Fwd: Mass surveillance threatens journalism

Fri Dec 1 19:11:16 PST 2023

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Freedom of the Press Foundation <newsletter at freedom.press>
Date: Thu, Nov 30, 2023 at 17:28
Subject: Mass surveillance threatens journalism
To: <baffo32 at gmail.com>

Journalists must be allowed to cover protests
View this email in your browser
<https://mailchi.mp/freedom.press/mass-surveillance-threatens-journalism?e=8b5f39c98a>
Dear friend of press freedom,

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A secret surveillance program that allows law enforcement agencies to
monitor trillions of phone records without a warrant could be used to
target journalists and sources. *Woman talking on her mobile phone on
outdoor <https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/49918277466> by
wuestenigel is licensed under CC BY 2.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>.*
*Mass surveillance threatens journalism*

Lawmakers are reportedly
<https://www.wired.com/story/section-702-reauthorization-ndaa-2023/>
considering rushing a short-term reauthorization of the mass surveillance
law Section 702 through Congress. Section 702 threatens the free press
<https://freedom.press/news/congress-can-end-warrantless-spying-on-journalists-and-other-americans/>
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
<https://www.wired.com/story/hemisphere-das-white-house-surveillance-trillions-us-call-records/>
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
<https://freedom.press/news/secret-spying-program-underscores-need-for-surveillance-reform/>
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
<https://www.press.org/newsroom/npc-leaders-lead-civil-society-letter-blinken-urging-rferl-reporter-be-designated>
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
<https://freedom.press/news/us-must-designate-alsu-kurmasheva-as-wrongfully-detained-in-russia/>
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
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/27/masha-gessen-criminal-case-russia/>
against Russian American journalist Masha Gessen, accusing them of
spreading false information about the war in Ukraine. Additionally, Russia
recently extended the detention
<https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russian-court-extends-detention-of-wsj-reporter-ae25407c>
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
<https://www.rcfp.org/josie-huang-la-county-settlement/#:~:text=LAist's%20Josie%20Huang%20reaches%20%24700%2C000%20settlement%20with%20LA%20County>
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
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/nypd-protest-reform-lawsuit-george-floyd>
.

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.
<https://freedom.press/news/journalists-must-be-allowed-to-cover-protests-and-their-aftermath/>
*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
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/28/journalists-killed-israel-hamas-war>

Who will shine a light on the atrocities in Gaza if all the journalists are
wiped out?
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/29/atrocities-gaza-journalists-media>

CPJ pays tribute to slain Palestinian press freedom defender Bilal Jadallah
<https://cpj.org/2023/11/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
<https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/11/the-israeli-government-has-haaretz-newspaper-in-its-sights-as-it-tightens-the-screws-on-media-freedom/>

Tracking lost pro-Palestinian posts
<https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/excessive-moderation-meta-palestinian-7amleh-nashif.php>
*What we’re reading*

Elon’s censorial lawsuit against Media Matters inspiring many more people
to find ExTwitter ads on awful content
<https://www.techdirt.com/2023/11/27/elons-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
<https://freedom.press/news/journalists-whistleblowers-and-activists-must-be-protected-from-slapps/>
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
<https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-23/court-order-reporter-jailhouse-interview-notes-bakersfield-californian>.
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
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/29/voice-of-america-hamas-israel-terrorist-militant-hagerty/>.
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 <https://badpress.film/>,” 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
<https://firehouse.dctvny.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=406254~2998286f-8e4b-4c31-9017-dcced8ffebb3&epguid=accabeea-f24e-44d5-aeb5-ba2a53549399&>
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
<https://firehouse.dctvny.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=406254~2998286f-8e4b-4c31-9017-dcced8ffebb3&epguid=accabeea-f24e-44d5-aeb5-ba2a53549399&showing=406283&>
.
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[image: Website] <https://freedom.press/>

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