not yet passed, it has little opposition and is expected to take effect in January 2027.

  • Mitsotakis said the government does not want to distance children from technology, which can be a source of inspiration and knowledge, but that “the addictive design of certain applications…has to be stopped at some point.”

  • Mitsotakis did not specifically name any of the social media companies that would be subject to the legislation, though officials later said the ban would apply to messaging apps.

  • Officials also added that the goal is to use Kids Wallet, a state-backed mobile app installed on children’s devices and linked to their parents’ accounts, to restrict access to social media.

  • Kids Wallet is already being used by parents to limit children’s screen time and restrict the purchase of age-restricted goods such as alcohol and tobacco.

» Ireland Tests Digital Wallet for Social Media Age Verification

• Ireland has begun testing a government-issued digital wallet that would verify users’ ages before granting access to social media platforms.

• Details:

  • The wallet must be implemented by the end of 2026 to comply with the European Union’s Online Safety Code, which requires platforms to implement effective age-verification measures.

  • According to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalization, people can store digital copies of their birth certificates, driving licenses, health cards, and more in the digital wallet.

» Judge Dismisses X’s Antitrust Lawsuit Over Advertiser Boycott

• A judge has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit brought by Elon Musk against the World Federation of Advertisers and major brands, including Shell, Nestle, Colgate, and Mars, for allegedly colluding on an ad boycott on X, his social media platform.

• Background:

  • Advertisers had created the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to moderate the content appearing around their ads, and had sent letters to Musk threatening collective action if he did not honor their brand safety standards.

  • Musk alleged that the advertiser-controlled initiative was conspiring to tank the app’s revenue and censor conservative viewpoints because he had cut the platform’s content moderation teams and disbanded its Trust and Safety Council.

  • U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle found that X failed to show that consumers were harmed, a required element for an antitrust claim, and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning X cannot refile.

  • Boyle also said that the advertisers “merely decided that they would not buy from X their own advertising need” out of concern for brand safety, and that they did not attempt to “control the social media advertising market” or work together.

  • The ruling could affect Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against Media Matters for America, whose reporting he says prompted the boycott.

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» Hungary Files Espionage Charges Against Investigative Journalist

• The Hungarian government has filed criminal espionage charges against Szabolcs Panyi, a prominent investigative journalist, for alleged spying activities in coordination with a foreign country.

• Details:

  • Panyi was investigating Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto’s communications with Moscow when he was secretly recorded speaking to a source.

  • Media tied to Hungary’s government published the recording in edited form, and Panyi can be heard confirming the phone number that Szijjarto used.

  • The Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Panyi has “spied against his own country in cooperation with a foreign state,” and that his role as a journalist was a cover.

  • Panyi, who had been targeted by military-grade spyware produced in Israel in 2021, denied sharing Szijjarto’s phone number with a foreign state and any wrongdoing.

  • In 2024, Panyi spoke at our Global Free Speech Summit and said that “[Hungary] is not in the business of trying to kill journalists. They are in the business of trying to kill stories by putting spyware on journalists’ phones so that they can identify our sources, and possibly they can intimidate our sources and prevent whistleblowers from contacting journalists.”

Our Take: “Charging journalists with espionage for investigating their own government is not the conduct of a liberal democracy,” The Future of Free Speech posted in a statement on social media expressing support for Szabolcs. “It is the conduct of the autocratic states that Panyi himself has spent his career documenting.”

» French Prosecutors Open Hate Speech Probe Against CNews Channel

• The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into French news channel CNews for alleged racist comments made about Bally Bagayoko, the newly elected Black mayor of the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.

• Details: Bagayoko filed a complaint alleging that the comments made on the channel on March 27 and 28 constituted racial slurs, which are punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to €45,000 ($52,000).

» French MEP Rima Hassan Detained Over ‘Apology for Terrorism’ Charges

• French-Palestinian Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan has been detained by French authorities on charges of “apology for terrorism” in connection with social media posts that expressed solidarity with Kōzō Okamoto, a Japanese terrorist.

• Details:

  • Okamotio was responsible for the massacre of 26 passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.

  • This is not the first time Hassan has been accused of condoning terrorism, as her statements about the Israel-Gaza conflict have repeatedly come under fire.

  • Though she said Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, was “morally unacceptable,” she has drawn criticism from several parties in France’s political establishment for continuing to describe Hamas’ armed resistance against Israel as “legitimate from the perspective of international law.”

  • Her post was brought to French prosecutors by Hassan’s fellow French lawmaker, Matthias Renault, who posted, “Finally, the beginning of the end of impunity for the France Unbowed lawmaker!”

  • Hassan is now being held for condoning terrorism, as well as drug use, transportation, and possession, after nearly 2 grams of synthetic drugs were discovered in the bag she had brought to fulfill her summons at a Paris police station.

» Spain Rules LaLiga Players’ Protest is Legal

• Spain’s National Court has ruled that players protesting the plans of LaLiga, a professional football league, were legally exercising “their right to freedom of expression.”

• Details:

  • The players did not play for the first 15 seconds of matches in games played over October 17-20, in protest of LaLiga’s proposal to move a scheduled match between Villarreal and Barcelona from Spain to Miami, Florida.

  • LaLiga sued, alleging the players’ protest was illegal, but the National Court found that the protest “did not constitute a strike” and was a protected expression.

  • The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE)— the players’ union— highlighted that the ruling was based on an article of the players’ collective bargaining agreement, which gives professional footballers the “right to freely express their thoughts on any matter and, in particular, on matters related to their profession, with no limitations other than those derived from the law and respect for others.”

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Mass Arrests in the Middle East Amid Crackdown on Coverage of Conflict

• UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned of an escalating crackdown on coverage of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, highlighting the arrest of nearly 2,350 people in Iran since February 28.

• In Iran:

  • Those arrested face national security charges, including terrorism, dissent, alleged espionage, and ‘cooperation with the enemy.’”

  • The Commissioner added that many of these people face expedited proceedings and the risk of execution, with eight people already put to death.

• In the Gulf:

  • In Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, 313 and 109 people have been detained, respectively, “in relation to the filming or sharing of information, among other charges.”

  • 35 people in the UAE have been sent for “expedited trial,” among them individuals who circulated footage showing Iranian strikes.

  • At least 4 critics were reportedly arrested in Jordan.

  • In Kuwait, a new decree imposes prison terms and steep fines for circulating content that seeks to “undermine the prestige of the military” or public trust in it.

  • Public prosecutors in Bahrain have sought the death penalty for individuals accused of espionage.

• In the Occupied West Bank:

  • Israeli authorities announced the detention of 200 Palestinians between February 28 and March 6, including for posts made on social media, suspicion of “incitement,” and “glorification of the enemy.”

  • A 44-year-old Palestinian high school principal was physically assaulted by Israeli authorities, who also vandalized his home, for a post he reportedly published expressing support for Iran.

» IPI Report Shows Widening Crackdown on Independent Journalism in Sahel States

• A new report by the International Press Institute has documented intensifying threats to independent journalism following a series of military coups in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

• Key Findings:

  • Military rulers across the Sahel have weaponized cybercrime laws to arrest and jail journalists, blocked or suspended dozens of local and foreign media outlets, and even forcibly conscripted critical reporters into military service in Burkina Faso.

  • Niger has emerged as the region’s leading jailer of journalists, with multiple reporters currently imprisoned under cybercrime charges for covering security-related topics, including refugee conditions and the activities of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.

  • French media outlets, including Radio France Internationale (RFI), France 24, and LCI, have been suspended or banned in Mali and Burkina Faso.

  • Burkina Faso has also blocked the BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, and Le Monde—many of which remain inaccessible.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Abigail Pope is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a student at Vanderbilt University studying economics.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇸 SCOTUS Rejects Colorado’s Conversion Therapy Ban

— 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s Social Media Ban Takes Effect

— 🇫🇮 Finnish MP Convicted for Hate Speech

— 🇹🇷 Censorship in India Spikes Amid Iran War

— 🇮🇱 Israeli Soldiers Assault and Detain CNN News Crew

First of All 🇺🇸

» Supreme Court Sides with Therapist in Challenge to Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

• The U.S. Supreme Court has, by an 8-1 vote, remanded Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors to lower courts, instructing it to apply strict scrutiny and stressing that it would likely fail on grounds of viewpoint discrimination.

• Details:

  • Licensed counselor Kaley Chiles went to federal court to challenge the 2019 law, arguing that she tries to help clients “with their stated desires and objectives in counseling,” which can include reducing unwanted sexual attractions or behaviors.

  • A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit found that the ban regulated conduct that happened to involve speech and used the least stringent test for constitutional challenges, the “rational basis” test, allowing the state to continue enforcing the law.

  • Writing for the majority, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch stressed that the ban “censors speech based on viewpoint,” and that although it addresses conduct, it “regulates what [Chiles] may say” as well as “what views she may and may not express,” and stressed the high likelihood that it would fail the strict scrutiny.

» Federal Judge Rules Trump Violated Free Speech by Ordering NPR Defunded

• A federal judge has found that President Trump’s executive order barring federal funding for NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment and is “unlawful and unenforceable.”

