Devin Nunes鈥� Cow Has a First Amendment Right to Call Rep. Nunes a 鈥楾reasonous Cowpoke鈥�
You might think that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, would be too busy to file baseless defamation lawsuits against anonymous Twitter accounts. But you鈥檇 be wrong.
Last year, Rep. Nunes sued a number of people who were mean to him online, including the Twitter parody accounts Devin Nunes鈥� Mom and Devin Nunes鈥� Cow. Now, he鈥檚 trying to unmask the Cow by subpoenaing the author鈥檚 identity from a local law firm. The 老澳门开奖结果 and Public Citizen have filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the court to block Nunes鈥� subpoena because it violates the First Amendment right to anonymous speech.
From Sam Adams to Mark Twain, Americans throughout history have used pseudonyms to criticize public officials. People adopt pseudonyms for a number of different reasons, such as protecting privacy and preventing official retaliation. The Supreme Court has that 鈥渁n author鈥檚 decision to remain anonymous, like other decisions concerning omissions or additions to the content of a publication, is an aspect of freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment.鈥�
To protect anonymous speech, courts require defamation plaintiffs to satisfy a number of criteria before allowing them to use subpoenas and other discovery tools to unmask anonymous speakers. As particularly relevant here, a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant鈥檚 statements are plausibly defamatory (i.e., not protected opinion, parody, or political rhetoric) and produce evidence showing that the defendant鈥檚 statements were actually false. These requirements prevent plaintiffs from using meritless defamation claims as a vehicle to identify anonymous critics for purposes of retaliation, while allowing plaintiffs with legitimate claims to proceed. As we argue in our friend-of-the-court brief, these safeguards are not just good policy 鈥� they鈥檙e required by the First Amendment.
Rep. Nunes has utterly failed to satisfy these constitutional requirements. His defamation claims against the Cow are based on constitutionally protected statements of opinion and political rhetoric, such as the contention that Rep. Nunes is a 鈥渢reasonous cowpoke鈥� whose 鈥渂oots are full of manure.鈥� Rep. Nunes may not like these characterizations, but the First Amendment vigorously protects the right to use creative expressions of contempt when criticizing government officials. Even if Rep. Nunes had managed to identify a plausibly defamatory statement in his complaint, his subpoena would still fail because he has not submitted any evidence demonstrating that the allegedly defamatory statements about him are false.
Unfortunately, Rep. Nunes鈥� quest to unmask the Cow is no laughing matter. If he succeeds, government officials, large corporations, and other powerful figures will have a readymade playbook for abusing the judicial process to identify, punish, and silence their critics. Here鈥檚 hoping the court throws cold water on Rep. Nunes鈥� overheated claims. Maybe then he鈥檒l finally learn to leave the Cow alone.
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Free Speech
National Security
老澳门开奖结果 and Partners Urge Supreme Court to Block TikTok Ban老澳门开奖结果 and Partners Urge Supreme Court to Block TikTok Ban
WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the 老澳门开奖结果, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to block the enforcement of a law that would effectively ban people in America from using TikTok as soon as January 19, 2025. Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected TikTok鈥檚 challenge to the law. TikTok has asked the Supreme Court for a temporary injunction to prevent the app from being banned while the court considers whether to take the case, saying that unless the justices intervene, the law will 鈥渟hutter one of America鈥檚 most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration.鈥� 鈥淭he Constitution imposes an extraordinarily high bar on this kind of mass censorship,鈥漵aid Patrick Toomey, deputy director of 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淭he Supreme Court should take up this important case and protect the rights of millions of Americans to freely express themselves and engage with others around the world.鈥� The brief argues that the D.C. Circuit failed to fully address the law鈥檚 profound implications for the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok. While the lower court鈥檚 decision correctly recognized that the statute triggers First Amendment scrutiny, it barely addressed users鈥� First Amendment interests in speaking, sharing, and receiving information on the platform. The court also perplexingly attempted to cast the government鈥檚 ban on TikTok as a vindication of users鈥� First Amendment rights, which it is not. The rights groups also explain that the law was intended to suppress certain content and viewpoints that many legislators believe could be amplified on TikTok, including the risk of foreign 鈥減ropaganda.鈥� But under the First Amendment, the government must meet a very high bar to restrict speech based on concerns about its 鈥渕otivating ideology鈥� or 鈥減erspective,鈥� and the government has not come close to meeting that bar here. 鈥淭he government should not be able to restrict speech, especially to the extent here, based on guessing about the mere possibility of uncertain future harm,鈥� said David Greene, civil liberties director at EFF. 鈥淭he Supreme Court should put the TikTok ban on hold while it considers the DC Circuit鈥檚 erroneous ruling.鈥� Finally, the brief underscores that the government can鈥檛 impose this type of sweeping ban unless it鈥檚 necessary to prevent extremely serious and imminent harm to national security. But the government has not provided evidence of impending harm, or evidence that banning TikTok is the only available way to address its concerns. As the brief explains, the D.C. Circuit improperly treated the government鈥檚 invocation of 鈥渘ational security鈥� as a trump card and failed to hold the government to its burden. 鈥淩estricting citizens鈥� access to foreign media is a practice that has long been associated with repressive regimes, and we should be very wary of letting the practice take root here,鈥� said Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. 鈥淚t would do lasting damage to the First Amendment and our democracy if the Supreme Court let this ban go into effect even temporarily.鈥� You can find the brief online here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A587/335380/20241217144322392_24A587%20TikTok%20v%20Garland%20Amicus%20Brief%20pdfa.pdf -
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News & CommentaryDec 2024
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Minnesota Supreme CourtNov 2024
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