Open Newswire

(The Center Square) – Illinois is facing new lawsuits over the state’s digital ad tax and social media platform fee. Internet freedom advocate NetChoice – a trade organization that includes social media giants Meta, Google, X, TikTok and Snap – filed two complaints in Cook County court on Friday. NetChoice Litigation Center Director Paul Taske said the Supreme Court has been clear that taxes applied to the press must be applied generally. “Both of these taxes, the social media tax and the digital ads tax, violate the First Amendment because they single out specific segments of the press, of publishers, of speakers for disfavored tax treatment,” Taske told The Center Square. Taske said Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot get around the First Amendment by calling the social media tax a fee. “It is in fact a tax, is structured as a tax, was discussed as a tax by the legislature when they were considering the tax,” Taske said. Jared Walczak, senior fellow at the Tax Foundation, said the undefined nature of social media, users and what it means to be in the state all create due process and commerce clause concerns. “This is discriminatory against interstate commerce. It is overtaxing out-of-state activity and targeting it in a way that states aren't allowed to do,” Walczak told The Center Square. On Aug. 5, State Rep. Travis Weaver, R-Peoria, filed House Bill 5806 to repeal the social media platform fee and HB 5807 to repeal the digital “targeted advertising services” tax. The digital ad tax is a 10% tax on gross receipts. “It's a pretty significant tax, and this is why I think it was really important to note that Illinois isn't just passing these taxes in a way that is anti-speech, anti-innovation and anti-Internet, but it's also anti-its own business community,” Taske said. The case against Illinois’ social media platform fee follows a complaint NetChoice filed in March against Chicago’s social media amusement tax that took effect on January 1, 2026. “They're very similar taxes, and that actually raises a separate taxing issue, the issue of double taxation under the Internet Tax Freedom Act and other places,” Taske said. In July, the Digital Chamber filed a lawsuit against Illinois’ 0.2% digital assets tax. State Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, filed House Bill 5798 to repeal the tax less than a week after Pritzker signed it into law in June. Last month, Maryland’s tax court ruled that the state’s digital advertising gross revenues tax violates the Tax Freedom Act, the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause.

(The Center Square) – Another Wisconsin minority grant program is the subject of a lawsuit as the state’s $10,000-per-yer Minority Teacher Loan Program is the subject of the latest legal action from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. The firm, representing Citizens Defending Liberty, said that the race-based loans, which can be forgiven for teachers who teach in qualifying Wisconsin schools, are unconstitutional. "Wisconsin cannot decide who receives taxpayer-funded educational opportunities based upon the color of their skin,” WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek said in a statement. “By imposing this race-based barrier, the current program also undermines a near-universal goal of addressing Wisconsin’s teacher shortage. In response to our lawsuit, we hope Gov. Evers and HEAB will follow the Constitution, end this discrimination, and ensure these opportunities are available to all Wisconsin students, regardless of race.” Earlier this year, WILL won a case in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court regarding a grant program that sent financial aid to students based on specific race, national origin and ancestry cannot legally operate because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. WILL has since filed additional lawsuits over a $250 million supplier program operated by the Wisconsin Department of Administration and more than 20 race-based scholarships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Minority Teacher Loan Program provides the $10,000 loans each year for three years to students pursuing teaching licenses in designated teacher-shortage areas. WILL said that the loan program has nearly the same race-based criteria as the financial aid program that was deemed unconstitutional.

Clifford Andrae Hopson — outdoorsman, mountaineer, geologist, professor, devoted father and grandfather — died August 24, 2026, in Santa Barbara, California, at age 98. Born February 2, 1928, in Portland, Oregon, to Eric Ernest and Gertrude Andrae Hopson, Cliff moved with his family to California in 1930. His father, a civil engineer who built highways […] The post Obituary: Clifford A. Hopson appeared first on Santa Barbara News-Press.

Parêzer Mehmûd Kalo ku li Almanyayê dimîne, li gel Dengê Amerîka qala girjî û alozîyên vê dawîyê li herêmên Kurdên Sûrîyê dike.