• Background:

  • The order singled out the two broadcasters and accused them of not presenting “fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” and revoked $1.1 billion in congressionally-approved public media funding.

  • Justice Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the order “singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs.”

  • “It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Moss added.

  • White House spokesperson called it “a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge,” and the Trump administration said it would appeal.

» Judge Blocks Pentagon’s Ban on Anthropic, Cites First Amendment Retaliation

• A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to stop the Pentagon from labeling AI company Anthropic a “supply chain risk” and halted the Trump administration’s ban on federal use of its technology, citing likely First Amendment retaliation.

• Details:

  • The designation followed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s announcement that he would not allow the company’s AI model, Claude, to be used for autonomous weapons or citizen surveillance, as detailed in a previous Free Flow.

  • District Judge Rita Lin found that the government’s actions were likely motivated by retaliation for Anthropic’s public statements, which drew scrutiny to the government’s contracting position.

  • Lin stayed her order against the Department of Defense’s designation, which would have effectively barred the company from government contracts, for seven days, giving the government an opportunity to appeal.

  • “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government,” the order said.

» Tennessee Library Board Fires Director for Refusing to Move LGBTQ Books

• The Rutherford County Library Board in Tennessee has voted 8-3 to fire library system director Luanne James for refusing to comply with its order to relocate more than 100 LGBTQ+ books from the children’s to the adult section.

• Context:

  • On March 16, the board voted to move the books, with Board Chairman Cody York arguing it is dangerous and inaccurate to tell children that boys can be girls and girls can be boys.

  • Two days later, James emailed the board saying she would not move the books, arguing that doing so would violate her and county residents’ First Amendment rights and compromise her professional obligation to prevent government-mandated viewpoint discrimination.

  • “Librarians should not be used as a filter for political agendas,” James said in a statement read by her attorney after her firing, “I stood up for the right to read, standing for the citizens of Rutherford County.”

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Austria Plans Social Media Ban for Children Under 14

• Austria’s governing coalition has announced plans to ban social media use for children under 14, joining a growing list of countries imposing age-based restrictions on platform access.

• Details:

  • The proposal would prohibit children under 14 from accessing social media platforms, though specific enforcement mechanisms have not yet been detailed.

  • If enacted, Austria would join Australia, which implemented an under-16 ban late last year.

  • The announcement comes as Australia’s communications watchdog said this week that social media firms must better enforce the country’s under-16 ban, noting that one-fifth of Australian minors continue to use platforms like Snapchat and TikTok, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

» France Moves Closer to Social Media Ban for Children Under 15

• France’s Senate approved a proposal to restrict social media access for children under 15, advancing President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge amid broader European efforts to regulate minors’ online activity.

• Background:

  • France has long pushed stricter controls on youth access to social media, including a 2023 law requiring parental consent for minors under 15—though it never took effect due to conflicts with EU law.

  • The National Assembly’s earlier version of the bill mandates that platforms delete existing underage accounts and block new ones, and bans mobile phones in high schools.

  • The Senate’s version proposes a two-tier system distinguishing between harmful platforms (which would be banned) and others accessible with parental consent, while exempting educational services.

  • Ongoing EU-level debates over age verification systems—and broader Digital Services Act (DSA) constraints—have complicated national efforts to regulate access.

  • Lawmakers remain divided between the Assembly and Senate versions, requiring a compromise before implementation—likely delaying enforcement.

  • Key questions remain unresolved, particularly around how platforms will verify users’ ages without infringing privacy or creating new barriers to access.

» Indonesia’s Social Media Ban for Minors Takes Effect

• Indonesia’s ban on social media for children under 16 has officially taken effect, making it one of the latest countries to impose age-based restrictions on platform access.

• Details:

  • The ban, Regulation of the Minister of Communication and Digital No. 9 of 2026, 5, took effect on March 28, and requires social media platforms to block accounts belonging to users under 16.

  • Authorities have already summoned officials from Google and Meta over compliance failures with the new law.

  • TikTok and Roblox have also received warning letters that said they showed “partial compliance,” and the country’s minister of communication and digital affairs, Meutya Hafid, said that “if they still fail to demonstrate full compliance,” they will be summoned as well.

  • The government has not specified what penalties under the law could be, but has previously stated they would include warnings, administrative fines, temporary suspension, and “termination of access” to the local market.

Our Take: In an X thread about Indonesia’s social media ban, Jacob Mchangama argues, “Just as proponents of free speech should take seriously the very real challenges that social media brings about for children, childrens’ advocates should acknowledge that their policy proposals have real consequences for free expression and that good intentions do not equal good outcomes.” To read more about the dangers of social media age restrictions, read Jacob and Jeff Kosseff in the Wall Street Journal.

» India Sees Spike in Social Media Censorship Amid Iran War

• Internet watchdogs documented a surge in takedowns of social media content critical of the Indian government’s response to the Iran conflict beginning on March 11, with at least 42 instances recorded by March 19.

• Background:

  • India’s legal framework allows authorities to issue takedown orders for national security or public order reasons, though these requests or the reasoning behind them are not made public.

  • Removed content included political cartoons, satire, opposition messaging, and commentary questioning New Delhi’s silence on U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran.

  • Affected voices ranged from cartoonists and journalists to opposition figures, parody accounts, and even a retired Air Force officer.

» Iran Cracks Down on Starlink Sellers as Internet Blackout Continues

• Iranian authorities have arrested dozens of people for alleged involvement in a network that sold Starlink satellite terminals, which have enabled people to access the internet and communicate during ongoing internet blackouts.

• Context:

  • The internet has been nearly completely blacked out in Iran for more than a month, following shutdowns during anti-government protests beginning in December, and throughout the ongoing conflict with the U.S. and Israel.

  • Iranians are attempting to circumvent the blocks, including by using Starlink satellite-internet terminals developed by SpaceX, despite the fact that such attempts could result in capital punishment.

  • Authorities have reportedly seized 139 Starlink devices and arrested 46 people accused of selling the terminals.

  • Information and Communications Technology Minister Sattar Hashemi signed a document escalating operations to locate Starlinks, citing public leaks of government files detailing its strategy to target resellers.

  • This comes as bombing, power outages, and overstretched emergency services are taking a toll on the nation’s infrastructure in addition to its censorship system.

  • Regime-approved communication, which the nation’s censorship systems were designed to protect, has also degraded, and local data centers and “white SIM cards,” as mentioned in a previous Free Flow, are no longer working.

» Brazil Proposes Targeting Online Misogyny as Senate Advances Criminalization Bill

• Brazil is proposing a new decree to combat misogyny online, while the Federal Senate advances legislation that would criminalize misogyny with prison sentences of up to five years.

• Background:

  • The decree, led by Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security, is part of the National Pact Brazil Against Femicide, responding to a reported rise in coordinated online harassment and misogynistic content.

  • At the same time, Brazil’s Federal Senate has approved a bill that would classify misogyny as a criminal offense, defined as conduct rooted in beliefs of male supremacy.

  • The bill would incorporate misogyny into existing laws governing prejudice and discrimination, akin to provisions in Brazil’s Law of Racism.

  • Lawmakers backing the bill point to rising violence against women, citing thousands of femicide cases and attempted femicides in 2025 alone.

• The Decree would:

  • Establish a heightened duty of care for platforms

  • Require rapid removal of illegal content, particularly non-consensual intimate material

  • Create reporting mechanisms for victims

  • Impose corporate liability for coordinated harassment campaigns

  • Ban AI-generated sexualized or manipulated content (e.g., deepfakes)

• The Senate Bill:

  • Criminalizes misogyny with 2–5 year prison sentences

  • Applies to online abuse, including threats and harassment directed at women

  • The Senate rejected proposed exemptions for speech framed as “free speech” or religious expression

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The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» Finnish MP Convicted for Hate Speech

• Finland’s supreme court has, in a 3-2 vote, convicted Christian Democrat Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen of inciting hatred after she republished a pamphlet on social media claiming that homosexuality was a “developmental disorder.”

• Background:

  • Räsänen first published the pamphlet in 2004, and republished it on Facebook in 2019 and on her website in 2020.

  • Lower courts had acquitted her of all charges. The Supreme Court reversed those acquittals and fined her €1,800.

• Reaction:

  • Finnish government ministers from Räsänen’s party and the nationalist Finns Party immediately called for freedom of speech protections and legislative changes.

  • The minister of justice, Leena Meri, said the law was “not sufficiently precise and especially not predictable as required by the principle of legality in the criminal code,” and that, “It is very difficult for people to know what is prohibited and what is permitted.

  • Räsänen said she would consider appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Israeli Soldiers Assault and Detain CNN News Crew

• A CNN team reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir was detained and physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers.

• Background:

  • The Foreign Press Association (FPA), representing hundreds of journalists in Israel and Palestine, condemned the attack and said the crew clearly identified themselves as press.

  • Israeli soldiers reportedly pointed rifles at the CNN crew and nearby civilians, ordered journalists to stop filming, and threatened to confiscate their equipment.

