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Newspapers and television programs sell time and space via advertisements, and there is more in the world than could conceivably fit.
Therefore, every inclusion is an editorial decision. Any positive or negative opinion, any review of a biography or book about a politician, every interview is now a contribution in kind- after all, the time and space have value, which are included in this law as "anything of value".
Basically, this is literally what the Citizens United decision boiled down to- a blatant infringement on free speech. People HATE citizens United because it lets companies donate money, but this is the flip side to the equation.
Generally it’s not advisable for the government to have the power to ban political communication and decide on a case-by-case basis what communication falls into the banned classes.
If this thing passes it’s a dead letter to at least the current SCOTUS.
It was already unconstitutional to legislate based on the content of speech. Citizens United added the identity of the speaker.
Political speech is “indispensable to decisionmaking in a democracy, and this is no less true because the speech comes from a corporation rather than an individual.” -- https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/558/310/
jmclnx•1h ago
https://www.betteramericanmedia.org/post/former-officials-se...