Platner ad contained copyrighted material, Sox cable station says; Bangor Daily News, May 24, 2026

 Callie Ferguson , Bangor Daily News; Platner ad contained copyrighted material, Sox cable station says

"The Boston Red Sox cable station stopped airing a Graham Platner campaign ad that criticized the team’s ownership during Friday night’s game because it violated the network’s intellectual property rules, a representative said. 

The 15-second television spot, which blamed private equity for the team’s recent slump, “included unauthorized use of third-party intellectual property and did not comply with NESN’s advertising standards,” a spokesperson for the New England Sports Network said in a statement to the Bangor Daily News. Red Sox owner John Henry’s sports and entertainment conglomerate has a majority ownership stake in the network. 

The spokesperson did not specify which components of the ad broke the station’s rules, although it featured text closely resembling the Red Sox font. On Saturday, the Platner campaign released a statement implying that the ad’s messaging influenced the network’s decision to take it down."

‘My Heart Sank’: In Maine, a Challenge to a Book, and to a Town’s Self-Image; The New York Times, February 3, 2024

 Elizabeth Williamson, The New York Times; ‘My Heart Sank’: In Maine, a Challenge to a Book, and to a Town’s Self-Image

"Mr. Boulet appealed to the American Library Association for a public letter of support, which it offers to libraries undergoing censorship efforts. “They ghosted me,” he said.

Asked about the letter, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the A.L.A.’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said Mr. Boulet’s request had generated internal debate, and delay.

“Our position on the book is, it should remain in the collection; it is beneath us to adopt the tools of the censors,” she said in an interview. “We need to support intellectual freedom in all its aspects, in order to claim that high ground.” Months after Mr. Boulet requested the letter, Ms. Caldwell-Stone saw him at a conference and apologized...

Before the controversy, “I hadn’t really given intellectual freedom as much thought as I should have,” Mr. Boulet said. His conclusion, he said, is that “intellectual freedom or the freedom of speech isn’t there just to protect ideas that we like.”"

Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large; Wired, October 26, 2023

DAVID GILBERT , Wired; Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large

"“It’s as if everyone thinks disinformation is a problem, but not for them personally—only for other people,” Caroline Orr, a behavioral scientist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who tracks disinformation online, wrote on X, adding: “When 20+ people are murdered in a mass shooting, and the reaction of most people on this website is: ‘How can I use this to push a political agenda?’ or ‘How can I use this to attack XYZ person?’ … that reflects something far more disturbing.”"