If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ruled that the US government must reverse course on its policy of warrantless searches of US (and foreign) nationals’ electronic devices as they enter the country. We obtained a copy of the ruling for you here. This is not the only court decision on this issue, while this particular outcome, requiring that border agents obtain court-issued orders before performing such searches, concerns the district that is the court’s seat – therefore also a major port of entry, JFK International Airport. It was precisely at this airport that an event unfolded which set in motion a legal case. In 2022, US citizen Kurbonali Sultanov was coerced (he was told he “had no choice”) into surrendering his phone’s passport to border officers. Sultanov later became a defendant in a criminal case but argued that evidence from the phone should not be admitted because the device was accessed in violation of the Fourth Amendment (which protects Americans against unreasonable and warrantless searches). Of course, all these envisaged protections refer to US citizens, and even there prove to be sketchy in many instances. Foreign travelers (even though entering the country legally) are effectively left without any protections regarding their privacy. Sultanov’s argument was supported in an amicus brief filed the following year by the Knight First Amendment Institute and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who said that the First Amendment is violated as well when law enforcement gains access to phones without a warrant since it invalidates constitutional protections of speech, freedom of the press, religion, and association. The New York Eastern District Court’s decision is by and large based precisely on that amicus brief. One of the arguments from it is that journalists entering the US are often forced to hand over their devices. The court agreed that “letting border agents freely rifle through journalists’ work product and communications whenever they cross the border would pose an intolerable risk to press freedom,” said Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney Grayson Clary in a press statement. Meanwhile, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said they were reviewing this ruling – and would not comment on what the agency said are “pending criminal cases.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Landmark Ruling Strikes Down Warrantless Device Searches of US Citizens Borders appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The US District Court for the District of Oregon has granted a preliminary injunction in the Gilley v Stabin case, involving Portland State University political scientist Bruce Gilley, and the University of Oregon (UO) Division of Equity and Inclusion. We obtained a copy of the order for you here. It was Tova Stabin, at that time, June 2022, UO’s communications manager – who is named as a defendant in Gilley’s First Amendment-based lawsuit filed after he was blocked on Twitter by Stabin. Stabin’s decision to block Gilley and thus have his posts removed from the UO Equity account, came as he responded to her asking Twitter to “interrupt racism.” Gilley’s post read, “All men are created equal.” The latest decision came after the motion for a preliminary injunction was first denied as moot (because UO Equity lifted the block one day after Gilley filed, and ceased activity on its Twitter account) – but then the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to the lower court. The decision means that UO Equity can no longer block Gilley, or hide, mute, or delete his posts. According to Just The News, Stabin retired from UO shortly after Gilley was censored, but returned this year as a consultant for the school, in order to organize “a couple of fighting antisemitism workshops.” When the blocking incident originally happened, Gilley wanted to know which policy allowed UO to do what it did and filed a request for public records to reveal this. Stabin was then cited in the response to the request as telling a colleague Gilley was “obnoxious” – and not only that but was “bringing obnoxious people to the site.” The 9th Circuit’s decision back in March noted that UO first said it had no formal policy on social media, but that when Gilley sued, it suddenly changed this position by revealing guidelines that gave it the right to remove any comments it considered racist, hateful, otherwise inappropriate or offensive. And to make the “rules” as broad as possible – also comments that are “out of context, off-topic or not relevant to the topic at hand.” That would be one way of saying, “obnoxious.” However the appellate court was not impressed, stating that the case was not moot because of the policy’s “lack of formality and relative novelty, how easily (it) can be reversed, and the lack of procedural safeguards to protect from arbitrary action.” For that reason, the 9th Circuit found, “Gilley has standing to seek prospective relief for his as-applied challenge,” and now the district court granted an injunction. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Political Scientist Wins Injunction Against University of Oregon Officials Over Social Media Censorship appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. On the last day of July, the encrypted messenger Telegram announced that the previous batch of updates concerns the in-app Telegram Browser, the Mini App Store, and more. The browser has search, multiple tabs, bookmarks, and other standard functionality, as well as Web3 features that an announcement from the company said are immediately available thanks to the browser supporting decentralized sites on the TON blockchain network. This is available to all users, which Telegram claims now number nearly one billion. Instead of closing the browser, the in-app one now allows for collapsing and again opening pages from the bottom bar, meaning that Telegram users can now seamlessly switch between reading and posting messages, and being on a website or playing a game while saving their progress. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said in a post on his platform that the ability to switch between these different elements means that communications and news consumption are now “merged” on the app. He also explained that in order to test using the TON feature, users can open the link, tonsite://getting-started.ton. As for the Mini App Store, there is a new tab in Search, called “Apps” (showing up along with Chats and Channels) which produces a list of mini apps in use, but also those that are popular on the platform (the latter is open to those mini apps that use Telegram Stars). According to Telegram, out of its 950 million users over 500 million “interact with mini apps every month.” Among those are prominently games and services, but also a variety of others. To those looking to try a new app, they will now feature screenshots and video demos. Another new feature of mini apps is AI-generated content, such as videos and achievements, for Telegram Stories. Among the updates is one to the Stories – which have received covers and animated weather widgets. Telegram Stars were introduced in June to enable payments for digital goods and services. Users can get them through in-app purchases via Apple and Google or PremiumBot. With the latest update, they can now also gift Stars to those apps that accept them. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Telegram’s New Era Merges Chat and Web: In-App Browser, Mini App Store, and More appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

