上脇博之神戸学院大学教授の告発で表面化した自民党派閥パーティーを巡る裏金問題は、年をまたいで岸田政権と自民党政治の闇を直撃する大事件となった。端緒の端緒は２２年１１月の「しんぶん赤旗日曜版」記事。大手メディアは検察が動くまで報道できなかった。同紙の記事は、公開されている政治資金収支報告書を丹念に拾い、分析した文字通りの調査費報道。その裏側を同紙編集部の山田健介記者＝写真＝にインタビューした。聞き手・矢野昌弘（運営委員）　―自民党派閥の「政治資金パーティ」は、裏ガネ作りの..

２月21日、参議院議員議員会館で福島みずほ議員の紹介による院内ヒアリング集会「能登半島地震が教える原発の危険性」「地震はどこでも起こる、退避も避難もできない」が開かれた。主要なテーマは本年１月１日の能登半島地震を踏まえた原発の安全性の欠如、防災体制の不備、屋内退避も避難行動も不可能な事態に直面して、規制庁と内閣府の担当者と問題点を論じ、今動いている原発の全面停止を求める取り組みが行われた。

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal appeals court to reinstate X’s lawsuit challenging a California law that forces social media companies to file reports to the state about their content moderation decisions, and with respect to five controversial issues in particular—an unconstitutional intrusion into platforms’ right to curate hosted speech free of government interference.

While we are enthusiastic proponents of transparency and have worked, through the Santa Clara Principles and otherwise, to encourage online platforms to provide information to their users, we see the clear threat in the state mandates. Indeed, the Santa Clara Principles itself warns against government’s use of its voluntary standards as mandates. California’s law is especially concerning since it appears aimed at coercing social media platforms to more actively moderate user posts.

In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, we asserted—as we have repeatedly in the face of state mandates around the country about what speech social media companies can and cannot host—that allowing California to interject itself into platforms’ editorial processes, in any form, raises serious First Amendment concerns.

At issue is California A.B. 587, a 2022 law requiring large social media companies to semiannually report to the state attorney general detailed information about the content moderation decisions they make and, in particular, with respect to hot button issues like hate speech or racism, extremism or radicalization, disinformation or misinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference.

A.B. 587 requires companies to report “detailed descriptions” of its content moderation practices generally and for each of these categories, and also to report detailed information about all posts flagged as belonging to any of those categories, including how content in these categories is defined, how it was flagged, how it was moderated, and whether their action was appealed. Companies can be fined up to $15,000 a day for failing to comply.

X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, sued to overturn the law, claiming correctly that it violates its First Amendment right against being compelled to speak. A federal judge declined to put the law on temporary hold and dismissed the lawsuit.

We agree with Twitter and urge the Ninth Circuit to reverse the lower court. The law was intended to be and is operating as an informal censorship scheme to pressure online intermediaries to moderate user speech, which the First Amendment does not allow.

It’s akin to requiring a state attorney general or law enforcement to be able to listen in on editorial board meetings at the local newspaper or TV station, a clear interference with editorial freedom. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld this general principle of editorial freedom in a variety of speech contexts. There shouldn’t be a different rule for social media.

From a legal perspective, the issue before the court is what degree of First Amendment scrutiny is used to analyze the law. The district court found that the law need only be justified and not burdensome to comply with, a low degree of analysis known as Zauderer scrutiny, that is reserved for compelled factual and noncontroversial commercial speech. In our brief, we urge that as a law that both intrudes upon editorial freedom and disfavors certain categories of speech it must survive the far more rigorous strict First Amendment scrutiny. Our brief sets out several reasons why strict scrutiny should be applied.

Our brief also distinguishes A.B. 587’s speech compulsions from ones that do not touch the editorial process such as requirements that companies disclose how they handle user data. Such laws are typically subject to an intermediate level of scrutiny, and EFF strongly supports such laws that can pass this test.

A.B. 587 says X and other social media companies must report to the California Attorney General whether and how it curates disfavored and controversial speech and then adhere to those statements, or face fines. As a practical matter, this requirement is unworkable—content moderation policies are highly subjective, constantly evolving, and subject to numerous influences.

And as a matter of law, A.B. 587 interferes with platforms’ constitutional right to decide whether, how, when, and in what way to moderate controversial speech. The law is a thinly veiled attempt to coerce sites to remove content the government doesn’t like.

We hope the Ninth Circuit agrees that’s not allowed under the First Amendment.

イスラエルによるパレスチナの占領に関し、国連総会から2022年に国際法に基づく意見を求められていたIJC国際司法裁判所が、やっと、2年間の放置の後、オランダ・ハーグ平和宮で審理を始めました。　審理は2月19日から26日まで続き、日本を含め55の国や国際機関などが意見を述べます。　イスラエルが出廷する予定は？、ないそうです、、いまのところは、、、

In recent years, lots of proposed laws purport to reduce “harmful” content on the internet, especially for kids. Some have good intentions. But the fact is, we can’t censor our way to a healthier internet.

