The "Stop Nick Shirley Act" is Mind-Blowing

TL;DR

California's 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' would criminalize publishing personal information to expose fraud, effectively silencing investigative journalists.

Key Points

• 1.The Stop Nick Shirley Act targets investigative journalists exposing fraud. California legislation prohibits publicly posting personal information of healthcare providers with intent to incite harm — critics say it's designed to suppress fraud exposés like those done in Minnesota.
• 2.The bill is seen as government getting ahead of journalism. Following exposure of Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota, the act frames protecting immigrants from violence as justification, but critics argue stopping the fraud itself would be the real solution.
• 3.Puerto Rico's financial corruption is described as an even larger ongoing scandal. Since 2016, a congressional financial board has funneled ~$2 billion in Puerto Rican taxpayer money to Wall Street consultants managing the island's bankruptcy, while residents go years without electricity or roofs.
• 4.Puerto Rico recently weakened its Transparency Act, mirroring the California bill's intent. The change requires FOIA requesters to identify themselves, allowing officials to deny requests from known critics — part of a broader pattern of suppressing investigative access.