Israeli censorship is a cautionary tale for the US

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Here are some of the most important stories we’re following from the U.S. and around the world. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please forward it to friends and family. If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here ([link removed]) .
Sen. Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, can advance First Amendment rights by scheduling the PRESS Act for a markup. (Sen. Durbin by Center for American Progress Action Fund is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)

Sen. Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, can advance First Amendment rights by scheduling the PRESS Act for a markup. (Sen. Durbin ([link removed]) by Center for American Progress Action Fund is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 ([link removed]) )

Sen. Durbin, advance the PRESS Act

Sen. Dick Durbin has a rare chance to strengthen freedom of the press right now by advancing the bipartisan PRESS Act ([link removed].) , a bill to protect journalist-source confidentiality at the federal level. But he needs to act quickly.

This week, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) led a coalition of 123 civil liberties and journalism organizations and individual law professors and media lawyers in a letter to Durbin ([link removed]) , who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham, urging them to schedule a markup of the PRESS Act right away.

Among the signers are acclaimed First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams ([link removed]) and the Marion County Record in Kansas, which faced a baseless ([link removed]) and retaliatory police raid of its newsroom and the home of its publisher, Eric Meyer, last year. Read more on our website ([link removed]) .

Want to do more? Reach out to Durbin directly ([link removed]) to ask him to support the PRESS Act and schedule it for a markup ASAP.

Israeli censorship is a cautionary tale for the US

We wrote last week about Israel’s shocking seizure ([link removed]) of broadcasting equipment from The Associated Press, cutting off its live footage of Gaza. Fortunately, Israel quickly reversed course ([link removed]) after pressure from the U.S. and press organizations.

But as FPF Director of Advocacy Seth Stern explained in The Hill ([link removed]) , Israel’s actions preview what might soon be coming to the U.S.

Stern wrote that the ordeal should serve as “a cautionary tale” for U.S. officials. From the TikTok ban to expansions of surveillance powers to pursuing legal cases that would criminalize journalism, President Joe Biden and U.S. lawmakers and prosecutors “keep empowering future administrations to harass the media — apparently trusting them, against all historical evidence, to use restraint,” warned Stern. Read the op-ed here ([link removed]) .

Media Matters layoffs underscore SLAPP threat

Media Matters for America announced ([link removed]) last week that it’s laying off at least a dozen staffers, blaming a “legal assault on multiple fronts,” including a lawsuit ([link removed]) by Elon Musk’s ([link removed]) X and the ([link removed]) legal actions ([link removed]) by Republican state attorneys general that followed.

The layoffs are just the latest example of billionaires and politicians abusing the legal system to retaliate against their critics and harm the public’s right to know through SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation.

While many states have enacted laws to punish SLAPPs, some states, and the federal government, have not. That needs to change. Read more on our website ([link removed]) .

What we’re reading

Sen. Dick Durbin can help reverse the decline of American press freedom ([link removed]) (Chicago Sun-Times). Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA, urges Sen. Durbin to advance the PRESS Act so the U.S. can join other developed democracies around the world in protecting journalist-source confidentiality.

Illinois passes $25 million in tax credits to boost local journalism ([link removed]) (Local News Initiative). A new law in Illinois will provide tax credits to help struggling local news outlets and journalists. It's a win-win when the government can support the press without interfering with editorial judgment. Other states, and the federal government ([link removed]) , should follow suit.

US court to hear challenges to potential TikTok ban in September ([link removed]) (Reuters). The TikTok ban is a prior restraint ([link removed]) on the speech of millions of Americans, including journalists. Preemptively censoring even allegedly harmful content is outright unconstitutional. The court should prevent the ban from going into effect.

Prisoner fights for public information access before hesitant Seventh Circuit panel ([link removed]) (Courthouse News Service). A circuit court of appeals should grant a federal inmate full access to the official record of government activity in the U.S. Federal Register. Incarcerated people, including journalists ([link removed]) , have First Amendment rights to access news and information.

Judge: Lakewood police must disclose blurred body-cam footage of officers shooting and killing 17-year-old ([link removed]) (Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition). A judge ordered the release of the footage because other measures, like face blurring, can protect privacy. Courts should err on the side of transparency, not default to secrecy.
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