Texan was arrested for questioning government. Will court defend her free speech?

[GGoss]

Cynthia M. Allen: Texan was arrested for questioning government. Will court defend her free speech? - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

While Villarreal is no conventional journalist and Facebook is no conventional reporting mechanism, asking a government official to verify the details of a story already sourced elsewhere before publishing is actually what good journalism looks like.

And how the “benefit” of gaining new followers is materially different from generating “more clicks” or increasing subscriptions (an important motivations of professional news outlets’ journalists in the digital era), I cannot tell you.

So Villarreal was effectively targeted by authorities and jailed, not for her actions but for her opinions — something that should make the hair on the neck of every freedom-loving American stand on end.

Villarreal’s charges were eventually dropped; the law used to prosecute her was deemed unconstitutionally vague. But thankfully for free speech, she didn’t allow it to end there.

Link: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/cynthia-m-allen/article271729022.html

[yagotme]

1. It is a citizen's right to question the activity of the government.

That is part of the 1st.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. Startlegram link is a paywall. n/t

[GGoss]

3. Sorry, Try Here:

Link: https://www.rawstory.com/priscilla-villarreal-2659340197/