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Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

It’s now the 66th day that Rümeysa Öztürk is facing deportation by the United States government for writing an op-ed it didn’t like. More press freedom news below.

Children in Maryland read a newspaper before school. AP Photo/Tom Brenner

Risking free speech won’t protect kids

Federal agencies are transforming into the speech police ([link removed]) under President Donald Trump. So why are some Democrats supporting the Kids Online Safety Act ([link removed]) , a recently reintroduced bill that would authorize the MAGA-controlled Federal Trade Commission to enforce censorship?

As Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) senior advocacy adviser Caitlin Vogus wrote for The Boston Globe, there’s never an excuse for supporting censorship bills, but especially when the political loyalists at the FTC are sure to abuse any power they’re given to stifle news on disfavored topics.
READ THE OP-ED ([link removed])

We’re ready to sue if Paramount executives sell out the press

We’ve written previously about ([link removed]) how Trump’s frivolous complaint against Paramount Global over CBS News’ editing of an interview with Kamala Harris threatens the freedoms of other news outlets. Yesterday, Trump proved it by claiming his $20 billion damages demand is based on “mental anguish” due to the answer – which doesn’t even mention him. How’s that for a “snowflake”?

As we informed Paramount Global executives last week, we plan to file a shareholder derivative lawsuit if Paramount settles. We believe any settlement – let alone the eight figure ([link removed]) range being discussed – would be an effort to launder bribe money through the courts and would damage Paramount irreparably.

Reports this week in the Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) , The Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) , and elsewhere have noted that executives fear derivative liability if they settle. They should.
READ MORE ([link removed])

Phone companies keep journalist surveillance secret

A letter by Sen. Ron Wyden about surveillance of senators’ phone lines ([link removed]) has an important lesson for journalists, too: Be careful in selecting your phone carrier.

Wyden wrote ([link removed]) his Senate colleagues revealing which wireless carriers inform customers about government surveillance requests (Cape, Google Fi, and US Mobile), and which don’t (AT&T, Boost Mobile, Charter/Spectrum, Comcast/Xfinity Mobile, T-Mobile, and Verizon).
READ MORE ([link removed])

Fallout from silencing Voice of America

As a reporter on the press freedom beat, Liam Scott chronicled abuses against journalists for Voice of America. But now, Scott himself is part of the story.

In March, Trump signed an executive order ([link removed]) gutting the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. Scott and his colleagues have been or are set to be terminated imminently ([link removed]) , and the website hasn’t published a new story in months.

We spoke to Scott about his unique perspective on current threats to press freedom, as both a victim and a journalist covering them. We were joined by Jason Scott of Archive Team, who is working to preserve VOA’s content should it be taken offline.
READ MORE AND WATCH THE WEBINAR ([link removed])

Administration abuses secrecy rules

Lauren Harper, FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy, joined MeidasTouch Network’s Legal AF podcast, “Court of History ([link removed]) ,” to explain how the Trump administration is abusing secrecy to control the news narrative — and how an FPF Freedom of Information Act win revealed ([link removed]) the truth.

Harper was joined by University of Maryland professor Jason Baron in a wide-ranging discussion with co-hosts Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz.
WATCH HERE ([link removed])

Federal police reforms repealed

The same week the Justice Department announced it was dropping federal oversight programs ([link removed]) and investigations into more than two dozen police departments, including in Minneapolis, the city held a remembrance ([link removed]) marking five years since the murder of George Floyd by a local police officer.

Police abuses of protestors and journalists during the demonstrations that followed Floyd’s murder led to the now-abandoned reforms, including consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville dealing with how police should interact with journalists covering protests and their aftermaths. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a project of FPF, has more.
READ MORE ([link removed])

WHAT WE’RE READING


** THE DAILY PROGRESS
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** Greene County policy barring staff from speaking to press ‘unconstitutional,’ experts say ([link removed])
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Local government employees should be able to talk to the press. But in Greene County, Virginia, they can’t. We told The Daily Progress that the county policy is unconstitutional.


** THE DISSENTER
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** Journalist sues LA county, ex-LA county sheriff for criminally investigating her ([link removed].)
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It’s good to see journalist Maya Lau stand up for journalists’ right to not be investigated and harassed for doing their jobs.


** AMERICAN CRISIS
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** How to stand your ground, in three (not so easy) steps ([link removed])
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Institutions shouldn’t cave to Trump’s threats. Thanks to Margaret Sullivan for citing our plans to sue if Paramount settles with Trump as an example on how to stand your ground.


** KEN KLIPPENSTEIN
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** FBI visits me over manifesto ([link removed])
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Journalists’ sources and newsgathering are none of the FBI’s business. They don’t seriously think Klippenstein was some kind of conspirator — they just want to intimidate him and other journalists.
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