Dear friend of press freedom,

An anti-encryption bill called the EARN IT Act has passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee after being re-introduced just two weeks ago. When the bill was first introduced in 2020, it faced massive opposition from a wide range of public interest and civil liberties groups, including Freedom of the Press Foundation. Now, as then, we consider this bill a threat to press freedom that needs to be stopped.

Our friends at EFF and Fight for the Future have rolled out tools to contact lawmakers and express opposition to the bill, available at the link above. Given the quick timeline the proposal has followed thus far, the time to take action is now.

Legislators say the Biden promise to back a strong journalist shield law remains unfulfilled. Sen. Ron Wyden, whose PRESS Act would deliver on the promises made by the Biden DOJ last year, told FPF that he’s reached out to the department a half dozen times but has still received no response. The senator called the DOJ’s silence “extremely frustrating, and frankly unacceptable.”

A strong shield law would provide legislative backing to the policy changes the DOJ implemented last year in response to a series of journalist surveillance scandals. Even as he released the new rules, Attorney General Merrick Garland said they should have the force of law — so where’s the support for real legal reform?

Utah could join Iowa and Kansas in the dubious club of states banning journalists from the floor of the state legislature. Breaking with years of tradition, these states have introduced proposals or rules to restrict reporters to the public gallery. In each case, lawmakers say the shift reflects logistical concerns, but journalists in those states aren’t buying it.

Finally, don’t miss our pieces on the scourge of government secrecy, a landmark press freedom court order in Minnesota, and the first censorship order against The New York Times since the Pentagon Papers.