Babylon Bee sues California over censorship law

"It’s a good thing when people are allowed to speak freely," Dillion wrote. "It’s a bad thing when Big Tech and the government work together to decide what we’re allowed to say."

Christian satire site The Babylon Bee is suing California to stop the enforcement of a law requiring tech platforms to provide reporting on misinformation and hate speech or face fines.

CEO Seth Dillon confirmed the suit in a Wednesday Substack post, asserting that the law is "unconstitutional" and outlining the merits of their argument, which largely rests on First Amendment claims.

Alongside the Bee, podcaster Tim Pool and social media app Minds are fellow plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs assert that the law, AB 587, "targets constitutionally protected speech." Dillon indicated that the law, billed as a "transparency" measure, amounts to censorship, pointing to California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's past comments on the law.

"California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country," he said.

"It’s a good thing when people are allowed to speak freely," Dillon wrote. "It’s a bad thing when Big Tech and the government work together to decide what we’re allowed to say. Why? Because they often get it wrong. Even worse, they get it wrong on purpose."

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/babylon-bee-sues-california-over-censorship-law

Florida fight over ‘baby boxes’ part of bigger culture war

By TERRY SPENCER

April 11, 2023

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Safe Haven Baby Boxes and A Safe Haven for Newborns are two charities with similar names and the same goal: providing distressed mothers with a safe place to surrender their unwanted newborns instead of dumping them in trash cans or along roadsides.

But a fight between the two is brewing in the Florida Senate. An existing state law, supported and promoted by the Miami-based A Safe Haven, allows parents to surrender newborns to firefighters and hospital workers without giving their names. A new bill, supported by the Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes, would give fire stations and hospitals the option to install the group’s ventilated and climate-controlled boxes, where parents could drop off their babies without interacting with fire or hospital employees.

The bill recently passed the Florida House unanimously, but there is a long-shot effort to block it in the Senate, where it might be considered this week. Opponents call the boxes costly, unnecessary and potentially dangerous for the babies, mothers, firefighters and hospital workers. Each side accuses the other of being financially driven.

The fight is getting extra attention because Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s GOP-dominated Legislature are expected to soon ban abortions performed more than six weeks after conception, lowering the state’s current limit of 15 weeks.

https://apnews.com/article/baby-boxes-florida-7a6dd3598f9c8a37be5c913572abdd62