‘Cop City’ indictment threatens press freedom
Freedom of the Press Foundation
September 11, 2023
Charges against ‘Cop City’ protesters frame everything from talking to journalists to using encryption as evidence of criminality.
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern wrote for the Intercept about the threats to press freedom posed by Georgia prosecutors’ indictment of 61 opponents of the police training facility that critics refer to as “Cop City.”
Stern explains that prosecutors cite, as evidence of a purported “conspiracy,” everything from protesters talking to the media to publishing anti-establishment literature to using basic digital security practices that shield them from surveillance.
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“The implications of the indictment for press freedom may seem like an afterthought considering everything else that is terrible about it,” he writes. “That said, the threat to press freedom is real and shouldn’t be ignored. Any source considering talking to a journalist about a protest or controversial cause couldn’t be blamed for thinking twice after reading the indictment.”
Read the full article here.