Midwest
GOP AGs asks Supreme Court to peel back content moderation from Big Tech in landmark First Amendment case
FIRST ON FOX – A group of 20 Republican states are weighing in on a Supreme Court legal battle that could sharply alter the landscape of Big Tech’s content moderation.
Next month, the high court will hear a set of cases that question whether state laws that limit Big Tech companies’ ability to moderate content on their platforms curbs the companies’ First Amendment liberties.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey – one of the Republican AGs leading the lawsuit against the Biden administration, alleging it engaged in a “vast censorship enterprise” – on Monday filed an amicus brief along with 19 of his colleagues in the cases, asking the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the laws meant to limit internet platform’s ability to moderate content.
“If the Supreme Court lets social media companies silence speech, it will set a devastating anti-free speech precedent at a time when the First Amendment is under widespread attack,” Bailey told Fox News digital on Monday.
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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Separate laws that passed in Florida and Texas and are now challenged in court would require large Big Tech companies like X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook to host third-party communications but prevent those businesses from blocking or removing users’ posts based on political viewpoints.
A federal appeals court had ruled for the tech industry in the Florida case, saying as private entities, those companies were “engaged in constitutionally protected expressive activity when they moderate and curate the content that they disseminate on their platforms.” But the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of a similar law in Texas, creating a circuit split on the issue ripe for the nine justices to take up.
The attorneys general argue in the friend-of-the-court brief that government giving Big Tech the ability to moderate or censor users’ content would be like giving cable or telephone companies permission to cut phone lines on speech at their discretion. The AGs note that under federal “must-carry requirements,” those companies are banned from subjugating any speech on their lines.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“The Eleventh Circuit concluded social media companies could censor content because they have ‘historically exercised’ power to refuse transmission of disfavored ideas,” the AGs noted.
“But telegraph companies have a much longer history of censorship. Social media is less than two decades old. Congress did not impose must-carry requirements on telegraphs until 1888, 50 years after their invention,” the AGs argue in their brief.
“Yet it is well recognized today that those must-carry regulations were constitutional – even though this Court declared that telegraph companies are ‘not common carriers.’ History thus provides no basis for dismissing the striking similarities between social media companies and telegraph and telephones by dubbing social-media censorship ‘editorial judgment,’” they said.
The U.S. Supreme Court (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
“While the earlier laws applied to telegraphs and telephones, it is no different when the companies carrying other people’s speech are digital rather than analog,” they continued.
“The States thus have a paramount interest in urging this Court to affirm that longstanding, historic authority of States to protect freedom of speech and enable representative government by prohibiting dominant communication networks from censoring,” they concluded.
In addition to Missouri, attorneys general from Ohio, Alabama, Montana, Alaska, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arizona, Virginia, South Dakota, Utah and Tennessee signed the amicus brief.
The court will hear arguments in the cases, Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice LLC v. Paxton on Monday, Feb. 26.
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Midwest
‘Family Mob’ gang members, associates charged in major Minneapolis fentanyl trafficking case: DOJ
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Five alleged members and associates of the “Family Mob” street gang have been charged in a major fentanyl trafficking case in Minneapolis, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Three indictments and two criminal complaints were unsealed in the District of Minnesota accusing the defendants of distributing fentanyl, crack cocaine and other controlled substances in south Minneapolis.
Authorities allege the group collectively possessed with intent to distribute more than seven kilograms of fentanyl since July 2025 and operated a de facto open-air drug market near Lake Street and Park Avenue, using force to push out other dealers.
Those charged include Silk Lamond Davis, 48, of Minneapolis; Alexisus Jarmon Mosby, 44, of Bloomington; Kiron Jamoll Williams, 43, of Minneapolis; Rashshon Jamahl Taggett, 44, of Minneapolis; and Lakendrick Darnell Gilliam, 38, of St. Paul.
Seized narcotics are displayed as authorities announce the preliminary results of a large-scale investigation involving local and federal agencies on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
The charges range from possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine to distribution of fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
Law enforcement agencies executed multiple arrest and search warrants Wednesday morning targeting the gang and its members, officials said.
