Trump announces suits against Facebook, Twitter and Google
Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is filing suits against three of the country’s biggest tech companies: Facebook, Twitter and Google, as well as their CEOs.
Social Media
Articles
Franklin mayor sued for blocking resident on Facebook after BLM video
The mayor of Franklin has been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana after he allegedly blocked an individual from accessing his Facebook page.
Justices rule for cursing cheerleader over Snapchat post
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Pennsylvania public school wrongly suspended a student from cheerleading over a vulgar social media post she made after she didn’t qualify for the varsity team.
Protective order against ‘ruthless’ social media attacker upheld
D.V. filed for a protective order in December 2019, testifying that she’d been forced to change her phone number because of P.D.’s tactics and saying she felt “scared” and “desperate.” The Tippecanoe Superior Court granted the protective order.
Student’s arrest for racist post sparks free speech debate
The arrest of a Connecticut high school student accused of posting racist comments about a Black classmate on social media is being supported by civil rights advocates, but free speech groups are calling it an unusual move by police that raises First Amendment issues.
AGs urge Facebook to drop ‘Instagram for kids’ proposal
A bipartisan group of 44 attorneys general has written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to drop company plans for a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Monday.
Facebook board upholds Trump ban, just not an indefinite one
Former President Donald Trump won’t return to Facebook — at least not yet. Four months after Facebook suspended Trump’s accounts for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the company’s quasi-independent oversight board upheld the bans but told Facebook to specify how long they would last.
Wary Supreme Court weighs student’s Snapchat profanity case
A wary Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether public schools can discipline students for things they say off campus, worrying about overly restricting speech on the one hand and leaving educators powerless to deal with bullying on the other.
Police allege man left explosive device at Terre Haute police station
A 50-year-old man was arrested Saturday for allegedly leaving an improvised explosive device and causing a fire outside the Terre Haute Police Department.
Watchdog lays bare Capitol Police’s riot security failures
A blistering internal report by the U.S. Capitol Police describes a multitude of missteps that left the force unprepared for the Jan. 6 insurrection — riot shields that shattered upon impact, expired weapons that couldn’t be used, inadequate training and an intelligence division that had few set standards.
High court nixes Alex Jones’ appeal in Newtown shooting case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
SCOTUS dismisses case over Trump and Twitter critics
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The court said there was nothing left to the case after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January.
Supreme Court sides with Facebook in text message dispute
The United States Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Facebook in a lawsuit over unwanted text notifications it sent, rejecting a claim that the messages violated the federal ban on robocalls.
Court lets woman’s defamation suit vs. Trump proceed again
Former President Donald Trump could face questioning under oath about a former reality TV show contestant’s sexual assault allegations against him after a ruling from New York’s highest court Tuesday.
Clark Co. nurse allegedly removed COVID-19 patient’s oxygen
A southern Indiana nurse has been charged with practicing medicine without a license for allegedly removing a nursing home resident’s oxygen mask hours before he died from COVID-19 last year.
Dominion Voting sues Fox for $1.6B over 2020 election claims
Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election.
Lawmakers press Big Tech CEOs on speech responsibility
The CEOs of tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google faced a grilling Thursday in Congress as lawmakers tried to draw them into acknowledging their companies’ roles in fueling the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and rising COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
Not NCAA Property: Players push for reform, compensation on social media
Several prominent players at the March Madness basketball tournament in Indianapolis took aim at the NCAA on social media Wednesday, demanding changes to how they are allowed to be compensated in the latest organized display of power by college athletes.
Man sentenced 75 years for bomb threats, extortion
A California man accused of making online threats to bomb two suburban Indianapolis high schools in addition to a slew of other crimes was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to 75 years in prison.
US narrows in on organized extremists in Capitol siege probe
As members of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group shouldered their way through the mob and up the steps to the U.S. Capitol, their plans for Jan. 6 were clear, authorities say. “Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud,” someone commanded over an encrypted messaging app some extremists used to communicate during the siege.