Internet Censorship Archive

Richard LawlerJan 25, 2025

Character.ai responds to a wrongful death lawsuit aimed at its chatbots.

Last fall, Megan Garcia sued Character.AI, its founders, and Google over the death by suicide of her 14-year-old son, who had chatted continuously with its bots, including just before his death. In December, the firm added safety measures aimed at teens and concerns over addiction.

TechCrunch reports that Character.ai has filed a motion to dismiss the case, which you can read in full here.

C.AI cares deeply about the wellbeing of its users and extends its sincerest sympathies to Plaintiff for the tragic death of her son. But the relief Plaintiff seeks would impose liability for expressive content and violate the rights of millions of C.AI users to engage in and receive protected speech. Neither the First Amendment nor state tort law permits that result

Screenshot: C.ai Motion to Dismiss

The Supreme Court’s TikTok ruling is an ominous turn for online speech

Lauren FeinerJan 24, 2025

Adi RobertsonJan 23, 2025

Brendan Carr amps up his censorship campaign.

He’s reinstated three complaints against broadcasters that former chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed as attempts to influence news coverage:

Rosenworcel said the commission was rejecting complaints that “seek to weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment”. Then, on Wednesday, the FCC said in a series of orders the complaints had been dismissed “prematurely based on an insufficient investigatory record”.

A fourth complaint, against a Fox station, has not been reinstated.

FCC reinstates complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC for 2024 election coverage

[The Guardian]

Trump says he’s open to Musk or Ellison buying TikTok

Lauren FeinerJan 21, 2025

Two lawmakers introduce a bill to repeal the TikTok ban.

The “Repeal the TikTok Ban Act,” introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), would undo the forced divestiture law. Unlike President Donald Trump’s executive order or his proposal for the US to own 50 percent of the app, this would be the most legally-sound way to overturn the ban — but it’s still likely a long shot to pass.

Dr. Rand Paul, Rep. Ro Khanna Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Repeal the TikTok Ban Act

[Senator Rand Paul]

Adi RobertsonJan 21, 2025

Wow. Very freedom. Such speech.

Nothing says protecting the First Amendment like Elon Musk’s congressional DOGE liaison threatening reporters for describing a physical gesture. Musk has previously used a friendly judge in Texas to fight being associated with the far right. But when you’ve got a White House office and a congressional subcommittee to fight your battles, who needs lawsuits?

CapCut is back online in the US

Lauren FeinerJan 21, 2025

Trump signs order refusing to enforce TikTok ban for 75 days

Adi Robertson and Lauren FeinerJan 21, 2025

Adi RobertsonJan 21, 2025

You don’t need an executive order to point out that the First Amendment exists.

But President Donald Trump has issued one anyway:

The previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.

Sounds pretty bad!

RESTORING FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ENDING FEDERAL CENSORSHIP – The White House

[The White House]