Nick Shirley is a national treasure. At 24 years old, with just an iPhone and a lot of hustle, the independent journalist has been able to move the national conversation toward how the government spends our money and the political friends who benefit.
His viral videos, with hundreds of millions of views, have exposed potential fraud all over the country, from Minnesota to California. And these investigations haven’t just been for clicks. One Minnesota daycare owner Shirley put on camera was later arrested, federally charged, and pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
So when Nick Shirley pointed his camera at California, Gov. Gavin Newsom got nervous.
This month, the Democrat-supermajority in the California state legislature passed AB 2624, dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” to criminalize and impose civil penalties on anyone who releases the personal information of immigration support service providers known as nongovernmental organizations.
The bill was written so broadly that, according to FIRE, California Section 6218.19(b)(1) of the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” should concern every journalist and citizen. It could allow a “protected person” to ban you from posting their “personal information,” including their name, online.A written statement from a “protected” group or person saying they fear for their safety could trigger a four-year ban from ever reporting about them again. Journalists or citizens who violate this ban could invite legal consequences.
How are journalists supposed to report on public officials if simply naming someone can be prohibited?
That’s why Nick Shirley decided to come back to California to face the people trying to strip him of his First Amendment rights. On a 100-degree day in Sacramento, Shirley stood on the steps of the California State Capitol and faced the politicians trying to silence him, with thousands of people standing behind him.
The irony of the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” is that Shirley himself has faced relentless threats for his reporting. When I spent two days with Nick exposing “ghost daycares” in California, internet trolls put out a call to find us and even threatened to “Charlie Kirk” Nick Shirley.
So where is the “Protect Nick Shirley Act”? There isn’t one. Because in Gavin Newsom’s California, the government would rather protect those accused of fraud than the journalists exposing it.
