Sonja West

College journalism exposes the rot of ‘grown-ups’ | Will Bunch Newsletter Plus a history lesson on the real ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ and fascism,

You know what media is NOT bending the knee in the Trump era? College journalists! The Harvard Crimson's brutal takedown of the lecherous ex-prez Larry Summers is just the latest example of students showing a failing 'grown-up' media how it's done

My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...

Full house for "The Future of Press Freedom in an Era of Democratic Backsliding" panel. Thank you @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, & @sonjawest.bsky.social for joining us to discuss #pressfreedom.

📍TOMORROW: A panel of legal experts and journalists discuss how to protect #pressfreedom and support journalists under Trump. Feat. @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, and @sonjawest.bsky.social. RSVP.

As deepfake technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and accessible, American lawmakers are responding with a flurry of urgent legislative action to address its potential harms. Our 50-state survey of proposed and enacted deepfake legislation reveals a complex regulatory landscape in which jurisdictions are adopting a range of legal approaches, including criminal punishments, civil remedies, or a combination of methods. We also find that legislators are frequently turning to tort-law frameworks to address the harms of deepfakes. This article explores the current landscape of tort-based regulations of deepfakes. In addition to providing an overview of the most recent legislative developments, we unpack and compare the various tort-law methods arising at the state and federal level. We further consider how lawmakers are modifying existing tort laws to address the unique concerns raised by deepfakes. While individualistic tort remedies allow victims of deepfakes to seek direct recourse through familiar private rights of action, our analysis also identifies practical and conceptual limitations with this approach. Traditional tort frameworks struggle to address key challenges posed by deepfakes, including anonymous creation, viral distribution at technological scale, and harms affecting both individuals and society broadly. In light of these limitations, legislators are innovatively adapting traditional tort concepts—such as standing, mental states, causation, immunities, and remedies—to address deepfakes’ unique characteristics. Yet the very need for these adaptations reveals some of tort law’s shortcomings and suggests a space for complementary regulatory approaches. We consider some potential approaches that could provide this more complete framework, like tort liability for entities that enable deepfake creation and circulation, and civil enforcement mechanisms that empower state actors to vindicate both individual and societal interests. Ultimately, our finding…

My new piece with @sonjawest.bsky.social is live in the Journal of Tort Law!

Our original 50-state survey of 466 deepfake laws reveals a complex landscape in which lawmakers are experimenting with novel criminal, civil & administrative tools to address deepfakes. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

📌 11/5 EVENT: A panel of legal experts and journalists discuss how to protect #pressfreedom and support journalists under Trump. Feat. @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, & @sonjawest.bsky.social. RSVP.

Thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for the generous recommendation of my forthcoming piece with @sonjawest.bsky.social!

Download of the Week: "Deepfake Torts" by Kadri & West,, buff.ly/mHVqTbJ - The Download of the Week is Deepfake Torts: Emerging Tort Frameworks in U.S. Deepfake Regulation by Thomas Kadri & Sonja West.

Opinion | Trump Fires Officials, but He Can’t Avoid Facts

I wrote for the @nytimes.com about the administration’s abandonment of statistics and data in favor of information as an instrument of raw control

The essays written for our @knightcolumbia.org "Future of Press Freedom" project with @randersenjones.bsky.social and @sonjawest.bsky.social are now published in an open-access edited volume from @cambup-law.cambridge.org. 26 essays from an incredible group of scholars 👇

The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times eds. @randersenjones.bsky.social of @sjquinney.bsky.social & @sonjawest.bsky.social of @universityofga.bsky.social

Out Now & #OpenAccess

#Politics #LawSky 💙📚

cup.org/3IYbrHA

We're excited to announce that Professor @randersenjones.bsky.social has published a new book with @sonjawest.bsky.social!

Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated).

It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings.

It has written majority opinions in only 3.

Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*

Also: Bribing public officials is a federal crime, even when you do it in broad daylight.

This will be on the test.

Paramount to Pay Trump $16 Million to Settle ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

Quick First Amendment refresher: The press is supposed to check the government not write checks to the government.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/b...

Paramount to Pay Trump $16 Million to Settle ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

This is a major blow for press freedom in the United States - a major news outlet caving to groundless threats from the President over coverage www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/b...

