Protect The 1st

🚨🚨🚨 WATCH: A powerful testimony from Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge), a former @CBSNews journalist whose First Amendment rights as a journalist was violated by the network, on how the PRESS Act will protect journalists going forward. Full hearing: youtube.com/watch?v=eD4nFe…

Former @TheJusticeDept staff are urging courts to hold federal law enforcement accountable re: First Amendment violations due to actions by @ICEgov and other agents. campaignlegal.org/update/dozens-…

New Florida law giving state officials the ability to designate groups as "terrorist organizations" & expel students who support them is raising concern over free speech and the potential to pressure individuals who speak or engage with certain viewpoints. reuters.com/world/us/flori…

@FBI @DHSgov 5/ We'd also add that refraining from threatening is a weak standard and fails to account for the reality that in such “jawboning” explicit threats are often unnecessary when government officials issue demands to heavily regulated industries. protect1st.org/news/speaking-…

@FBI @DHSgov 4/ The decree also doesn't cover other social media companies or those that may arise in the next decade. It includes vague and easily exploited exceptions for “criminal activity” and “national security” that may leave the named plaintiffs vulnerable.

1/ The recent consent decree in Missouri v. Biden has been hailed by civil libertarians as a “major blow against social media censorship,” signaling that “Free Speech Wins Big in Court.” But was it really?

Over 100k Pennsylvania students are served by scholarship programs, but many more are left waiting. @GovernorShapiro opting in to the new federal program could unlock nearly $1 billion in additional scholarship support. protect1st.org/news/governor-…

Pentagon policy of limiting reporter access raises serious First Amendment concerns. arkansasonline.com/news/2026/apr/…

School choice being represented as a radical new idea ignores the reality that parents deciding where their children go to school or how they should be educated is fundamental to passing down values to the next generation. washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-amer…

@FBI 6/ Given that 80% of Americans want these changes to become law, it seems like it should be easy. This is the time to reinforce that the “consent of the governed” still matters. protect1st.org/news/the-house…

@FBI 5/ Attempted reforms like RISAA offered little in the way of meaningful guardrails. Congress has one more chance to get this right by legally requiring government agents to obtain a warrant to search through Americans’ communications, with reasonable exceptions for emergencies.

1/ Freedom of expression withers when governments are always watching. Our First Amendment freedoms to think, speak, publish, and worship as we choose are strengthened by the privacy protections of the Fourth Amendment.

A healthy First Amendment culture depends on parents being able to pass their values to the next generation by choosing the right schools for their children. This is why parents should urge @GovernorShapiro to opt in to a federal scholarship program. protect1st.org/news/governor-…

@SECGov 5/ The SEC and other administrative agencies need a hard rap from SCOTUS to remind them that they are not exempt from the Constitution. protect1st.org/news/the-secs-…

@SECGov 4/ This system is one in which the SEC's version of events becomes the permanent, unchallenged record. The result is not just an injury to individual liberty, but a distortion of public debate itself, silencing people who have direct experience dealing with the SEC.

1/ Under the @SECGov gag rule, in place since 1972, those who settle enforcement actions are forced to shut up about it for life, never publicly denying the agency's allegations. Now the practice is finally facing sustained constitutional scrutiny.