Dear Friend of Press Freedom:
Threats against the press are coming from all angles: immigration courts, corporate transactions, bad bills, and digital surveillance, to name a few. Read on for the latest, but before you do, use our action center to tell Congress not to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA without real privacy reforms that protect journalists and all Americans.
#FreeAhmed: U.S. journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin detained in Kuwait
American-born journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait for the past six weeks, apparently for reposting footage of a U.S. fighter jet crash in that country. You can sign a petition from the Committee to Protect Journalists to help free the award-winning reporter.
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose was once Shihab-Eldin’s colleague at HuffPost. Rose told MS Now, “While we can’t claim the mantle of leadership right now, the U.S. can try to reclaim some dignity if the State Department fights for the immediate release of Ahmed Shihab-Eldin from detention in Kuwait.”
Meet the immigration judge who didn’t get fired
The Trump administration’s laundry list of attacks on the free press grows longer almost every day. But its attempted deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk continues to stand out. Öztürk — who has now opted to self-deport — co-wrote an op-ed the administration didn’t like and in response, it sent masked officers to abduct her off the street and throw her in jail. It doesn’t get more blatant than that.
Last week, the Justice Department fired the immigration judge who tossed out that bogus case, along with another immigration judge who had the nerve to uphold the First Amendment. But one judge’s job is safe: Blake Doughty, who issued an appalling and constitutionally clueless opinion ordering the deportation of photojournalist Ya’akub Vijandre. FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern wrote for The Guardian about how the administration is making immigration judges choose between the constitution and their jobs.
Time for the press to follow Hollywood’s lead
Paramount’s pending merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would harm both the entertainment industry and journalists by steering even more control of the content Americans consume to the Ellison family — which has proven itself ready and willing to censor journalists and others to appease President Donald Trump.
But only one industry is making its voice heard and it’s not the press. Thousands of actors, directors, and others have signed a letter objecting to the transaction and the harm it would cause. Journalists should do the same. As Stern said, “There’s nothing biased or partisan about standing up for the First Amendment and the public’s right to know.”
Stop ‘kids safety’ censorship bills
The Kids Online Safety Act and other bills mandating age verification online purport to protect children’s safety, but in reality they enable censorship by forcing both children and adults to share sensitive personal information, undermining online privacy and anonymous speech.
These laws can easily be used to silence the press and whistleblowers by encouraging removal of news content and making anonymous posting harder, stunting the growth of upstart platforms on which journalists share their work. Use our action center to urge lawmakers to stop taking the bait whenever a censorship bill is disguised as kids safety.
VPN surveillance: Time for transparency and limits on spy powers
Journalists and plenty of other people use virtual private networks to bypass censorship, to protect their location information, and to defend their traffic against network eavesdropping.
This is why we need more government transparency about how U.S. intelligence agencies monitor users of these tools. Are they effectively making an end run around Americans’ right to be free from warrantless surveillance?
It’s also why we need stronger protections for Americans whose communications can be swept up in our government’s foreign spying, starting with reforms of Section 702 of FISA.
What we're reading
Paramount pulls ads from The Ankler after Rushfield boosts ‘Block the Merger’ movement at CinemaCon
The Wrap
Is Paramount trying to make the case against its own merger? If the Ellisons are already punishing news outlets, imagine if they owned CNN and their buddy Trump calls in a favor.
Trump DOJ continues to withhold FISA Section 702 noncompliance records
Cato Institute
The Justice Department and FBI missed a court deadline in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit about abuse of Section 702 and released heavily redacted records right before Congress was set to vote on the law’s renewal. What are they hiding?
DOJ accuses Biden administration of weaponizing abortion access law
The Washington Post
Good to see the Justice Department cracking down on President Joe Biden’s abuse of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, like that time he had journalists arrested for covering a protest at a church. Oops, no, that was Trump going after journalists like Georgia Fort and Don Lemon.
A journalist filmed an ICE protest at a Minnesota church. Then federal agents showed up at her door
The Guardian
The chilling effect in action: After her arrest, Georgia Fort says she’s “refrained from going to report” when she’s received tips about other actions where there may be civil disobedience.
stLouIST