  • According to the FPA, a soldier placed CNN photojournalist Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera.

  • CNN confirmed the account, while the FPA rejected the idea that the incident was a misunderstanding, calling it a direct attack on press freedom.

  • The IDF said the episode would be investigated, with a spokesperson stating the conduct did not reflect military standards and apologizing for the incident.

» China Tries Artist in Secret Trial Over Sculptures Mocking Mao

• A prominent Chinese artist, Gao Zhen, stood trial on Monday in a closed-door proceeding for allegedly “slandering” Mao Zedong through satirical sculptures. This trial highlights the Chinese government’s continued crackdown on artistic and historical expression.

• Background:

  • China criminalized speech that “tarnishes” official historical narratives in 2018, with expanded penalties in 2021 allowing prison sentences of up to three years.

  • Authorities have increasingly used these laws against journalists, comedians, and online commentators critical of the Communist Party’s version of history.

  • Gao Zhen’s work—created over a decade ago—includes irreverent depictions of Mao, addressing taboo subjects such as the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen Square.

  • Gao was tried in secret after more than 18 months in detention, with authorities barring public access and even denying entry to a U.S. diplomat.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Justin Hayes is the Director of Communications at The Future of Free Speech and the Managing Editor of The Bedrock Principle.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 Pentagon to Remove Media Offices after Court Rules Against Press Limits

— 📱 Meta and YouTube Held Liable in Social Media Addiction Trial

— 🇬🇧 UK Fines 4Chan Over Age Verification Failures

— 🇨🇳 Hong Kong Book Shop Arrested Over ‘Seditious’ Publications

— 🇬🇳 Guinea Decree Dissolves 40 Political Parties

First of All 🇺🇲

» Rapper Prevails in Defamation Suit Brought by Police

• Rapper ‘Afroman’ has prevailed in a defamation lawsuit brought by Ohio police who raided his home in 2022 on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, whom he had mocked in music videos and social media posts.

• Background:

  • Half a dozen armed officers from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office raided the home of Afroman, whose legal name is Joseph Foreman, on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, though no evidence was yielded or charges filed.

  • Foreman claims that the officers broke his gate and security surveillance wiring, took $400 in cash, and frightened his wife and kids, then 10 and 12, who were present during the raid.

  • According to Afroman, he asked himself, “as a powerless Black man in America, what can I do to the cops,” and found that the only solution was to “make a funny rap song about them.”

  • This was the starting point for his 14-track album, Lemon Pound Cake, which includes songs like “The Police Raid,” “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera,” and more, and features footage of the raid he recorded on his home surveillance system in the music videos.

  • Afroman also posted memes and sold merchandise satirizing the incident, criticizing deputies’ appearances, and even making more serious allegations related to extramarital affairs and pedophilia amongst department members.

• The Lawsuit:

  • Afroman maintained that his reaction to the raid was “the smartest, most peaceful solution,” but law enforcement officers alleged that his unauthorized use of likenesses hurt their reputations and interfered with their official duties and sued him for $3.9 million in damages.

  • A jury agreed with Afroman’s lawyers that his response was protected speech, and commenters have even remarked that the trial has backfired, drawing more attention to the content.

» Pentagon to Remove Media Offices After Court Finds Its Press Limits Unconstitutional

• The Defense Department has said it plans to remove media outlets’ office spaces from the Pentagon after a federal judge found that recent press restrictions on reporters’ access to the building are unconstitutional.

• Context:

  • Dozens of reporters sacrificed their Pentagon access credentials by refusing to sign a revised press pass policy that required journalists to pledge not to gather information that has not been expressly authorized for release, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • The New York Times sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon in December, claiming the new policy violates journalists’ constitutional rights.

  • On March 20, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., ordered the Pentagon to reinstate the credentials of 7 Times journalists and struck down some of the agency’s restrictions on reporting.

• What’s Next:

  • An area of the Pentagon known as the “Correspondents’ Corridor,” which reporters have used to cover the U.S. military for decades, will immediately close.

  • Journalists will eventually be able to resume work from an “annex” outside the building, though it is unclear when the annex will be available.

  • The Times has said it intends to take the Pentagon back to court. The Defense Department is appealing Friedman’s decision.

» ICE Officers Taking DNA Samples From Protesters

• Several protesters arrested by ICE officials while observing officers’ activity, who have not been charged, have told NPR that officers took samples of their DNA.

• Details:

  • NPR reviewed footage from an individual named Ben, who was on the side of the road filming officers when he was tackled, held down, and dragged into their vehicle.

  • He was then held in custody for three hours, where officers collected his DNA sample by swabbing his mouth with a Q-tip.

  • Ben suffered broken ribs and blunt chest trauma from the impact.

  • Five other people described similar occurrences under oath as part of lawsuits against the Trump administration: that they were arrested seemingly without provocation while protesting ICE, and then had officers take or attempt to take what appeared to be a sample of their DNA.

• The Risks:

  • It is unclear where the samples acquired from protesters are ending up or how they are being used, and administration officials continue to deny the existence of a protester database.

  • Previously, DNA specimens collected by immigration officers were stored in a national FBI database, and local law enforcement agencies could access these tests, which can reveal broad information about a person, including their likelihood of having certain personality traits.

» Nashville Reporter Released on Bond from ICE Custody

• Estefany Rodríguez Flórez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias, has been released from ICE custody after she was detained on March 4, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

• Details:

  • Rodríguez was accused of violating her visa conditions, although her attorneys have cited court records showing that she lawfully entered the U.S. and has applied for political asylum and legal status through her husband, who is a citizen.

  • She also has a valid work permit and no criminal history, and her attorneys argue that she was targeted for her reporting that was critical of ICE.

  • Flórez was held in the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, and released on $10,000 bond.

  • The habeas case against her allegedly warrantless arrest will continue, including claims that her First Amendment rights were violated in retaliation for her critical reporting of ICE activity.

» FIU Student Sues University Over Investigation into Group Chat

• Florida International University law student Abel Carvajal has sued the school over its investigation into an offensive group chat he created with conservative students and leaders.

• Details:

  • The Miami Herald and The Floridian reported on the leaked WhatsApp conversations, where variations of the N-word were mentioned more than 400 times, and descriptions of ways to violently kill Black people were included.

  • Following the controversy, Carvajal resigned as secretary of the Miami-Dade Republican Party and received notice from FIU that he was being investigated for creating and managing the group chat in which “individuals posted statements threatening to harm others.”

  • Carvajal’s lawsuit argues that FIU’s investigation constitutes viewpoint discrimination and that “no illegal speech or categories of unprotected speech” were included in the group chat.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Meta and YouTube Held Liable in Social Media Addiction Trial

• A California state court jury has found both Meta and YouTube liable in a lawsuit accusing the platforms’ design and operation of harming their child users.

• Background:

  • The case was brought by a 20-year-old known as “KGM” in documents, who claims her addiction to social media exacerbated her mental health struggles.

  • Meta and Google’s YouTube were the only two remaining defendants in the case, following settlements by TikTok and Snapchat.

• In Court:

  • Lawyers for KGM argued that design features intended to “hook” young users, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and notifications, amounted to negligence in causing her harm.

  • Jurors were told not to consider the content of the posts and videos KGM was exposed to per platforms’ liability shields provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • The juries found that the companies acted with malice and awarded KGM $3 million in damages, while they head back to decide on punitive damages.

• In another case in New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms.

Our Take: Separating “addictive design” from editorial judgment shouldn’t be a workaround for the First Amendment and Section 230. The real causality, if this trend continues, won’t be Meta or YouTube, which can bear the costs, but small and mid-sized companies that can’t. — Ashkhen Kazaryan

» Kentucky Social Media Ban under 16 Bill Advances

• HB 227, a Kentucky law that would ban children under 16 from accessing social media sites without parental consent, has passed the House and awaits a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

• Details:

  • The legislation would require sites with $1 billion in annual ad revenue to verify users’ ages at account setup.

  • Platforms would be required to estimate the ages of users who have used the platform for 25 or more hours within the first six months of the legislation’s enforcement.

  • Users’ ages must be re-estimated after every 100 hours spent on the platform, though users with more than 7 years of continuous use on a specific platform will be exempt from estimation.

  • If companies have 80% confidence that the user is over 15, the account can be considered “adult,” and if a user is a minor with parental consent, platforms must disable addictive features and profile-based advertisements.

  • Users identified as minors who have not provided parental consent will have 30 days to dispute account deletion or provide consent.

  • The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Lockett (R-Nicholasville), defended the legislation against free speech concerns, arguing the bill doesn’t contain restrictions on specific content and is “100% content neutral.”

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK Regulator Fines 4Chan Over Age-Verification Failures

• 4chan, an image-board website, has been fined £450,000 ($602,360 USD) by the UK’s internet regulator Ofcom for failing to comply with age-check requirements under the Online Safety Act.

• Details:

  • 4chan faces an additional £50,000 (approx. $66,920 USD) fine for failing to assess the risk of users encountering illegal material.