When it comes to online (or offline) content, people simply don’t agree about what’s harmful. And people make mistakes, even in content moderation systems that have extensive human review and appropriate appeals. The systems get worse when automated filters are brought into the mix–as increasingly occurs, when moderating content at the vast scale of the internet.

Recently, EFF weighed in against an especially vague and poorly written proposal: California Ballot Initiative 23-0035, written by Common Sense Media. It would allow for plaintiffs to sue online information providers for damages of up to $1 million if it violates “its responsibility of ordinary care and skill to a child.”

We sent a public comment to California Attorney General Rob Bonta regarding the dangers of this wrongheaded proposal. While the AG’s office does not typically take action for or against ballot initiatives at this stage of the process, we wanted to register our opposition to the initiative as early as we could.

Initiative 23-0035  would result in broad censorship via a flood of lawsuits claiming that all manner of content online is harmful to a single child. While it is possible for children (and adults) to be harmed online, Initiative 23-0035’s vague standard, combined with extraordinarily large statutory damages, will severely limit access to important online discussions for both minors and adults. Many online platforms will censor user content in order to avoid this legal risk.

The following are just a few of the many areas of culture, politics, and life where people have different views of what is “harmful,” and where this ballot initiative thus could cause removal of online content:

• Discussions about LGBTQ life, culture, and health care.
• Discussions about dangerous sports like tackle football, e-bikes, or sport shooting.
• Discussions about substance abuse, depression, or anxiety, including conversations among people seeking treatment and recovery.

In addition, the proposed initiative would lead to mandatory age verification. It’s wrong to force someone to show ID before they go online to search for information. It eliminates the right to speak or to find information anonymously, for both minors and adults.

This initiative, with its vague language, is arguably worse than the misnamed Kids Online Safety Act, a federal censorship bill that we are opposing. We hope the sponsors of this initiative choose not to move forward with this wrongheaded and unconstitutional proposal. If they do, we are prepared to oppose it.

You can read EFF’s full letter to A.G. Bonta here.

　昨年１０月から１２月に放送されたドラマ「セクシー田中さん」の原作者で漫画家の芦原妃名子さんが脚本を巡る問題で自死（享年５０）した事件は、原作マンガを出版した小学館、映像化した日本テレビを巻き込むなど波紋が広がっている。　自死したのは、原作に忠実にという原作者の意向がテレビドラマの内容に反映されなかったことが主因とみられる。　芦原さんが寄稿していた小学館第一コミック局編集局一同が２月８日に公表した声明でも、それを窺わせる文章がある。「著者が待つ絶対的な権利『著作者人格権』につ..

It is troubling to see that the Indian government has issued new demands to X (formerly Twitter) to remove accounts and posts critical of the government and its recent actions. This is especially bears watching as India is preparing for general elections this spring, and concerns for the government’s manipulation of social media critical of it grows.

On Wednesday, X’s Global Government Affairs account (@GlobalAffairs) tweeted:

The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment. 

In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts.

Consistent with our position, a writ appeal challenging the Indian government's blocking orders remains pending. We have also provided the impacted users with notice of these actions in accordance with our policies.

Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency. This lack of disclosure can lead to a lack of accountability and arbitrary decision-making.

India’s general elections are set to take place in April or May and will elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the country’s parliament. Since February, farm unions in the country have been striking for floor pricing (also known as a minimum support price) for their crops. While protesters have attempted to march to Delhi from neighboring states, authorities have reportedly barricaded city borders, and two neighboring states ruled by the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have deployed troops in order to stop the farmers from reaching the capital.

According to reports, the accounts locally withheld by X in response to the Indian government’s orders are critical of the BJP, while some accounts that were supporting or merely covering the farmer’s protests have also been withheld. Several account holders have identified themselves as being among those notified by X, while other users have identified many other accounts.

This isn’t the first time that the Indian government has gone after X users. In 2021, when the company—then called Twitter—was under different leadership, it suspended 500 accounts, then first reversed its decision, citing freedom of speech, and later re-suspended the accounts, citing compliance with India’s Information Technology Act. And in 2023, the company withheld 120 accounts critical of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is exactly the type of censorship we feared when EFF previously criticized the ITA’s rules, enacted in 2021, that force online intermediaries to comply with strict removal time frames under government orders. The rules require online intermediaries like X to remove restricted posts within 36 hours of receiving notice. X can challenge the order—as they have indicated they intend to—but the posts will remain down until that challenge is fully adjudicated.

EFF is also currently fighting back against efforts related to an Indian court order that required Reuters news service to de-publish one of its articles while a legal challenge to it is considered by the courts. This type of interim censorship is unauthorized in most legal systems. Those involved in the case have falsely represented to others who wrote about the Reuters story that the order applied to them as well.