We've Entered the Trench Warfare Stage of the Campaign Cycle For Regime Media

ABC’s The View might be the most popular day-time talk show, but they definitely don’t have the kind of influence moderator Whoopi Goldberg was trying to exercise on Thursday’s show when announced that former President Trump and Republicans were banned from the black community after his contentious sit-down with the National Association of Black Journalists. “Listen, he did exactly what often Republicans bitch about, ‘you don't invite me, you don't want to listen.’ Well, we invited you and we heard you. And you can't come back!” Goldberg proclaimed as the capstone to their reaction to the event. “And you blew it,” co-host Joy Behar agreed. Responding to Trump’s comments about Vice President Harris playing different race cards depending on the situation, staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners) played her biracial card and seemingly suggested that the KKK was trying to round her up: HOSTIN: And I think when -- I'm a biracial person, right? I have a black father and a white mother. And the KKK is going to find me and round me up with every other black person. And so, I think the -- you know, this is my lived experience, and it's her lived experience and I think to question someone's racial identity -- GOLDBERG: Especially him. HOSTIN: Especially him, the bar has fallen so low.     So, here’s the thing about relying on someone telling us about their “lived experience,” there are paranoid schizophrenics out there that have very livid lived experiences that never actually happened. Hostin went on to decry the efforts of “white-led” businesses trying to help the black community: He worked with Tim Scott, you know, his -- the only black Republican senator on opportunity zones. And if anybody knows anything about opportunity zones, what happens is, white-led huge corporations build things in black communities and black people usually don't even get jobs in those jobs. So, opportunity zones don't help black communities. So, he was trying, I think, to woo someone and maybe the only person he wooed was maybe Harris Faulkner, I don't know. For Behar’s take, she suggested the whole thing was away for trump to appeal to his supposedly racist base. “My point is he was really working for his base right now,” she suggested without evidence. “It was like an opportunity to say to all the racists out there, ‘see, see what I'm saying here. See what I did there?’” “I think that's what his motive was and also he's too stupid to realize what he's even doing,” she declared. Adding: “But then he gets so threatened by a black woman asking him questions that he is petrified of Kamala in the debate. He's petrified. So, you are watching a very scared orange person.” Excuse me Joy, that’s POC or person of citrus. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View August 1, 2024 11:05:54 a.m. Eastern (…) SUNNY HOSTIN: And I think when -- I'm a biracial person, right? I have a black father and a white mother. And the KKK is going to find me and round me up with every other black person. And so, I think the -- you know, this is my lived experience, and it's her lived experience and I think to question someone's racial identity -- WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Especially him. HOSTIN: Especially him, the bar has fallen so low. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: That's the thing that is despicable and if you didn't know who he was he's saying it very loudly. I do want to give kudos to ABC's Rachel Scott who is just amazing, and Kadia Goba did an excellent job holding his feet to the fire. And there is something about when women challenge him that he unravels. (…) 11:08:34 a.m. Eastern SARA HAINES: This did not win any votes! JOY BEHAR: Exactly my point. HAINES: This did not expand anyone. It probably lost people. BEHAR: My point is he was really working for his base right now. That was to signal his base -- HAINES: No, he brags about black – he wants black. GOLDBERG (interrupting Haines): Go ahead. Go ahead. Let her go. Say it. BEHAR: I believe that's what his motive was. It was like an opportunity to say to all the racists out there, “see, see what I'm saying here. See what I did there?” I think that's what his motive was and also he's too stupid to realize what he's even doing. But then he gets so threatened by a black woman asking him questions that he is petrified of Kamala in the debate. He's petrified. So, you are watching a very scared orange person. (…) 11:10:25 a.m. Eastern HOSTIN: He worked with Tim Scott, you know, his -- the only black Republican senator on opportunity zones. And if anybody knows anything about opportunity zones, what happens is, white-led huge corporations build things in black communities and black people usually don't even get jobs in those jobs. So, opportunity zones don't help black communities. So, he was trying, I think, to woo someone and maybe the only person he wooed was maybe Harris Faulkner, I don't know. GOLDBERG: Listen, he did exactly what often Republicans bitch about, ‘you don't invite me, you don't want to listen.’ Well, we invited you and we heard you. BEHAR: And you blew it. GOLDBERG: And you can't come back! We'll be right back.