  • It also faces a £20,000 (approx. $26,770 USD) fine for failing to specify in its terms of service how users are to be protected from such content.

  • These come after 4chan was previously fined £20,000 for failing to respond to Ofcom’s requests.

  • The company has until April 2 to implement age-assurance measures, conduct a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of the risk of illegal harm, and rewrite its terms of service.

  • If it fails to do so, it could face daily penalties of up to £20,000.

  • 4Chan has refused to pay all previous fines from OfCom, and the company’s lawyer, Preston Byrne, responded to the demands with an AI-generated cartoon image of a hamster.

  • “In the only country in which 4Chan operates, the United States, it is breaking no law and indeed its conduct is expressly protected by the First Amendment,” Byrne wrote on X.

» EU Commission Investigates Snapchat Under DSA

• The European Commission has launched an investigation into Snapchat over concerns that the social media platform isn’t doing enough to protect kids under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

• Details:

  • Although it is Snapchat’s own policy to require users to be at least 13 to use the platform, the commission said Snapchat’s “age assurance” system is “insufficient” at effectively enforcing this age requirement.

  • Under the DSA, platforms must deliver an “age-appropriate” experience to users under 17, which the Commission argues Snapchat cannot do without effective age-verification systems in place.

  • The Commission alleged Snapchat may not be doing enough to protect minors from being contacted by “users with harmful intent, such as sexual exploitation or recruitment for criminal activities.”

  • The app is also accused of not adequately scrubbing underage users’ feeds of content about illegal or restricted products, including drugs, vapes, and alcohol.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Hong Kong Book Store Staff Arrested Over ‘Seditious’ Publications

• Four staff members at an independent book shop in Hong Kong have been arrested on suspicion of selling ‘seditious’ titles, including a biography of Jimmy Lai, a convicted activist.

• Details:

  • “Knowingly selling a publication that has a seditious intention” is a criminal offense under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

  • Violators of the offence could face up to seven years behind bars, and 10 years if they are found to have colluded with an external force.

  • National security police reportedly arrested the staff and raided the bookstore, known as Book Punch, seizing allegedly seditious publications.

» Guinea Government Dissolves 40 Political Parties

• Guinea’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization announced the dissolution of 40 political parties for their “failure to meet their obligations,” stripping them of their legal status and banning them from political activity, including the use of their names, logos, emblems, and other symbols.

• Details:

  • The decree has sparked backlash from the country’s main opposition figure, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who accused President Mamadi Doumbouya of trying to build a “party state.”

  • Several political parties and media outlets have been suspended, and numerous opposition leaders and civil society figures have been arrested or exiled under Doumbouya’s rule.

» Russian Authorities Thwart Protests Over Telegram Restrictions

• Authorities in nearly a dozen regions across Russia have refused to authorize protests over the blocking of the messaging app, Telegram, and internet blackouts.

• Details:

  • Officials have used various excuses to block rallies, including “tree inspection,” snow removal, ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, and even claims that the protests have no underlying cause.

  • Activists have scaled back protests into smaller, indoor gatherings, even if demonstrations are not focused on the war, while some have gone to court to challenge officials’ refusals.

  • This is the latest example of such demonstrations being limited or restricted, from protests against the jailing of local activists, cattle culling, labor demands, car registration fees, animal cruelty, and more.

  • An activist from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk said that the city has allowed small, authorized rallies because “the authorities are trying to give people an opportunity to vent, so that the tension doesn’t build up.”

  • However, even there, protesters against internet censorship were arrested at a square that did not even require authorization for demonstrations, but had been taped off for a purported “tree inspection.”

» CNN Segment Discussing Chinese Censorship Censored in Real-Time

• While CNN’s Beijing correspondent, Mike Valerio, began describing topics that trigger censorship in China, the feed was interrupted with colored bars that say “Please stand by.”

• Details:

  • Valerio warned audiences in China about what they would see if their feeds were censored, and as he went on to discuss how President Trump’s strikes in Iran are perceived to serve Chinese interests, viewers in China saw their feeds interrupted in the exact way Valerio described.

  • “Anddd we’re being censored right now, just so you know,” Valerio reported, “Color bars are up,” while the feed to U.S. audiences was uninterrupted.

  • The footage shows the real-time capabilities of Chinese monitoring and censorship, as Valerio’s interview with Elex Michaelson was repeatedly cut as soon as they mentioned specific topics.

» Filmmaker on Trial in Turkey for Screening Armenian Genocide Film

• Rojhilat Askoy, a Kurdish filmmaker, has gone on trial on charges of “publicly insulting the Turkish nation and state institutions” for screening “Aurora’s Sunrise,” an animated film about the Armenian genocide, in Turkey.

• Details:

  • Turkish courts have previously ruled that using the term “Armenian genocide” is a protected expression, and have acquitted two journalists of similar charges in July 2024.

  • However, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Diyarbakir province indicted Askoy, citing scenes and dialogues that portrayed the events of 1915 as genocide.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Ashkhen Kazaryan is a Senior Legal Fellow at The Future of Free Speech, where she leads initiatives to protect free expression and shape policies that uphold the First Amendment in the digital age.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 FCC Chair Threatens Broadcast Licenses Over ‘Fake News’ on Iran War

— 🇦🇺 20% of Australian Minors Continue to Use Social Media After Ban

— 🇷🇺 Russia Tests Internet Shutdown Systems in Moscow

— 🇬🇧 UK Urges Social Media Platforms to Strengthen Age-Verification

— 🇬🇪 Georgia Legislative Package Targets Foreign Cooperation and Public Criticism

First of All 🇺🇲

» FCC Chair Threatens Broadcast Licenses Over ‘Fake News’ on Iran War

• Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has warned broadcasters that their licenses could be revoked for “running hoaxes and news distortions” about the Iran war, prompted by President Trump’s criticism of media coverage of the conflict.

• Details:

  • In a post on X, Carr wrote that “broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions— also known as fake news— have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals.”

  • Carr posted the message in response to a post from President Trump that criticized media coverage of an attack on U.S. air tankers in Saudi Arabia.

  • “None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines,” Trump wrote, specifically calling out two newspaper outlets: The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times (outlets that are not regulated by the FCC).

  • In another Truth Social post, Trump posted: “The story was knowingly FAKE and, in a certain way, you can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”

  • In an interview with CBS News, Carr said that anyone “that doesn’t like, you know, the contours of the licenses” can turn to cable or streaming services, but that “there is something unique about being on the broadcast airwaves.”

  • Carr added that while there was no imminent effort to reassess broadcast licenses, ongoing investigations, such as FCC probes into ABC over the equal time rule and into Comcast and its subsidiary, NBC Universal, over diversity equity, and inclusion policies, could serve as a reason to demand early license renewal.

  • Commissioner Anna Gomez, the FCC’s sole Democratic member, reacted to Carr’s post and said, “Such threats violate the First Amendment and will go nowhere. Broadcasters should continue covering the news, fiercely and independently, without fear of government pressure.”

Our Take: “It’s important to remember that the government does not need to revoke a single license to change what gets reported, how a story gets framed, or whether a producer decides a particular piece is worth the headache. They just need to flex their muscles and point the editorial winds in the direction they want them to blow,” wrote Ashkhen Kazaryan at The Bedrock Principle. “That is why the Supreme Court, case after case, has held that government pressure designed to alter private speech raises the same constitutional concerns as outright censorship.”

» Photographers Banned from Pentagon for ‘Unflattering’ Photos of Hegseth

• After Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly expressed displeasure with how he appeared in independent press photos of a March 2 press conference regarding military strikes in Iran, the Pentagon announced it would ban photographers from its briefing room.

• Details:

  • The photographs were published by wire services, including the Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty Images.

  • Photographers were subsequently barred from the March 4 and March 10 briefings.

  • Kingsley Wilson, a Pentagon spokesperson, defended the restriction and suggested that outlets apply for credentials if the lack of access “hurts their business model.”

  • Wilson also said the move was to use the room “effectively,” and that the public can instead use photos released by the Defense Department’s own staff photographers.

  • It is unclear whether the ban on photographers is a permanent policy change or temporary and tied specifically to briefings related to Iran.

» DOJ Moves to Drop Charges Against American Flag-Burner

• The Justice Department has dismissed charges against veteran Jan “Jay” Carey, who had set an American flag on fire across the street from the White House on the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to “vigorously prosecute” people who burn the American flag.

• Background:

  • Carey pled not guilty to two misdemeanors brought by the office of Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia: igniting a fire in an undesignated area and lighting a fire causing damage to property or park resources.

  • On the day he was arrested, Carey said in a social media video of him burning the flag that he was protesting Trump’s policies.

• The Executive Order:

  • In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that flag-burning is protected under the Constitution.

  • President Trump’s executive order does not make burning the American flag a crime or assess a penalty for it, but argues that doing so is “likely to incite imminent lawless action.”

  • It also gives the Attorney General the opportunity to “pursue litigation to clarify the scope of First Amendment exceptions in this area.”

