Legal Info

Group Legal documents

Who Regulates Broadcasting, FCC or States?

by

Article in The Guardian by Carter Sherman, 10/9/24

Headline: “Florida threatens news stations over ad in favor of abortion rights measure”

Subhead:  “FCC chair condemns state health department for sending cease-and-desists over spot supporting abortion rights”

“The Florida health department has fired off cease-and-desist letters to local news stations over an advertisement urging people to vote in favor of a ballot measure that would expand abortion rights in the state.

” . . . On Tuesday, Jessica Rosenworcel, the Federal Communications Commission chair, condemned the cease-and-desist letters.

“ ‘The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the first amendment,’ Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/09/florida-news-abortion-ballot-coverage

 

 

Media Hate Speech Stopped in Brazil

by

Article by Allen Cone on UPI, 9/21/24

Headline: “Elon Musk to comply with Brazilian court’s orders to restore X in nation”

“Billionaire Elon Musk has decided to comply with court orders in Brazil in an effort to end the ban on his his social platform X in the Latin American nation.

. . . “The company formerly known as Twitter also informed the court that it blocked accounts allegedly responsible for disseminating hate speech and fake news, two sources told Bloomberg.”

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2024/09/21/Brazil-X-Musk-comply-orders/5741726963376/

Article update from the Electronic Freedom Foundation  by  Corynned McSherry, 10/8/24

Headline:  “The X Corp. Shoutdown in Brazil:  What We Can Learn”

“Update (10/8/2024): Brazil lifted a ban on the X Corp. social media platform today after the country’s Supreme Court said the company had complied with all of its orders. Regulators have 24 hours to reinstate the platform, though it could take longer for it to come back online.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/x-corp-shutdown-brazil-what-we-can-learn

Media Giants Care More for Kids Than Money, Right?

by

Article by April Rubin in Axios, 10/5/24

Headline: “States target social media companies over kids’ health, safety as Congress hesitates”

“Attorneys general of three states in less than a week revealed separate lawsuits against social media giants for their platforms’ alleged harmful effects on children, including sextortion, addiction and privacy violations.”

“. . . State attorneys general, most recently, sued TikTok, Snap and YouTube, alleging culpability in risks to children’s safety or wellbeing.”

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/05/state-lawsuits-social-media-children-harm-addiction

Native Americans Sue Social Media Companies

by

 

 

 

Article in The South Dakota Searchlight by John Hult 10/3/24

Headline:  “Standing Rock Tribe is latest to sue social media companies for alleged mental health effects”

“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota has filed a lawsuit in California against the parent companies of Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok.

“The lawsuit, which alleges the tech companies’ social media apps are addictive and contribute to a mental health crisis on tribal lands, is the latest in a series filed by Native American tribes through the Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan law firm.”

https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/10/03/standing-rock-tribe-is-latest-to-sue-social-media-companies-for-alleged-mental-health-effects/?emci=cd049c64-ba81-ef11-8474-6045bda8aae9&emdi=109f6ace-3f82-ef11-8474-6045bda8aae9&ceid=73177

 

 

Media Sued for False Information – What Happens?

by

Article by Sam Levine in The Guardian, 9/30/24

Headline: “What price are US media outlets paying for spreading election lies?”

Subhead: “A wave of lawsuits ending in settlements show defamation law is not going to save us from election misinformation”

“As voting got under way for the 2024 US presidential election, the voting technology company Smartmatic and the conservative outlet Newsmax reached an agreement about election lies in the last one.”

. . . “Some of the settlements have come with on-air apologies and retractions. Others, including the agreement between Fox and Dominion, have not. In some cases, the terms of the agreements have not been disclosed at all, leaving the public in the dark about what price, if any, outlets are paying for spreading election lies.”

. . . “Lidsky cautioned against expecting too much from trials. ”

“ ‘The public hasn’t, as a whole, bought into the definitive declaration of truth,’ she said. ‘There are, through motivated reasoning, people who are going to continue to believe what they want to believe.’ ”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/30/election-lies-misinformation-media

 

Media Voter-Machine Fraud Claims, What Happened?

by

Article on NPR by Maddy Lauria & David Folkenflik, 9/26/24

Headline: “Voting-tech company settles with right-wing network over false election claims”

“Once more, a voting tech company has settled its defamation lawsuit over false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election before the start of trial — in this instance, Smartmatic USA’s suit against the conservative network Newsmax.”