سەرۆک ترامپ دەڵێت گواستنەوەی نەوت بە تەنگەی هورمزدا بەردەوامە و پێویستە وڵاتانی جیهان دوای کۆتاییهاتنی ململانێکانی ئێستا پارەی ئەو کارانە بدەنەوە کە ئەمەریکا ئەنجامی داوە بۆ هاتوچووی کەشتییەکان بە تەنگەی هومزدا. سەرۆکی ئەمەریکا ئەمڕۆ دووشەممە 14ی مانگی نۆ لە پۆستێکدا لە تۆڕی تروث نووسیویەتی نەوت لە رێگەی تەنگەی هورمز دەگوازرێتەوە. ئەو وتی وڵاتانی جیهان هیچ چاکەیەکیان بۆ ئێمە نەکردووە و پێویستە دوای کۆتایی هاتنی ململانێکان پارەی ئەمەریکا بدەنەوە. سەرۆک ترامپ نووسیویەتی ئێمە زۆر زیاتر...

هشدار تازه آمریکا به بغداد؛ پایان سلاح خارج از کنترل دولت و توقف حملات برون‌مرزی

سۆران خاتری لە وەزارەتی دەرەوە زانیاری ورد لە بارەی فشارەکانی ئەمەریکا بۆ سەر ئێران دەخاتەڕوو

مایک جانسون: دستور رئیس‌جمهوری برای درگیری‌های نظامی با جمهوری اسلامی ضروری بود

Jarques Ratliff, 51, of Jackson was denied bond Monday after he pleaded not guilty to murder in the hanging death of Tasia Fortune.

Legionda azərbaycanlılarla yanaşı, bir neçə il əvvələcən Azərbaycanla müharibə şəraitində olan Ermənistandan da könüllülər var.

The Easleys face an uphill battle against two well-funded, well-known Republicans. Social media is their strategy.

An estimated 15,000–20,000 seasonal agricultural workers arrive for work in Minnesota during the peak harvesting season, according to the National institutes of Health.

Дзяржаўныя СМІ ў Беларусі адразу па блякаваньні трансьляцыі выйшлі з кароткімі нататкамі пра спыненьне паказу. Гэта далёк ня першае блякаваньне каналу.

Florida’s herbicide spraying has sparked public backlash and promises to reform the way the state manages invasive aquatic plants. But state officials are starting to form that strategy in secret. The post Florida sets new course for controversial herbicide program behind closed doors appeared first on The Florida Trib.

Les réfugiés en provenance du Yémen continuent d’arriver sur les côtes de Djibouti. Ils étaient plus de 2 000 rien que ce week-end, selon le ministre de l’Économie djiboutien. Depuis jeudi 10 septembre, les Houthis - groupe armé soutenu par l’Iran - se sont emparés de plusieurs localités sur la côte du Yémen. De nombreux civils ont donc pris des embarcations de fortune pour traverser le détroit de Bab el-Mandeb.

Meduza recently asked readers who had decided to leave Russia in recent months to tell us how they found the courage to take such a difficult step. We wanted to know more than why people were leaving the country in 2026. The reasons clearly include the economic crisis, Internet restrictions, Ukrainian drone attacks, and rumors of possible mobilization. Above all, we wanted to know whether Russia was experiencing a genuine new wave of emigration. Judging by the number of letters our newsroom received, the answer is yes. Here are some of the most compelling stories you sent us.

بنیامین نتانیاهو، نخست‌ وزیر اسرائیل، روز دوشنبه ۲۳ شهریور اعلام کرد ارتش این کشور با انهدام مواضع حزب‌الله در ارتفاعات «بوفورت» و «علی طاهر» در جنوب لبنان به «پیروزی بزرگ دیگری» بر این گروه مورد حمایت جمهوری اسلامی دست یافته است.

New Mexico continues to see slowed employment growth this year as fields that create new jobs are often offset by ongoing job cuts in the federal workforce and elsewhere, according to a new report on state revenue. Those cuts have led to “a weakened job market in New Mexico,” Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke said.

سنور کەریم زانیاری زیاتر سەبارەت بە هێرشەکان و زیانەکان دەخاتەڕوو

A ofensiva diplomática de Washington na América do Sul e os laços com o bolsonarismo acendem o alerta para o risco de ingerência americana na eleição brasileira.