吃瓜直播

SAN ANTONIO 鈥� The 吃瓜直播, the 吃瓜直播 of Texas, and several other legal advocacy groups filed an amicus brief today in CCIA v. Paxton, arguing that a Texas law that restricts social media content for minors violates the First Amendment. 鈥淚f allowed to go into effect, this law will stifle young people鈥檚 creativity and cut them off from public discourse,鈥� said Lauren Yu, legal fellow with the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淭he government can鈥檛 protect minors by censoring the world around them, or by making it harder for them to discuss their problems with their peers. This law would unconstitutionally limit young people鈥檚 ability to express themselves online, develop critical thinking skills, and discover new perspectives, and it would make the entire internet less free for us all in the process.鈥� The brief argues that House Bill 18 (鈥渢he SCOPE Act鈥�) restricts young people鈥檚 ability to use social media and blocks them from viewing content they have a constitutional right to see. The law, which was enjoined by a court last year, would require minors to register their age with social media platforms and would require platforms to filter content based on an overly broad definition of 鈥渉armful to minors鈥� that includes any content that 鈥減romote, glorifies, or facilitates鈥� a long list of topics, including eating disorders, bullying, and self-harm. 鈥淭he government should not be able to decide what鈥檚 best for every child,鈥� said Chloe Kempf, staff attorney from the 吃瓜直播 of Texas. 鈥淭his law would isolate kids who need community support, hinder families who want their children to learn about the world around them, and open the door to sweeping bans 鈥� from Romeo and Juliet to content that is critical of the government. What鈥檚 framed as protecting our children is harming them 鈥� by censoring their access to the ideas and information they need to prepare for their futures.鈥� The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that minors have robust First Amendment rights, including online. Even when the goal is to protect children, the brief argues, the government cannot infringe upon core expressive activity. The brief was filed in support of Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice. CCIA & NetChoice originally filed suit against H.B. 18 in 2024. The amicus brief was filed in the Western District of Texas and was signed by the Cato Institute, the Student Press Law Center, TechFreedom, Wikimedia, and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation. The brief can be viewed online here.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected the Trump administration鈥檚 request for a stay of a lower court鈥檚 decision to release Dr. Badar Khan Suri from detention on bail. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him on March 17th in retaliation for constitutionally protected speech and association, and he spent eight weeks in detention, mostly in Texas. Upon his release in May, he returned home to his wife and three children in Virginia, where his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of his arrest is proceeding. 鈥淚 am grateful for my freedom and for the time I have to spend with my family. I have faith that the American judiciary will protect my constitutional rights,鈥� said Dr. Badar Khan Suri. The Trump administration both appealed the ruling and sought a stay, which, if granted, would have allowed ICE to re-detain Dr. Khan Suri. With this decision, he will now remain free pending the Fourth Circuit鈥檚 consideration of the appeal. The government鈥檚 opening brief is due on July 14. 鈥淭he Trump administration is trying to silence speech it doesn鈥檛 agree with by targeting people like Dr. Khan Suri and Mahmoud Khalil, but ideas are not illegal,鈥� said Mary Bauer, executive director of the 吃瓜直播 of Virginia. 鈥淎mericans don鈥檛 want to live in a country where the federal government 鈥榙isappears鈥� people whose views it doesn鈥檛 like. The First Amendment protects all of us 鈥� regardless of citizenship 鈥� from being punished by the government for our political speech.鈥� Dr. Khan Suri, an Indian national, is a visa holder whose wife and children are U.S. citizens. Prior to his arrest, Dr. Khan Suri and his wife, who is Palestinian American, were doxxed by groups that target advocates for Palestinian rights. Agents abducted Dr. Khan Suri outside his home because of his speech in support of Palestinian rights and his family ties to Gaza, then secretly transported him 1,500 miles away from his family and his attorneys, moving him between five different ICE facilities in three states in four days. 鈥淭he Fourth Circuit has prevented the government from re-detaining Dr. Khan Suri, recognizing what is at stake here: Dr. Khan Suri鈥檚 right to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, his continued freedom from punitive and retaliatory incarceration, and his freedom to be with his family and community,鈥� said Astha Sharma Pokharel, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is challenging his arrest and detention under the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act. Separately, his immigration case, in which the Trump administration is seeking to deport him, is now also proceeding in Virginia. 鈥淭he appeals court has rightly denied the government鈥檚 desperate and cruel attempt to re-detain Dr. Khan Suri over a thousand miles away from his family and community,鈥� said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淲e will continue to work to vindicate Dr. Khan Suri鈥檚 First Amendment rights so that others do not have to fear imprisonment for speaking out about issues that matter to them." Today鈥檚 ruling adds to a string of losses for the Trump administration in cases in which it has arrested immigrant students and academics for criticizing U.S. support of Israel鈥檚 assault on Gaza. In recent weeks, federal district courts have ordered Dr. Khan Suri, Tufts Ph.D student R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk, and Columbia students Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil released from detention. Dr. Khan Suri is represented in his federal lawsuit by the 吃瓜直播 of Virginia, the 吃瓜直播, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the HMA Law Firm, and the Immigrants and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law.