• The Justice Department filed to dismiss the charges on March 13, days before the March 16 deadline in the case.

» Ohio Senate Passes Debated Antisemitism Bill to Target Campus Speech

• Ohio’s Senate has passed SB 87, a bill aimed at preventing anti-Semitism on college campuses, that codifies the contested International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of antisemitism and expands the legal definition of ethnic intimidation.

• Details:

  • The IHRA’s definition outlines eleven antisemitic scenarios, which range from denying the Holocaust to conflating modern-day Israel with Nazism.

  • Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D., Lakewood) and state Sens. Hicks-Hudson, Catherine Ingram (D., Cincinnati), and Kent Smith (D., Euclid) voted against the bill, arguing the language must be refined to ensure students and faculty can discuss world events, such as conflicts involving Israel.

  • The bill has gone to the House for consideration.

» UF College Republicans Sue University Over Chapter Deactivation

• The University of Florida College Republicans has filed a lawsuit against the university after it deactivated the campus chapter following a photo of a student performing a Nazi salute.

• Context:

  • The issue stems from an X post of a screenshot showing students performing a Nazi salute in a chat room on Guilded, a platform for gaming communities that has since shut down.

  • UF announced on X that it would deactivate the chapter at the request of the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR) while it reorganizes under “new student leadership” for reinstatement.

  • In its statement, UF said, “The university also supports the rights of organizations, such as FFCR, to take decisive action in addressing conduct that is antithetical to its principles.”

• The Lawsuit:

  • The lawsuit claimed, “UF’s action was taken because of opposition to or disapproval of the perceived viewpoint.”

  • It also claims the university denied the chapter due process and did not identify a specific policy to warrant the deactivation.

  • It requests that a judge reinstate the chapter, alleging that the university retaliated against speech protected by the First Amendment.

  • Because UF is a public university, the case raises core First Amendment questions about when schools can penalize student organizations for controversial or offensive speech.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» One-Fifth of Australian Minors Continue to Use TikTok, Snapchat After Social Media Ban

• Two months after Australia banned social media from allowing minors, one-fifth of Australian teenagers under 16 were still using platforms.

• Context:

  • The ban, included in a previous Free Flow, went into effect in December and requires platforms to block minors under 16 from accessing or using their services, or face fines of up to $49.5 million AUD ($35 million USD).

  • The world is carefully tracking the impact of the ban as governments around the world are considering or advancing similar measures to keep minors off social media.

• The Aftermath:

  • More than 20% of Australians aged 13-15 use TikTok and Snapchat, even with the bans in place.

  • Data also showed that the number of 13-to-15-year-olds using Snapchat in Australia fell by 13.8 percentage points between November and February, although 20.3% of users still fall within that age range.

  • A spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner, Australia’s internet regulator, said the office was aware of reports of minors’ continued social media use and is “actively engaging with platforms and their age assurance providers,” while continuing to monitor for breaches of the law.

  • The spokesperson added that the office is “actively drawing on a range of insights to assess compliance.”

» Hawaii Proposes Bills Seeking to Restrict Minors’ Access to Social Media

• Bills targeting minors’ use of phones at school, social media access, and interactions with artificial intelligence are moving through Hawaii’s legislature.

• Details:

  • SB 2761:

    • Seeks to bar children under 16 from creating or keeping social media accounts, requiring platforms to verify users’ ages and remove underage accounts.

    • The bill has passed out of the Senate Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary.

  • HB 1559:

    • Would prohibit students in public schools from using “telecommunication devices” during the school day, including at lunch and recess, with limited exceptions for emergencies.

    • Schools would be able to confiscate phones and release them only to a parent or guardian, and unclaimed devices would be forfeited after three months.

  • HB 1782:

    • Would regulate conversational and companion-style AI systems, banning features that encourage emotional dependency, stimulate romantic relationships, or present the AI as human or “sentient.”

    • AI providers would be required to disclose when minors interact with AI, limit data collection, and impose penalties for violations.

» Russia Expands Internet Shutdown Tests in Moscow

• Russia shut off mobile internet in downtown Moscow in what the government insists was a necessary step to protect Russians from attacks by Ukrainian drones, which can use local cell phone towers for navigation.

• However, analysts argue that the shutdowns are a test of a nationwide system that Moscow has been building to limit information and connectivity during unrest.

• Background:

  • Russia is reportedly testing a system used in Iran during nationwide anti-government protests earlier this year, which allowed authorities to shut down the internet while regime insiders used “white SIM cards” to access the web.

  • Russia has already established a “white-list” of government-approved websites that remain accessible during shut-offs, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow.

  • They’ve also targeted messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp while promoting a state-backed messaging platform, Max, as included in a previous Free Flow.

  • In February, Russia’s parliament passed a new law requiring telecommunications companies to shut off data access upon request from the Federal Security Service.

• The Shut-Offs:

  • The data outages have extended to dozens of regions, including places far from zones impacted by drones.

  • Pharmacies have had to close in some regions as their medicine-tracking system went offline; children with diabetic sensors cannot transmit glucose-level alerts to parents; and people are unable to book appointments, order medication, or use online banking services.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK Urges Social Media Platforms to Strengthen Age-Verification

• The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and internet regulator, Ofcom, have sent letters to major social media companies urging them to enforce stricter protection for children, including stronger age verification measures, on their platforms after lawmakers rejected a blanket ban for under-16s.

• Context:

  • Earlier this month, UK lawmakers voted down a proposal in a piece of child welfare legislation that would have banned social media for children under 16.

  • The decision comes as countries across Europe, including Spain, France, and Denmark, consider plans to implement similar bans after Australia became the first country to prohibit social media access to minors under 16.

• The Letters:

  • The ICO published an open letter on March 12, including remarks from its CEO, Paul Arnold, calling on platforms to use “viable technologies” to identify children and prevent them from accessing content.

  • The ICO letter called on social media platforms to use facial age estimation, digital ID, or one-time photo matching to strengthen age verification.

  • Arnold said measures such as “self-declaration” can be “easily circumvented” and put “under-13s at risk by allowing their information to be collected and used unlawfully.”

  • Ofcom, among other demands, has also asked companies, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, to submit reports on what measures they have in place to keep children off their platforms by April 30.

• Industry Response:

  • A Meta spokesperson told CNBC that it already uses AI systems to detect users’ age based on their activity and conduct facial age estimation, adding that it also has a separate teen account with built-in protections.

  • TikTok said that since January, it has rolled out enhanced technologies and specialist moderators across Europe to detect and remove accounts that belong to anyone under 13.

  • The company also uses facial age estimation, credit card authorization, or government-approved ID to confirm users’ ages.

  • Snapchat said it is investing and working on its safety efforts, adding that it strongly supports age-verification at the app-store level, “rather than patchwork checks by individual platforms.”

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Georgia Adopts Legislative Package Restricting Foreign Cooperation and Public Criticism

• On March 4, the Georgian parliament adopted a legislative package of amendments that expand state control over foreign funding, introduce criminal sanctions for cooperation with foreign entities or donors, and criminalize public criticism of the government’s legitimacy.

• The package includes amendments to the Law on Grants, the Law on Political Associations, the Criminal Code, and the Administrative Offenses Code.

• Targeting Extremism:

  • The amendments have implemented an “extremism” provision against acts that “systematically” question the government’s legitimacy.

  • Violators of this provision could face up to three years in prison, while organizations could face heavy fines or even forced closures.

• Restricting Foreign Funding:

  • The definition of what constitutes a “grant” that needs government approval has expanded to include technical and free-of-charge assistance and grants transferred from a foreign organization to its domestic branches.

  • The list of entities considered “grant recipients” has also expanded to include foreign-based organizations working on Georgia-related issues.

  • Violators can face fines, 300-500 hours of community service, or up to six years in prison under the new law, with harsher penalties in certain cases.

  • The legislation also applies retroactively, meaning unused grants that were received before the law’s enactment will require new government approval, and recipients will be barred from using the funds if permission is denied.

• Restricting Foreign Cooperation:

  • Individuals who have worked in foreign-funded organizations will be prohibited from political party membership for eight years.

  • Penalties are also introduced for individuals who engage in “external lobbying,” with potential prison sentences reaching up to six years, and for businesses “publicly carrying out such political activity that is not related to its principal entrepreneurial activity.”

» Hungary Journalists Forcibly Removed While Covering Campaign Event

• In the past week, four journalists from independent outlets have been forcibly forcibly removed or told to leave while reporting on public campaign events held in support of the ruling Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

• The incidents occurred shortly before Hungary’s parliamentary election in April.

• Incident 1:

  • On March 10, two journalists from the online news platform Telex were forcibly removed from a campaign event in the village of Csakbereny by the local mayor.

  • The journalists had planned to ask Zslot Semjén, the country’s deputy prime minister and the leader of the Christian Democratic People’s Party, questions.

  • When the pair entered the event, the mayor seized their camera, covered the lens, then physically pushed them toward the exit, grabbing one of them by the arm, and security guards prevented them from re-entering the venue.