A political rift has opened up between California Democrats over homelessness after a U.S Supreme Court ruling that gave local governments more power to clean up encampments. While many have praised the ruling, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass excoriated the decision and is now refusing an executive order from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to clean up the cities. 'The criminalization of homelessness and poverty is dangerous.'“We have now no excuse with the Supreme Court decision. This executive order is about pushing that paradigm further and getting the sense of urgency that’s required of local government to do their job," read a statement from Newsom about a month after the ruling. Prior to the ruling, cities had to provide alternate sleeping arrangements for homeless people before they were allowed to shut down tent cities and encampments. The Supreme Court decided in June along partisan lines that cities could decide who could sleep in public spaces without having to provide alternatives. While Newsom's order isn't mandatory, if cities refuse, they may put money they receive from the state government at risk. It also calls on local officials to give 48-hour notice ahead of any encampment clean-up and to provide storage for personal belongings for 60 days afterward. Bass made it clear that she will not follow the order. “I do not believe that it is ultimately a solution to homelessness,” she said. “How are they supposed to pay for their ticket, and what happens when they don’t pay? Does it go into a warrant and give us an excuse to incarcerate somebody?” Some members on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed with Bass. “I want to be crystal clear,” said board chairwoman Lindsey Horvath. “The criminalization of homelessness and poverty is dangerous. It does not work, and it will not stand in Los Angeles County.”Another influential Democrat on Newsom's side is San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who is up for re-election. “We have had to move from a compassionate city to a city of accountability,” she said about recent encampment sweeps. “And I have been leading the efforts to ensure we are addressing this issue differently than we have before.”California Republicans meanwhile criticized Newsom for what they called a public relations stunt. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) turned the tables on CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday when she tried to corner him over remarks former President Donald Trump made earlier in the day.At a National Association of Black Journalists event, Trump fielded racially loaded questions in a mostly hostile environment. At one point, he appeared to question Vice President Kamala Harris' racial heritage, comments that stirred up more controversy.'Four years ago, Joe Biden said if you don't vote for him, 'you ain't black.' Could you imagine a more insulting comment?'But instead of questioning Cotton about Senate business, Collins essentially demanded that Cotton answer for Trump.Unfortunately for Collins, the Arkansas Republican was not in the mood to play a game of identity politics. What actually matters, Cotton said, is "the fact that [Harris] identifies as a San Francisco liberal" and that her record as vice president, a presidential candidate, and as a state and local politician is "dangerous."That response, however, wasn't sufficient for Collins, who repeatedly diverted the interview back to Trump's remarks. But at every instance, Cotton spoke clearly about the contrast between Trump and Harris. — (@) Finally, Cotton had enough and highlighted previous remarks from both Harris and Biden that complicate the media's narrative that purports Trump to be racist."My point is when are you and the rest of the media going to demand that Kamala Harris come out and answer questions in an unscripted format about where she stands for this country, as opposed to continuing to focus on what Donald Trump said today?" Cotton said. "Four years ago, Joe Biden said, 'If you don't vote for him, you ain't black.' Could you imagine a more insulting comment? Joe Biden is presuming to judge the political views of one-eighth of our fellow citizens based on their skin color. "Did you ever ask Kamala Harris to condemn his remarks?" he asked.At that moment, Collins began talking over Cotton and repeatedly interrupted him."But, senator, this is a question — you're a Republican senator," she said. "So, I would ask you about the Republican — the Republican nominee.""Kaitlan, did you ask Kamala Harris why she's willing to serve as a vice president for a man she essentially called racist and a segregationist?" Cotton fired back."OK. Well—" Collins responded."Have you or anyone else in the media asked Kamala Harris those questions, Kaitlan?" Cotton followed up.Collins, whose ratings are abysmal, did not answer Cotton's questions. She simply implored Cotton to "trust" her because she has "covered the Biden-Harris White House." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

No One Is Above the Law: Biden Continues to OPENLY DEFY SCOTUS on Student Loan Forgiveness

Jordanian Nationals Who Tried to Breach Marine Base Walk Free After Posting Bail

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