“. . . ‘Lying to the American people has consequences,’ the company’s statement said. ‘Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.’ ”

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/26/nx-s1-5130183/newsmax-smartmatic-settlement-defamation-election-lawsuit

Groups File to Protect FCC Ownership Rules

by

Article in Freepress.net by Craig Aaron, 9/20/24

Headline: “Public-Interest Groups Defend FCC’s Broadcast-Ownership Rules Promoting Competition, Diversity and Localism on Air”

“On Friday, six public-interest, media-reform, media-justice and labor organizations joined to file an amicus curiae brief defending the Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast-ownership rules against an industry challenge in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The six groups are Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America-National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Free Press, the Future of Music Coalition, the musicFIRST Coalition and the United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc. (“UCC Media Justice”). All of these entities have long participated in FCC proceedings and court cases on this issue. Attorneys Cheryl Leanza and Rachel Stillwell authored and filed the brief on the groups’ behalf.

“The FCC’s media-ownership rules are designed to promote competition, viewpoint diversity, ownership diversity and the delivery of local content by broadcast stations licensed to serve communities all across the United States.”

https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/public-interest-groups-defend-fccs-broadcast-ownership-rules

FCC  broadcast ownership rules:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-review-broadcast-ownership-rules

Article on the kkfistory website from community radio pioneers Lorenzo Milam and Jeremy Lansman who protested to the FCC against duopoly and bland, monolithic radio of 1974.

https://www.kkfistory.org/lorenzo-jeremys-petition-against-god/

Going, Going, Gone!?

by

Article by Don Jacobson on UPI, 9/19/25

Headline: “Trump Media shares reach new low as lockup period set to expire”

“Trump Media, which trades under the ticker symbol DTJ, is the parent company of the GOP nominee’s Truth Social social media platform.

“Thursday’s drop-off continued a six-day slide that has seen Trump Media shares fall more than 10%, wiping out billions in value as retail investors nervously eyed the expiration of the lockup period, under which early investors, including the former president himself, were barred from selling shares following a merger with publicly traded shell company.”

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/09/19/Trump-Media-shares-reach-new-low-lockup-period-set-expire/4501726765890/

Murdoch Media Empire Fate Now in Court

by


AP photo by Noah Berger

Article in Associated Press by Scott Sonner, 9/16/24

Headline: “Control of the Murdoch media empire could be at stake in a closed-door hearing in Nevada”

“A probate court in Nevada is set to begin reviewing evidence behind closed doors in a case that could determine who will control Rupert Murdoch’s media empire after his death.”

“The court’s ruling notes that Murdoch sought to give Lachlan permanent and exclusive control over his companies because the mogul was worried that a lack of consensus among his children could affect the strategic direction at his companies, including potentially leading to a change in editorial policy and content, according to the Times report.”

https://apnews.com/article/rupert-murdoch-news-corp-murdoch-family-trust-9a4b20037e43f46ad5934797579dcd8e

Getting the Media Ready for the Election

by

Article in Al Jezeera by By Niko Vorobyov, 9/12/24

Headling:  ” ‘Guerrilla projects’: Russia revels in US allegations of media warfare”

Subhead:  “Public figures close to President Putin goad Washington after the DoJ alleged that RT is puppeteering social media influencers.”

“Last week, the United States Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing a Tennessee-based company, believed to be Tenet Media, of accepting millions of dollars from the Russian state-owned media outlet RT and promoting ‘pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to US audiences’.

. . . “As well as federal indictments, the US Treasury slapped RT, whose employees are accused of funneling cash to Tenet, with sanctions.

“Separately, the Russian-born former Trump adviser and conservative pundit, Dimitri Simes, was indicted for allegedly working on behalf of another sanctioned Russian broadcaster, Channel One.

“In Russia, news of the sanctions and indictments were framed as another front of informational warfare.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/12/guerrilla-projects-russia-revels-in-us-allegations-of-media-warfare