Mass surveillance threatens journalism

Lawmakers are reportedly considering rushing a short-term reauthorization of the mass surveillance law Section 702 through Congress. Section 702 threatens the free press by allowing the government to spy on American journalists and their sources without a warrant. Congress shouldn’t re-up it without making significant reforms.

Last week, Wired also revealed a different secret U.S. surveillance program that allows federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to monitor trillions of phone records of Americans (including, potentially, journalists and their sources) without a warrant. 

Read more about how this latest revelation reinforces the need for Congress to take steps to rein in the government’s domestic spying powers, starting with Section 702. 

Russia continues campaign against press freedom

More than a dozen press freedom groups — including FPF — joined a letter led by the National Press Club urging the United States to designate Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter Alsu Kurmasheva as wrongfully detained in Russia. Russian authorities have accused her of failing to self-register under its notorious “foreign agents” law.

In a blatant attempt to intimidate reporters from covering war crimes, Russia has also opened a criminal case against Russian American journalist Masha Gessen, accusing them of spreading false information about the war in Ukraine. Additionally, Russia recently extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for a third time since he was taken into custody in March on bogus espionage charges.

All three are sham cases meant to censor journalism. They should be dropped immediately and the Biden administration should do everything in its power to make that happen.

Journalists must be allowed to cover protests and their aftermath

Protests are newsworthy. Police arresting and assaulting protesters is newsworthy. Journalists should be able to safely report on both protests and their aftermath. 

None of that seems particularly controversial, especially when law enforcement nationwide is forced to pay large sums to settle claims arising from their illegal treatment of journalists covering protests after George Floyd’s murder. You’d think they would learn their lesson.  

Yet, authorities across the country continue to harass journalists as they attempt to document demonstrations, despite their posing no risk to police operations or public safety. Too often, officers face no consequences for their actions.

The latest examples come from Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia and Pima County, Arizona. Read more on our blog. 

Press Freedom in Gaza 

Journalists make up only a tiny fraction of the casualties of the war in Gaza. Their deaths are no more or less tragic than anyone else’s. But journalists can only tell the stories of all the others impacted by the war if they can report without fear of being targeted. 

Here are some recent stories about the dire situation the press is facing as it attempts to cover the most deadly war for journalists in recent memory.

The Israel-Hamas war is deadly for journalists. Lives are being lost, and truth

Who will shine a light on the atrocities in Gaza if all the journalists are wiped out?

CPJ pays tribute to slain Palestinian press freedom defender Bilal Jadallah

The Israeli government has Haaretz newspaper in its sights as it tightens the screws on media freedom

Tracking lost pro-Palestinian posts

What we’re reading

Elon’s censorial lawsuit against Media Matters inspiring many more people to find ExTwitter ads on awful content. Elon Musk’s X Corp. has brought a SLAPP suit against Media Matters for its report on ads that appeared on the platform next to neo-Nazi content. Now, others have found even more egregious examples of the type Media Matters reported. We need a strong federal anti-SLAPP law so the wealthy can’t harass their critics with frivolous lawsuits without consequences.

Court orders reporter to hand over jailhouse interview notes — a threat to free press, critics say. A California court decision undermining the state reporter’s privilege is harming the public’s access to information. After the court ordered a journalist to turn over jailhouse interview notes, other journalists are reportedly declining to interview incarcerated sources because they might also be forced to break confidentiality promises. 

GOP senators blast Voice of America for Hamas ‘militants’ terminology. The Republican senators threatening Voice of America over its decisions about how to report on Hamas and the war in Gaza either don’t understand editorial independence and the First Amendment or, more likely, just don’t care. Shame on them.

FPF Live: Bad Press

Last chance! Join us tomorrow, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., for a screening of the documentary film “Bad Press,” which follows Mvskoke Media, a news outlet based in the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, and its reporter Angel Ellis, as they fight against censorship and other threats to their newsgathering. The screening at Manhattan’s Firehouse Cinema will be followed by a Q&A with Ellis and the film’s directors, Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler, moderated by FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm. Get your ticket here.