  • The incident follows the hours-long detention of two Telex reporters in January 2026, who were waiting outside a film studio to question Orbán after being barred from asking questions at his yearly conference.

• Incident 2:

  • Days later, on March 15, two journalists from HVG, an independent weekly, were interviewing participants at a pro-government rally in Budapest when one of them, Noémi Martini, was approached by an event organizer who demanded they stop their work and leave the area, alleging they were blocking the road.

  • Martini was surrounded and pushed by security guards until she left the main rally, though other journalists from other media outlets were permitted to report freely from the demonstration.

» Zimbabwe Issues Arrest Warrant Over Journalist’s Speech on Country’s Press Freedom Crisis

• The Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Law and Order section has issued an arrest warrant against Blessed “Dhara” Mhlanga, digital editor and head of broadcasting of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), following his remarks on media repression at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

• Details:

  • Mhlanga was one of the panelists in a presentation titled “Silenced for Reporting: Zimbabwe’s War on the Press,” where he argued that the government was targeting watchdog journalists in its legal system.

  • The Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Zhemu Soda, condemned his remarks, adding that the government has “put in place legal frameworks designed to protect our hard-won sovereignty from those who seek to undermine it through foreign platforms.”

  • Following the Minister’s statement, authorities issued an arrest warrant against Mhlanga for “willfully injuring the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe by actively participating in meetings, communication or cooperation with foreign governments or their agents” under Section 22A of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.

  • Mhlanga is also facing prosecution for charges of “transmitting data messages that incite violence or damage to property,” over a broadcast interview with Blessed Geza, a late war veteran and member of the ruling party Zanu PF, in which Geza criticized the government’s plans to extend the presidential term limits in its Constitution.

  • He was expected to appear in court on March 9 for the continuation of the trial, but his attorneys have told the court he is currently seeking medical treatment in South Africa.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

Abigail Pope is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a student at Vanderbilt University studying economics.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 ICE Arrests Nashville Journalist, Court Orders Justification

— 🇪🇸 Spain Takes First Step in Legislative Package Targeting Online Hate Speech

— 🇦🇱 Albanian Court Rules TikTok Ban Unconstitutional

— 🇦🇺 Two Protesters Arrested in Australia Hours After Antisemitism Law Took Effect

— 🇧🇾 Belarus Sentences Five More Journalists to Prison in Accelerating Crackdown

First of All 🇺🇲

» ICE Arrests Nashville Journalist, Court Orders Justification

• A federal judge has given U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until midnight on Thursday, March 12, to file a written justification of its arrest and continued detention of Estefany Maria Rodriguez Florez, a Nashville Spanish-language reporter.

• The Arrest:

  • Rodriguez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias who has reported on ICE activities, was detained on March 4.

  • In addition to petitioning her immediate release, Rodriguez’s attorneys have filed a First Amendment claim, asking the court to enjoin immigration officials from taking any enforcement actions in “retaliation against her past speech or to chill her future speech.”

  • She is accused of illegally overstaying her visa, which her attorneys deny, adding that she was not served a warrant at the time of her arrest.

  • On March 6, government attorneys filed an image of a wrinkled administrative warrant dated March 2, with the “certificate of service” section listing the name and location of the person served by the warrant blank.

• Background:

  • Legal filings from Rodriguez’s attorneys claim that after arriving in the U.S. from Colombia on a tourist visa, she worked under a valid work permit for five years and has filed a petition to adjust her status to that of a lawful permanent resident with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen.

  • Rodriguez had received death threats for her crime coverage in Colombia, and filed a claim for political asylum before her visa expired. Asylum seekers must be in the U.S. to apply.

  • She received a notice from ICE in January to appear for a meeting, but it was cancelled due to an ice storm that affected the Nashville region.

  • She visited ICE offices on February 26 for her rescheduled appointment with her husband and attorney to learn more about its purpose, but her lawyers claim that officials found no record of the appointment.

  • The meeting was rescheduled for March 17, though officials have declared her a flight risk for missing two appointments.

  • “ICE’s arbitrary actions serve to punish her for her criticism of ICE,” Rodriguez’s attorneys wrote in their petition.

» WSJ Report: Government Campaign Targets ICE Critics with Public Accusations of Assault

• A Wall Street Journal investigation chronicles a campaign by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) targeting U.S. citizens who criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

• On social media, DHS has publicly accused citizens of attacking federal officers, even when such charges were never filed or dropped.

• Background:

  • Of the 279 people accused on X by government officials in the past year, 181 were U.S. citizens, nearly half of whom were never charged with assault.

  • Despite no formal charges, accounts from Trump administration officials and departments have posted allegations against individuals, including their names, mugshots, and, in some cases, even the individuals’ home and workplace addresses.

• Charged Individuals:

  • Even though some individuals have been charged, none have been convicted at trial. 15 of those publicly accused have pleaded guilty, 10 of them to lesser charges, while another 51 remain pending.

  • Federal prosecutors in cities whose immigration operations have drawn nationwide attention have said that the Justice Department has pressured them to pursue assault charges, even if the evidence is contradictory or the case fails to appear worthy of prosecution.

  • In cases where videos proved charges to be false, some publicly accused individuals had to endure death threats, secure defense attorneys, shoulder the cost of bail, or take days off work to appear in court.

» Lawsuit Claims Administration Unlawfully Targets Noncitizen Social Media Academics

• ​​A new lawsuit, filed by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, alleges that the Trump administration is engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by denying visas to and deporting noncitizens who work on or study social media platforms, fact-checking, or other activities the government considers “censorship” of Americans’ speech.

• Details:

  • The lawsuit, filed by Knight First Amendment Institute and the legal nonprofit Protect Democracy on behalf of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR), asks a federal judge to declare the policy unconstitutional and direct the government to abandon it.

  • The complaint details anonymous accounts from members of CITR, including university professors and expert researchers, who have left the country out of fear or have self-censored their work on social media.

  • The Department of Justice said that if the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe a person’s “presence or activities’ would “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” their removal is consistent with the First Amendment.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» Anthropic Sues Pentagon Over Alleged Viewpoint Retaliation

• Anthropic has filed two federal lawsuits against the Trump administration, claiming that Pentagon officials illegally retaliated against it for its position on AI safety.

• Details:

  • Last week, the Defense Department designated the company as a “supply chain risk,” a status usually reserved for foreign adversaries that pose a national security risk, and not American companies.

  • The designation places the company on an effective blacklist by prohibiting Pentagon suppliers from using the company’s AI model in their work with the Defense Department, Claude.

  • On social media, President Trump announced that all federal agencies would stop using Anthropic’s tools.

  • The move came after CEO Dario Amodei announced that he would not allow Claude to be used for autonomous weapons or citizen surveillance.

  • Anthropic has filed two lawsuits alleging the administration violated its First Amendment rights and exceeded the scope of supply chain risk law.

• What’s Next?

  • According to the Financial Times, the administration is working on new government guidelines for civilian AI contracts that would require AI companies to allow “any lawful” use of the models.

  • They would also mandate that contractors provide “a neutral, non-partisan tool that does not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas such as diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

  • AI companies would be required to disclose whether their models have been “modified or configured to comply with any non-U.S. federal government or commercial compliance or regulatory framework,” which is reportedly intended, in part, to challenge compliance with the EU Digital Services Act.

» Albanian Court Rules TikTok Ban Violated Free Speech

• Albania’s constitutional court has ruled that an almost year-long government ban on TikTok violated freedom of expression and press freedom.

• Details:

  • Following the fatal stabbing of a teenager during a fight linked to a dispute on social media, the Albanian government blocked TikTok in March 2025.

  • The ban was challenged by the Albanian Journalists Association, an investigative NGO, for breaching constitutional rights to free speech.

  • The government suspended the TikTok ban in early February, but judges insisted the case should proceed because it was of “public interest.”

  • The court found that the interruption “constitutes a restriction of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

  • Enforcement of the ban raised questions about its effectiveness after Albanian users reported barely noticing it, since the app remained accessible via VPNs.

» Kenya Court of Appeal Nullifies ‘Fake News’ Sections of Cyber Law

• The Court of Appeal of Kenya has struck down provisions in the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act that criminalized the publication of “false, misleading or fictitious information” online, declaring them unconstitutional.

• Fake News Provisions:

  • The contested provisions, Sections 22 and 23, were introduced as part of the 2018 cybercrime law and sparked legal challenges from civil society, who argued that they had been increasingly used to arrest journalists and dissidents.

  • The measures have been linked to several high-profile arrests, including journalist Peter Maseke Mwita, who was detained for several days and faced a possible 10-year prison sentence for refusing to disclose the sources of information he had shared in a WhatsApp group.

  • In a landmark ruling, the judges found the provisions were vague, overly broad, and open to abuse, rendering them unconstitutional.

• However, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo said significant reforms are still needed for the Act, “particularly to provisions providing for lengthy prison terms for the ill-defined offense of ‘cyber harassment’ and sections that threaten citizens’ privacy rights.”