Trump considers forcing journalists to reveal sources who leaked Iran report President dismisses leaked assessment suggesting strikes only temporarily disrupted Iran’s nuclear development Donald Trump said he is weighing forcing journalists who published leaked details from a US intelligence report assessing the impact of the recent American military strikes on Iran to reveal their sources – and the president also claimed his administration may prosecute those reporters and sources if they don’t comply. In an interview Sunday with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Trump doubled down on his claim that the 21 June airstrikes aimed at certain Iranian facilities successfully crippled Iran’s nuclear program. He insisted the attacks destroyed key enriched uranium stockpiles, despite Iranian assertions that the material had been relocated before the strikes. Continue reading...

Trump considers forcing journalists to reveal sources who leaked Iran report

The targeting of reporters in LA is inexcusable. The public interest in press coverage of protests couldn’t be more self-evident.

We helped lead this letter to remind federal officers of journalists’ constitutional right to report on civil unrest.
media.freedom.press/media/docume...

Law enforcement is violently targeting press at protests around Los Angeles, from easily recognizable "mainstream" outlets to freelancers and independents. ALL press have explicit legal protections in California. #JournalismIsNotACrime.

This evidence thread may get graphic. 🧵👇

NEW YORK (AP) - Jury finds that The New York Times did not libel former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a 2017 editorial.

Opinion | Trump has left himself open to a powerful constitutional counterpunch Trump’s government by spite opens an avenue to challenging his score-settling.

With blazing clarity, ill will has been embraced by this president as a reason for targeting individuals and institutions, even when it’s, at best, loosely linked to his policy ambitions, Aziz Huq writes.

"This is a serious legal flaw." wapo.st/4cmKAQa

Want to know why the Trump admin's efforts to exclude the AP from the WH press pool violates central 1A principles not only as of today but as of 1791? Then check out this brief, I wrote with @knightcolumbia.org and 11 other 1A scholars. Spoiler: bc it violates CORE DEMOCRATIC VALUES

Opinion | America’s Most Powerful Law Firms Won’t Stand Up to Trump Bowing to Trump won’t protect their businesses and clients.

The choice by prestigious law firms to keep quiet against President Trump's attacks is deeply wrong, @debpearlstein.bsky.social writes. “Above all, it is futile, as it will do nothing to protect the firms from the extortion-based governance we now appear to face for at least the next four years.”

A Statement from Constitutional Law Scholars on Columbia | Eugene Volokh, Michael C. Dorf, David Cole We write as constitutional scholars—some liberal and some conservative—who seek to defend academic freedom and the First Amendment in the wake of the

Excellent statement from a number of Con Law scholars--including some notably conservative ones--on the government's funding cutoff at Columbia/ www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

My message to my fellow Americans: it’s time to choose Defiant Jazz.

This just breaks my heart. WaPo has been my go-to first read for years. The paper of Woodward and Bernstein and Katherine Graham. So very sad.

Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin's reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.

If you're curious how a democracy transitions from a free press to state-run media, this is the kind of step you'd expect to see.

THIS MATTER having come before this Court on the verified Petition of the City of Clarksdale requesting a temporary restraining order or a hearing on a preliminary injunction and after review of the verified Petition and Attorney Certification, the Court finds that the Petition is well taken. The injury in this case is defamation against public figures through actual malice in reckless disregard of the truth and interferes with their legitimate function to advocate for legislation they believe would help their municipality during this current legislative cycle. The Respondents are well aware of the accusations against them as they have already received a draft of the verified Petition and further notice is not needed until such hearing. The Temporary Restraining Order for Respondents to remove the article "EDITORIAL: SECRECY AND DECEPTION ERODE PUBLIC TRUST" from their online portals and make it inaccessible to the public is hereby granted. Petitioner shall post a bond in the amount of $100.00 as security for any damages that Defendant may incur should it be determined that this Temporary Restraining Order was wrongfully issued. This Court further orders that a hearing on the City of Clarksdale's request for a preliminary injunction is hereby set for February 27, 2025, at 9:30 am

(Conclusion of the court order.)

Wow: City of Clarksdale, Mississippi got a court order yesterday directing a newspaper to delete an editorial criticizing city officials -- without a hearing. Here's the TRO issuing the prior restraint:

I was led to believe by R.E.M. that I would feel a lot better about this.