Advocates Seek To Prohibit Trump Admin From Censoring ICE Reporting Tools
“The First Amendment protects rights to observe, record, and disseminate information about what law enforcement does in public,” advocates argue in a request to enjoin the Trump administration from “continuing to coerce” tech companies.
A free speech advocacy group is asking a federal judge to prohibit the Trump administration from “continuing to coerce” Apple and Meta Platforms to remove an app and Facebook group that enabled people to post information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
“The First Amendment protects rights to observe, record, and disseminate information about what law enforcement does in public,” lawyers with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression argue in a request for an injunction filed Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso in the Northern District of Illinois.
“This is true even when — and especially when — that information may be ‘embarrassing to the powers-that-be,’” the group adds, quoting from a Supreme Court concurring opinion in the ruling that allowed The New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers.
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The First Amendment is facing challenging times: Crackdowns on campus protests prompted both-sides claims of intolerance. Attempts to head off dangerous health misinformation have been characterized as violations of free speech. Donald Trump is publicly punishing news outlets that deviate from his administration’s version of events while privately suing some outlets into submission.
The White House vs. the press | Voiceless America
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News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.