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» Spain Announces ‘Hate Speech Footprint’ Tool, First Step in Legislative Package Targeting Online Speech

• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced the launch of a “hate speech footprint” tool to measure the presence, evolution, and reach of hate speech on Spanish digital platforms.

• Details:

  • The tool, called ‘HODIO,’ will be used by the Spanish Observatory against Racism and Xenophobia, and will combine quantitative analysis and expert review based on academic criteria.

  • The results will be made public, Sánchez said, so that “everyone knows who is stopping hate, who is turning a blind eye, and who is profiting from it.”

  • The announcement comes after Sánchez unveiled a proposed legislative package detailed in a previous Free Flow, which would impose criminal liability on platforms for “failing to remove illegal or hateful content.”

  • The package also targets algorithmic curation and minors’ social media use.

  • “The digital environment cannot be a space without rules,” Sánchez said as he announced HODIO, “today, social media is a failed state.”

» UK Introduces New, Working Anti-Muslim Hate Definition

• The UK Labour Party has announced a new definition of anti-Muslim hate that encompasses violence, harassment, and prejudicial stereotyping in the wake of record levels of hate crimes against Muslims.

• Background:

  • In February 2025, the government set up a working group to come up with a definition of anti-Muslim hatred or Islamophobia, though religious discrimination is already illegal under the Equality Act.

  • Ministers say the new definition is a working, non-statutory one, meaning it is advisory rather than legally binding. The Labour Party is urging workplaces, schools, councils, and other public and private bodies to adopt it.

  • The government will also appoint a special representative on anti-Muslim hostility to engage with communities and facilitate understanding of the definition.

• Critique:

  • The new definition moves away from the word “Islamophobia” and towards “anti-Muslim hostility,” but adds that portraying criticism or ridicule of a belief, even “in a manner that some of its adherents might find disrespectful or scandalous,” is still legal speech.

  • The Free Speech Union is preparing a pre-action letter to send to Communities Secretary Steve Reed, seeking judicial review, claiming that the definition is “vague,” “subjective,” and “weaponized to silence legitimate criticism of the Islamic faith and Muslims.”

  • The adoption would also intersect with legislation already enacted by Parliament, which breaches public law doctrine, FSU argues.

» UN Special Rapporteur Warns of ‘Erosion of Rights’ in Sweden

• Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has warned of the “gradual erosion of rights” of activists in Sweden, especially the right to peaceful assembly.

• Details:

  • Lawlor said she was “alarmed” about reports of threats, hate speech, stigmatization, and harassment of human rights defenders.

  • Environmental and climate activists are reportedly facing a heightened risk of prosecution for engaging in protests, while school-aged children, students, and journalists speaking out on the ongoing war in Gaza have been allegedly stopped or faced intimidation.

  • The news follows a July 2024 report by Amnesty International naming Sweden among the 21 European countries where the right to peaceful assembly was under attack.

  • Sweden was identified as a country in which activists are required to pay to organize and participate in peaceful assemblies, which could chill dissent, despite strong legal protections.

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Free Speech Recession 🌍

» Two Protesters Arrested in Australia Hours After Antisemitism Laws Took Effect

• Just a few hours after new Queensland antisemitism laws went into effect, two pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested outside the state parliament building.

• The Act: Under the act, uttering banned phrases, including “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada,” is punishable by up to two years in prison if doing so would cause “menace, harassment, or offense.”

• The Arrests:

  • Liam Parry, part of the Students for Palestine group and leader of the protest, said, “I’m not sure if everybody here [knows] the history of the different slogans that the government is trying to ban us from saying, so [in] the interests of education, I want to explain [it] to you.”

  • He denied that “from the river to the sea” was terroristic or antisemitic, and explained how it is a call for the freedom and dignity of people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

  • He discouraged others from chanting the slogan, but when protesters began marching, he was arrested and later released from the Brisbane watch house the same evening.

  • The second person arrested was towards the end of the march, who witnesses described as wearing a shirt that said: “from the river to the sea.”

  • Both protesters have been charged, according to a police spokesperson, and Parry must appear in court on April 8 for the charge of reciting, distributing, publishing, or displaying prohibited expressions.

» AFP Survey Reveals Tightened Restrictions on Journalists Covering War in the Middle East

• A survey of Agence France-Presse (AFP) chiefs, working in the international news agency’s Middle East region, revealed that journalists sharing content on the ongoing conflict are facing arrests, questioning, and increased restrictions.

• Gulf Powers Arrest Over Sharing War-Related Content:

  • In Qatar, the interior ministry announced that more than 300 people have been detained, while Bahrain’s interior ministry reported four arrests for sharing images and misleading information related to Iranian attacks.

  • In Kuwait, the interior ministry said it had arrested two individuals for sharing video clips that “mocked” the army, and a third for including images of “banned terrorist organizations’ leaders on his profile.”

• Journalists Questioned in Iran:

  • Although imposed internet blackouts have limited user-generated content posted within Iran, interviews with people who have fled the country or with contacts in the country have indicated journalists are being stopped and questioned by security forces, with the risk of detention.

  • Even journalists with permission from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, known as Ershad, which usually regulates the press, have still been subject to questioning and detention.

  • AFP’s Middle East photo chief, Jewel Samad, said Iran’s intelligence ministry warned that if someone takes “photos of sensitive places or damaged buildings and areas or records the locations of centres with a GPS device or mobile phone and marks the places, they could be an agent of the American-Zionist enemy.”

  • The ministry also called on people to inform authorities if they witnessed anyone taking such photos.

• Restrictions Tighten in Israel, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia:

  • Although coverage of air defenses intercepting incoming missiles during the June 2025 war between Israel and Iran was permitted, it has since been prohibited in a tightening of restrictions on content related to the war.

  • Other bans include live broadcasts of the Israeli skyline when incoming missile or drone warning alarms are sounding and filming at impacts or near security sites (though coverage of civilian damage is permitted as long as exact locations are withheld).

  • The army’s chief censor also sent guidelines directly to Israeli media outlets, barring journalists from disclosing information about military planning and preparations, air defenses, and impact sites and locations.

  • In Lebanon, journalists are facing restrictions imposed by the Iranian-backed Shia militia, Hezbollah, which has prohibited reporters from accessing Beirut’s southern suburbs, where it has a hold on power.

  • Meanwhile, the Saudi Royal Court’s Media Service has pressured reporters to disclose the identities of their anonymous sources, and Jordan’s Media Commission has threatened criminal prosecution over the publication of any videos or information related to defense operations.

» Belarus Sentences Five More Journalists to Prison in Accelerating Crackdown

• Belarus has accelerated its crackdown on journalists, jailing five more, and leaving as many as 28 media workers in prison as of this month.

• Details:

  • On March 6, Tsina Palynskaya, a journalist who conducted surveys for an independent Belarusian analytical centre later designated as an “extremist formation” by Lukashenko, was sentenced to two years.

  • Days earlier, regional journalists Uladzimir Yanukevich and Andrei Pakalenka were sentenced to 14 and 12 years, respectively, on charges of high treason, as reported in a previous Free Flow.

  • Pavel Dabravolsky, a journalist who had left Belarus in 2021 after serving a 15-day prison sentence for participating in protests against the falsified re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, was detained several months after returning home in 2024 and has remained behind bars. On March 9, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for high treason.

» North Macedonia Appeal Court Upholds Defamation Ruling Against Investigative Reporting Organization

• North Macedonia’s Court of Appeal has upheld a defamation verdict against the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL) for producing a documentary aired in 2021 on the public broadcaster, Macedonian Radio Television.

• Details:

  • Kočo Angjušev, a businessman and former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, filed a defamation claim following the documentary about a joint investigation by IRL and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

  • The suit was initially dismissed in 2021, but following a plaintiff appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial in 2022.

  • Though no new evidence was presented, a 2023 Basic Civil Court decision ruled against IRL. This sparked pushback for classifying IRL as “non-media” and “members of a group,” rather than professional journalists.

  • The verdict also suggested that the state open a misdemeanor proceeding to determine the legality of the organization’s work.

  • The Court has formally upheld the verdict, though it has not published its reasoning, and IRL has announced its intent to appeal.

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Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.

This Week at a Glance 🔎

— 🇺🇲 NY Considers Banning Chatbots from Giving Medical, Legal Advice

— 🇲🇾 Malaysian Federal Court Ruling Reverses Landmark Free Speech Case

— 🇬🇧 UK Law to Regulate “Offensive” Material on Streaming Platforms

— 🇦🇪 UAE Threatens Prosecutions Over Social Media Posts of Iranian Airstrikes

— 🇧🇾 Belarusian Journalists Convicted for Treason

First of All 🇺🇲

» Justice Department Sought Dismissal of Case Targeting Law Firms, Then Reversed Course

• On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of lower-court rulings, which found that the Trump administration’s executive orders targeting four law firms were unconstitutional.

• The following day, the DOJ then informed the court that it would not give up and would continue to pursue the appeal.

• Context:

  • The cases stem from a series of executive orders that President Trump signed in March and April of 2025, targeting four different law firms over certain hires and legal work.