If convicted, the defendants face penalties of up to life in prison on the most serious drug trafficking charges.
FBI BUSTS LATIN KINGS GANG NATIONWIDE, NEARLY 50 ARRESTED IN SWEEPING CRACKDOWN
Federal and local law enforcement announced that they seized 3.5 million lethal doses of fentanyl in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (KMSP)
“Our investigation shows that combined, those charged were responsible for the distribution of enough fentanyl for more than 3.5 million lethal doses in the last seven months,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen at a press briefing.
He told reporters that seven others were also taken into custody on related state charges, bringing the total number arrested to 12.
Rick Evanchec, interim special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, said the coordinated operation to dismantle the “Family Mob” gang involved a sweeping, multi-agency effort across the metropolitan area.
Before dawn, eight SWAT teams and law enforcement personnel from the FBI, Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed 14 search warrants targeting narcotics, firearms and other evidence tied to the alleged criminal enterprise.
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Seized narcotics are displayed as authorities announce the preliminary results of a large-scale investigation involving local and federal agencies on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
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Evanchec said the gang has operated since the 1990s, distributing narcotics and using violence to control territory in Minneapolis neighborhoods.
“The Family Mob Gang ruled by intimidation and violence, and wrongly assumed they could operate with impunity,” DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin Gillespie said in a statement. “Today, the combined efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement imparted a significant blow to the drug trafficking efforts of a gang that has spread poison through a beloved Minneapolis community.”
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Detroit, MI
Preview: February 28 vs. Detroit | Carolina Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes will try to extend their point streak to a dozen games on Saturday, when they go head-to-head with the Detroit Red Wings.
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When: Saturday, February 28
Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network App | Learn More
Listen: 99.9 The Fan, Hurricanes App
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Canes Record: 37-15-6 (80 Points, 1st – Metropolitan Division)
Canes Last Game: 5-4 Win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, Feb. 26
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Red Wings Record: 34-19-6 (74 Points, T-2nd – Atlantic Division)
Red Wings Last Game: 2-1 Win (OT) over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, Feb. 26
Milwaukee, WI
Landmark Credit Union Live officially opens in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE – Landmark Credit Union Live, Milwaukee’s newest concert venue, opened its doors on Friday. And with the Bucks playing next door at the same time, the whole area was hopping.
What they’re saying:
Fans flocked to Fiserv Forum to watch the team play the New York Knicks, and music lovers stood in line to see Rainbow Kitten Surprise on the opening night of Landmark Credit Union Live.
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“Very busy, very crowded the bars and restaurants,” said Ashley Evans. “That’d be great to add to the city again, to continue to bring more tourists out.”
“This is going to be amazing. I’ve been wanting to see them for a very long time, so I’m very excited,” said Rachel Lococo.
Fans line up for the official opening of Landmark Credit Union Live
Landmark Credit Union Live can host up to 4,500 people. Friday night’s show was sold out, drawing fans from places like Chicago, Minnesota, Iowa and elsewhere.
“Some people have driven from Indiana, so there’s a lot of people coming out tonight,” said Kade McCane, who came from Madison. “Honestly, really exciting to be among the first people who get to be there, and for RKS to be among the first people who will ever perform here, I hope this venue gets huge and big and becomes very popular.”
The excitement was felt all around Milwaukee. Even the competition rolled out the welcome mat.
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“Our goal to grow as a city means that a lot of things have to happen. This is the very, tiny, small work that has to happen,” said Gary Witt, president and CEO of The Pabst Theater Group, which runs six nearby venues.
“The introduction of any new business in the city, especially one that pays attention to the fact that we have spent 24 years growing the live culture economy in the city of Milwaukee, says to me that we’ve done our job.”
Witt said live entertainment is an industry Milwaukee’s economy has been dependent on coming from visitors like those who turned out Friday.
The Source: FOX6 News interviewed the people in this story and referenced prior coverage related to the opening of Landmark Credit Union Live.
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