Following an FBI raid of his home last year, the freelance journalist Tim Burke has been arrested and indicted in connection with an investigation into leaks of unaired footage from Fox News. The raid raised questions about whether Burke was being investigated for First Amendment-protected journalistic activities, and EFF joined a letter calling on the Justice Department to explain whether and how it believed Burke had actually engaged in wrongdoing. Although the government has now charged Burke, these questions remain, including whether the prosecution is consistent with the DOJ’s much-vaunted policy for charging criminal violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

The indictment centers on actions by Burke and an alleged co-conspirator to access two servers belonging to a sports network and a television livestreaming service respectively. In both cases, Burke is alleged to have used login credentials that he was not authorized to use, making the access “without authorization” under the CFAA. In the case of the livestream server, he is also alleged to have downloaded a list of unique, but publicly available URLs corresponding to individual news networks’ camera feeds and copied content from the streams, in further violation of the CFAA and the Wiretap Act. However, in a filing last year seeking the return of devices seized by the FBI, Burke’s lawyers argued that the credentials he used to access the livestream server were part of a “demo” publicly posted by the owner of the service, and therefore his use was not “unauthorized.”

Unfortunately, concepts of authorization and unauthorized access in the CFAA are exceedingly murky. EFF has fought for years—with some success—to bring the CFAA in line with common sense notions of what an anti-hacking law should prohibit: actually breaking into private computers. But the law remains vague, too often allowing prosecutors and private parties to claim that individuals knew or should have known what they were doing was unauthorized, even when no technical barrier prevented them from accessing a server or website.

The law’s vagueness is so apparent that in the wake of Van Buren v. United States, a landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning a CFAA prosecution, even the Justice Department committed to limiting its discretion in prosecuting computer crimes. EFF felt that these guidelines could have gone further, but we held out hope that they would do some work in protecting people from overbroad use of the CFAA.

Mr. Burke’s prosecution shows the DOJ needs to do more to show that its charging policy prevents CFAA misuse. Under the guidelines, the department has committed to bringing CFAA charges only in specific instances that meet all of the following criteria:

• the defendant’s access was not authorized “under any circumstances”
• the defendant knew of the facts that made the access without authorization
• the prosecution serves “goals for CFAA enforcement”

If Mr. Burke merely used publicly available demo credentials to access a list of public livestreams which were themselves accessible without a username or password, the DOJ would be hard-pressed to show that the access was unauthorized under any circumstances and he actually knew that.

This is only one of the concerning aspects of the Burke indictment. In recent years, there have been several high-profile incidents involving journalists accused of committing computer crimes in the course of their reporting on publicly available material. As EFF argued in an amicus brief in one of these cases, vague and overbroad applications of computer crime laws threaten to chill a wide range of First Amendment protected activities, including reporting on matters of public interest. We’d like to see these laws—state and federal—be narrowed to better reflect how people use the Internet and to remove the ability of prosecutors to bring charges where the underlying conduct is nothing more than reporting on publicly available material.

Related Cases: Van Buren v. United States

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) has introduced the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023–an absolutely awful bill that ignores years of abuse and unconstitutional surveillance in order to renew a mass surveillance law with no real changes, reforms, or new oversight.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire on December 31, 2023, and there is currently a race to see what bill will renew Big Brother’s favorite surveillance law. Any reauthorizations must come with significant reforms in order to protect the privacy of people’s communications. To that end, the choice is clear - we urge all Members to vote NO on the Intelligence Committee’s bill, H.R.6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023.

We’ve been challenging the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of ordinary people since we first became aware of it nearly twenty years ago. Since then, tens of thousands of supporters have joined the call to fight what became Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, a law which was supposed to enable overseas surveillance of specific targets, but has become a backdoor way of mass spying on the communications of people in the U.S. Now, Section 702 is back up for a major renewal since it was last approved in 2018, and we need to pull out all the stops to make sure it is not renewed without massive reforms and increased transparency and oversight. 

Section 702 is up for renewal, so we decided our shirts should reflect the ongoing fight. For the first time in a decade, our popular NSA Spying shirts are back, with an updated EFF logo and design. The image of the NSA's glowering, red-eyed eagle using his talons to tap into your data depicts the collaboration of telecommunication companies with the NSA - a reference to our Hepting v. AT&T and Jewel v. NSA warrantless wiretapping cases. Every purchase helps EFF’s lawyers and activists stop the spying and unplug big brother.

Get your shirt in our shop today

Wear this t-shirt to proudly let everyone know that it’s time to rein in mass surveillance. And if you haven’t yet, let your representatives know today to Stop the Spying. 

EFF is a member-supported nonprofit and we value your contributions deeply. Financial support from people like you has allowed EFF to educate the public, reach out to lawmakers, organize grassroots action, and challenge threats to digital freedom at every turn.  Join the cause now to fight government secrecy and end illegal surveillance!

EFF is a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible to the full extent provided by law.

　昨年12月も公共放送NHKで不祥事が相次いで明るみに出た。　21日、NHK広報局は規定に反して内部監査資料を持ち出した3人の職員の停職1か月の処分を発表した。流出資料の内容は明らかにされていない。　19日には、報道局社会部の30代の記者が私的飲食代を取材と称して410件総額789万円も不正請求していたことを公表した。NHKが設置した第三者委員会は、「組織としての管理活動の不足や監視体制の不足だけでなく、NHK職員の倫理観の不足も事案の発生につながった原因の一つ」「報道局長や..