EFF Applauds Little Rock, AR for Cancelling ShotSpotter Contract

2 months ago

Community members coordinated to pack Little Rock City Hall on Tuesday, where board members voted 5-3 to end the city's contract with ShotSpotter.

Initially funded through a federal grant, Little Rock began its experiment with the “gunshot detection” sensors in 2018. ShotSpotter (now SoundThinking) has long been accused of steering federal grants toward local police departments in an effort to secure funding for the technology. Members of Congress are investigating this funding. EFF has long encouraged communities to follow the money that pays for police surveillance technology.

Now, faced with a $188,000 contract renewal using city funds, Little Rock has joined the growing number of cities nationwide that have rejected, ended, or called into question their use of the invasive, error-prone technology.

EFF has been a vocal critic of gunshot detection systems and extensively documented how ShotSpotter sensors risk capturing private conversations and enable discriminatory policing—ultimately calling on cities to stop using the technology.

This call has been echoed by grassroots advocates coordinating through networks like the National Stop ShotSpotter Coalition. Community organizers have dedicated countless hours to popular education, canvassing neighborhoods, and conducting strategic research to debunk the company's spurious marketing claims.

Through that effort, Little Rock has now joined the ranks of cities throughout the country to reject surveillance technologies like gunshot detection that harm marginalized communities and fail time and time again to deliver meaningful public safety. 

If you live in a city that's also considering dropping (or installing) ShotSpotter, share this news with your community and local officials!

Sarah Hamid

Protecting Free Speech in Texas: We Need To Stop SB 336

2 months ago

The Texas legislature will soon be debating a bill that would seriously weaken the free speech protections of people in that state. If you live in Texas, it’s time to contact your state representatives and let them know you oppose this effort. 

Texas Senate Bill 336 (SB 336) is an attack on the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), the state’s landmark anti-SLAPP law, passed in 2011 with overwhelming bipartisan support. If passed, SB 336 (or its identical companion bill, H.B. 2459) will weaken safeguards against abusive lawsuits that seek to silence peoples’ speech. 

What Are SLAPPs?

SLAPPs, or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, are lawsuits filed not to win on the merits but to burden individuals with excessive legal costs. SLAPPs are often used by the powerful to intimidate critics and discourage public discussion that they don’t like. By forcing defendants to engage in prolonged and expensive legal battles, SLAPPs create a chilling effect that discourages others from speaking out on important issues.

Under the TCPA, when a defendant files a motion to dismiss a SLAPP lawsuit, the legal proceedings are automatically paused while a court determines whether the case should move forward. They are also paused if the SLAPP victim needs to get a second review from an appeal court. This is crucial to protect individuals from being dragged through an expensive discovery process while their right to speak out is debated in a higher court. 

SB 336 Undermines Free Speech Protections

SB 336 strips away safeguards by removing the automatic stay of trial court proceedings in certain TCPA appeals. Even if a person has a strong claim that a lawsuit against them is frivolous, they would still be forced to endure the financial and emotional burden of litigation while waiting for an appellate decision. 

This would expose litigants to legal harassment. With no automatic stay, plaintiffs with deep pockets will be able to financially drain defendants. In the words of former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Wallace B. Jefferson, removing the automatic stay in the TCPA would create a “two-tier system in which parties would be forced to litigate their cases simultaneously at the trial and appellate courts.”

If the TCPA is altered, the biggest losers will be everyday Texans who rely on the TCPA to shield them from retaliatory lawsuits. That will include domestic violence survivors who face defamation suits from their abusers after reporting them; journalists and whistleblowers who expose corruption and corporate wrongdoing; grassroots activists who choose to speak out; and small business owners and consumers who leave honest reviews and speak out against unethical business practices.

Often, these individuals already face uphill battles when confronting wealthier and more powerful parties in court. SB 336 would tip the scales further in favor of those with the financial means to weaponize the legal system against speech they dislike.

Fighting To Protect Free Speech For Texans 

In addition to EFF, SB 336 is opposed by a broad coalition of groups including the ACLU, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and an array of national and local news organizations. To learn more about the TCPA and current efforts to weaken it, check out the website maintained by the Texas Protect Free Speech Coalition

Unfortunately, this is the fourth legislative session in a row in which a bill has been pushed to significantly weaken the TCPA. Those efforts started in 2019, and while we stopped the worst changes that year, the 2019 Texas Legislature did vote through some unfortunate exceptions to TCPA rules. We succeeded in blocking a slate of poorly thought-out changes in 2023. We can, and must, protect TCPA again in 2025–if people speak up.  

If you live in Texas, call or email your state representatives or the Senators on Committee for State Affairs today and urge them to vote NO on SB 336. Let’s ensure Texas continues to be a place where peoples’ voices are heard, not silenced by unjust lawsuits. 

Joe Mullin

[B] 韓国、限界に達した社会的分断

2 months ago
最近の韓国を揺るがしている極端な社会的対立は根が深い。南北関係をめぐる古くからの対立、独裁と民主化運動の対立を背景として、金大中が導入した新自由主義が経済的な対立を生み、李明博・朴槿恵を通じて形成された「特権階級」と庶民の対立は極限に達する。(安田幸弘)
日刊ベリタ

〈2025年の風景〉田中優子

2 months ago
 2025年の風景と言っても、占うわけではない。たとえばトランプが米国大統領になることは決まっている。それによって予見できることがいくつかある。  ひとつは、ロシアがウクライナの領土の何箇所かをロシアの領土に組み入れるこ […]
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