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.

Our executive director, Trevor Timm, wrote a column for the Guardian about the frequently abused Espionage Act -– which experts have now accused both of the last two presidents of violating — as well America’s overclassification problem.

Partisan commentators may like to fantasize about presidents they don’t like being charged with “espionage” but in reality the law is used not to prosecute the powerful but to protect them by criminalizing newsgathering and whistleblowing.  

Trevor notes that the Espionage Act is so broad that readers of the Guardian (and other newspapers) may violate it every time they read reporting on classified or “national defense” documents. Overclassification further expands prosecutors’ power under the Espionage Act: “the government has every incentive to claim any information is of the utmost sensitivity because they know anyone they prosecute cannot challenge their classification decisions.”

FPF marks 10th anniversary with annual impact report 

It’s been a decade since the launch of FPF and the organization continues to evolve and grow in exciting ways. FPF grant writer Bevyn Howard wrote about several highlights of the annual Impact Report for 2022 on our blog. 

The report discusses the various initiatives of FPF, including its efforts to empower journalists to report on anonymous whistleblower submissions using SecureDrop, document press freedom violations through the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and provide digital security training for journalists worldwide.

Congress gifts judges unprecedented censorship powers

A law quietly passed by Congress in the year-end National Defense Authorization Act empowers federal judges to demand censorship of potentially newsworthy information about themselves and their relatives online. 

Judges can now hide, for example, where their spouses work. The obvious conflicts of interest that Ginni Thomas’ political activism create for her husband, Justice Clarence Thomas, should have provided legislators ample reason to vote down the legislation. Who knows how many similar conflicts exist among lower-profile district court judges that journalists might now never discover. 

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents damage to journalists’ equipment

FPF’s U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented eight instances of damage to journalists’ news equipment in the course of their work in 2022. 

The good news is that that’s the lowest number since the Tracker launched in 2017. The bad news is that, like last year’s lower arrest numbers compared to the preceding two years, the drop-off is likely due to fewer national protests, not any long-term policy changes.

The Tracker’s report discusses the costs of replacing broken and damaged equipment to journalists individually and to journalism as a whole, especially in light of budget cuts for photojournalism at many newspapers.

What we’re reading