  • The orders threatened the firms’ clients, access to federal buildings and officials, and employees’ security clearances.

  • The government’s backtracking comes only a month after a similar reversal, when the administration increased the damages it sought from Harvard University to $1 billion, after The New York Times reported they were agreeing to abandon a $200 million demand in negotiations with the school.

• Firms Under Fire:

  • Perkins Coie was targeted by the orders because of its representation of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, and its hiring of a research firm that retained Christopher Steele, a former British spy.

  • WilmerHale and Jenner & Block had employed lawyers who worked on the DOJ’s investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 election.

  • Susman Godfrey represented Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation lawsuit against Fox News concerning the network’s false claims about the 2020 election.

  • Paul Weiss had previously employed Mark Pomerantz, who oversaw an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into Trump’s finances prior to his presidency.

  • The charges against Paul Weiss were dropped after the firm pledged to support White House initiatives with tens of millions of dollars in pro bono work.

  • Some of the firms had also been involved in litigation against aspects of the President’s second-term agenda.

• In Court:

  • As a result of the firms’ lawsuits against the administration, four federal judges found that the orders violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.

  • According to court filings, the Justice Department decided to drop its legal defense of the orders on March 2.

  • Less than 24 hours later, the DOJ said it was its “prerogative” to pursue the appeal.

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The Digital Age 🤖

» New York Considers Banning Chatbots from Giving Legal, Medical Advice

• The New York state legislature is considering a new bill that would prohibit AI chatbots from providing legal and medical advice and allow users to sue chatbot owners who violate the ban.

• Details:

  • Senate Bill S7263 is part of a proposed legislative package to regulate chatbots and would prohibit them from delivering “substantive response, information, or advice” that violates professional licensing laws or constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.

  • Chatbots would also be required to provide explicit notice to users that they are interacting with an AI system, though the notice does not provide immunity from liability.

  • Users would be allowed to recover civil damages and attorney’s fees from chatbot owners who fail to comply with the ban.

» FTC Incentivizes Use of Age-Verification Technology by Reducing Potential Liability

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that certain website and online service operators that collect, use, and disclose personal information for the sole purpose of determining a user’s age via age-verification systems will not be subject to enforcement actions under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA).

• Context:

  • The COPPA Rule requires operators of commercial websites or online services directed to children under 13 to provide notice of their information practices to parents and obtain consent before collecting, using, or disclosing the child’s information.

  • At an FTC workshop, questions were raised about how some age-verification systems’ data collection processes could violate COPPA.

  • Amid growing state calls to limit minors’ access to social media through age verification, the agency has issued a policy statement stating that it will not bring enforcement actions under the COPPA rule against operators of general and mixed-audience sites and services that collect information solely for age verification.

  • Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the statement “incentivizes” operators to use age-verification technologies to empower parents to protect their children online.

  • The Commission indicated that it intends to review the COPPA Rule to address age verification, and the statement will remain effective until the final amendments are published or withdrawn.

» Federal Judge Blocks Virginia Law Limiting Minors’ Social Media Use to One Hour Per Day

• U.S. District Judge Patricia Toliver Gilles issued a preliminary injunction on February 27, blocking enforcement of a Virginia law requiring social media platforms to limit users under 16 to 1 hour of daily use per platform.

• Details:

  • The law, which took effect on January 1, required platforms to set default time limits, with parents able to adjust them, as detailed in a previous Free Flow.

  • Gilles agreed to halt the enforcement of the law while a lawsuit challenging it on constitutional grounds proceeds.

» UAE Threatens Prosecutions Over Social Media Posts of Iranian Airstrikes

• Following Iranian air strikes on February 28 that hit key infrastructure across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UAE has reminded influencers that “spreading rumors or unverified information is punishable by law.”

• Details:

  • The UAE Media Council has enforced mandatory licensing for social media influencers since mid-2025, and has reminded everyone that they could be punished for posting false information.

  • The UAE Public Prosecution released a statement that anyone who posted or shared footage from “unknown sources” could face fines of 200,000 AED ($54,450 USD) and a minimum one-year prison sentence.

• In Dubai:

  • On Saturday, the Dubai Media Office also warned against reposting “old videos and images of past fires in Dubai,” adding that “publishing or republishing such material exposes the perpetrators to legal accountability.”

  • Dubai Police also issued a public advisory on March 3 that read “Think before you share—spreading rumors is a crime.”

• Across the Middle East:

  • Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior announced that at least two individuals have already been arrested for “misusing social media platforms” after they broadcast live content and video clips of Iranian strike interceptions.

  • Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior urged residents to refrain from recording aerial threats and authorities in the line of duty, and that noncompliance may entail “legal measures.”

  • The Qatari Ministry of Interior stressed that individuals should not circulate “rumors,” images, or videos of the aftermath to “avoid legal liability.”

» Malaysian Federal Court Ruling Reverses Landmark Speech Case

• A February 6 court ruling in Malaysia’s Federal Court reverses a landmark 2025 decision that would have removed the words “offensive” and “annoy” from content listed as illegal under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA).

• Details:

  • Prior to 2025, Section 233 of the CMA criminalized any online communication that is “obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.”

  • In Heidy Quah Gaik Li vs. Government of Malaysia (2025), the Court of Appeal ruled that the words “offensive” and “annoy” infringed on free expression rights guaranteed by the constitution.

  • Malaysia’s Federal Court has now partially overturned the ruling, agreeing that there was no basis to prosecute Quah on the grounds that her post was “offensive” and made “with the intent to annoy,” but that the words in Section 233 of the CMA were not unconstitutional.

  • The ruling said that the problem of unwarranted prosecutions under Section 233 can be addressed by “reading down” the section, which applies only to cases where there is an express intent to annoy another user or body of users.

» Computer Scientists Call for Global Pause on Online Age-Verification

• As countries around the world advance rules and regulations on minors’ access to social media, computer scientists warn that age-verification systems pose serious risks to security, privacy, and freedom, and have asked for a global pause.

• Details:

  • An open letter, signed by 371 security and privacy academics from 29 countries, advised governments to halt plans to roll out age checks “until the scientific consensus settles on the benefits and harms” the technology brings.

  • Current plans, the letter says, “Would require all users — minors and adults — to prove their age to converse with friends and family, read news, or search for information; well beyond what has ever happened in our offline lives.”

  • The letter comes as companies, including OpenAI, Roblox, and Discord, have implemented age-checks in anticipation of new mandates requiring them.

The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺

» UK Law Would Impose ‘Enhanced Regulation’ on Streaming Platforms

• The UK government is set to implement another measure under the Media Act 2024 that would allow Ofcom, the regulatory body that already oversees television and radio broadcasting in the country, to exercise enhanced power over streaming platforms.

• Details:

  • Under the new measure, Ofcom would be able to accept viewer complaints and investigate streaming platforms.

  • It will also include a new video-on-demand standards code that sets rules on accuracy and impartiality and protects audiences from material deemed “harmful or offensive.”

  • The new standards code will apply to “Tier 1” services, or any video-on-demand platform with more than 500,000 users, including streamers such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+.

  • If Ofcom determines there is a breach of the code, it has the power to take action.

  • New rules will not apply to video-sharing platforms like YouTube, which are already subject to the UK’s Online Safety Act.

» UK High Court Rejects Bid to Overturn Quran Burner’s Acquittal

• The UK’s High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to challenge the acquittal of Hamit Coskun, whose criminal case began after he burned a Quran outside London’s Turkish consulate.

• Details:

  • Coskun was convicted last June of a religiously aggravated public order offence after he was attacked with a knife for holding a flaming copy of the Quran and shouting “Islam is a religion of terrorism” and “Quran is burning.”

  • After appealing his conviction, the Southwark Crown Court overturned the ruling.

  • The CPS brought an appeal against the reversal to the High Court, which found that the Southwark Crown Court had not “relied on any immaterial factor” or “left any material factor out of account.”

  • “In England, I hoped that I would be free to speak about the damage of sectarian politics and Islamism,” Coskun said, “I am relieved that after a year, the courts have ruled that I am free to do so.”

» Civil Society Calls on UK Regulator for Clarification About Palestine Action Online Content

• After the UK High Court found the government’s ban on Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws to be unlawful, as mentioned in a previous Free Flow, human rights organizations, academics, and writers have called on Ofcom, the country’s internet regulator, to clarify what the ruling means for online platforms pending the Home Secretary’s appeal.

• Details:

  • Judges have decided that Palestine Action’s proscription would remain in place pending the appeal, though Metropolitan Police said they would no longer arrest protesters who express support for the group.

  • However, it is less clear for platforms with duties to remove terrorist content under the Online Safety Act what steps to take in the interim.

  • Civil society has asked Ofcom to clarify whether platforms are still expected to remove Palestine Action content, how new duties to remove terrorist content will be implemented, and whether content can be restored if the appeal is lost.

  • A spokesperson for Ofcom said they’ve provided “detailed guidance to help platforms decide whether content is illegal under UK law” and that if the appeal fails, codes of practice “state that companies should reverse their decisions where appropriate and possible.”