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A screenshot from a video taken during the arrest of KTBC broadcast photographer Carlos Sanchez while he was filming a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024.

Cops on campus arrest, bully journalists

Newsletter

As police stormed several college campuses in recent days and arrested hundreds of students protesting the Israel-Gaza war, the free press was also under attack. Texas Department of Public Safety officers arrested Carlos Sanchez, a photojournalist for the local Fox affiliate, as he was covering protests at the University of Texas at Austin. But police can’t seem to make up their minds about what, exactly, they want us to believe Sanchez did wrong, repeatedly bringing then dropping charges against the photographer.

Published May 3, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

An image of a laptop with a single eye staring out from the screen.

Biden signs off on ‘spy draft’

Newsletter

Last week, we warned of a dangerous new bill that would expand the surveillance law Section 702 of FISA. Unfortunately, the Senate approved the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, or RISAA, over the weekend, officially reauthorizing Section 702 without any significant reforms and with dangerous expansions of the intelligence agencies’ spy powers. President Biden quickly signed the bill into law, authorizing intelligence agencies to essentially “institute a spy draft” that could require ordinary Americans and businesses to help the government surveil online communications, including those of journalists.

Published April 26, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

An open laptop sits on a table in a laundromat, in front of several washing mashines

‘Spy draft’ bill threatens press freedom

Newsletter

The Senate is dangerously close to passing a bill that would allow intelligence agencies to essentially “institute a spy draft” and order everyone from dentists to plumbers to surveil their patients and customers’ communications. The RISAA would also allow the government to order commercial landlords who rent space to media outlets, or contractors who service newsrooms, to help it spy on American journalists’ communications with foreign sources.

Published April 19, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

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Stop this horrifying mass surveillance bill

Newsletter

The House has slipped a horrifying amendment into its bill extending intelligence agencies’ already expansive spying powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Anyone who values press freedom — or their own freedom — needs to tell their senators TODAY to VOTE NO on the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, or RISAA, by calling 202-899-8938.

Published April 17, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Screenshot of journalist Catherine Herridge testifying before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on the importance of the bipartisan PRESS Act.

‘Imperative’ to pass PRESS Act

Newsletter

Veteran journalist Catherine Herridge threw her full support behind the PRESS Act, the federal bill to put an end to surveillance and subpoenas to force journalists to out their sources, during Congressional testimony on April 11, 2024.

Published April 12, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Journalist Reed Dunlea is arrested at a protest in Brooklyn

Stop arresting journalists

Arrests/Prosecutions•Newsletter

Just a few months into 2024, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented four arrests or detentions of journalists covering protests in New York, Tennessee, and California. These arrests violate journalists’ rights, and they undermine the right of the public to learn about newsworthy events happening in their communities. They also show the disturbing and stubborn persistence of a system of policing that either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about First Amendment rights.

Published April 5, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Julian Assange's faces the camera, with his head turned slightly

UK grants Assange another hearing

Newsletter

On Tuesday, the High Court in London granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange another hearing on his extradition to the United States, averting — at least temporarily — a press freedom catastrophe. While we’re glad that Assange isn’t being immediately extradited, the threat to journalists from the Espionage Act charges against him remains.

Published March 29, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

All of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices pose for an official portrait in their black robes before a red curtain. Five justices sit and four stand behind them.

‘National security’ claims don’t trump First Amendment

Newsletter

Most analyses of Monday’s Supreme Court argument in Murthy v. Missouri, the case about government pressure on social media content moderation, agree that the justices are likely to rule that the government can influence platforms’ moderation decisions. But when it comes to alleged threats to “national security,” some justices seemed willing to let the government go even further by coercing — or even requiring — takedowns.

Published March 22, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

San José Spotlight City Hall reporter Jana Kadah conducts a phone interview

The public pays for records lawsuits

Newsletter

Public records and freedom of information laws are fundamental for government transparency. But when journalists fight for access to wrongfully withheld records at the state and local level, the public is paying the price, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Over the past year alone, local governments have paid journalists at least $1.6 million in attorneys fees — all of which was financed by taxpayers — following public records lawsuits.

Published March 15, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Journalist Reed Dunlea is arrested at a protest in Brooklyn

NYPD must stop arresting journalists

Newsletter

Earlier this month, NYPD officers violently tackled journalist Reed Dunlea and arrested him while he attempted to cover a pro-Palestinian protest for his podcast. In a letter to the Brooklyn District Attorney calling for the charges to be dropped, FPF wrote that "arresting reporters is a crude form of censorship." Read more in our newsletter.

Published Feb. 29, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Journalist Tim Burke in front of a computer and two monitors

Indictment threatens digital journalism

Newsletter

The disturbing indictment against journalist Tim Burke reportedly arises in part from Burke’s dissemination of outtakes from a 2022 Tucker Carlson interview with Ye. Federal prosecutors accuse Burke of “scouring” the internet for news and failing to obtain express authorization before accessing information posted on public websites. Requiring journalists to get permission to report news is, obviously, problematic. Read more in our newsletter.

Published Feb. 23, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Assange_credit Londres (Reino Unido), 18 de Agosto 2014

Help save the First Amendment

Newsletter

The High Court in London is hearing arguments this week on whether to extradite Julian Assange to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act for obtaining and publishing secret documents from a source — also known as journalism. We’re doing everything we can to urge the Department of Justice to drop the Espionage Act charges against Assange ahead of his potential extradition. You can help.

Published Feb. 22, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

KAM Junk Draft Assange--text only

Assange case threatens journalism

Newsletter

Next week, the High Court in London will consider whether Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act for obtaining government secrets from a source and publishing them. Even if you don’t like Assange, or don’t think he’s a journalist, his case poses an existential threat to the First Amendment rights of the journalists you do like.

Published Feb. 16, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Reporter Catherine Herridge, left, wears a yellow dress and sits in front of lights and microphones, interviewing Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, who wears a dark suit and sits, right

Bipartisan support for the PRESS Act

Newsletter

As unlikely as it sounds, Republicans and Democrats are putting their differences aside to support the most important press freedom legislation in modern times — the PRESS Act.

Published Feb. 8, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

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Harsh punishments for leakers hurt journalism

Newsletter

Former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn received the maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment on Monday, after pleading guilty to leaking Donald Trump’s returns to The New York Times. Littlejohn also leaked a tranche of ultrawealthy Americans’ tax documents to ProPublica. It’s sadly ironic that Littlejohn is being harshly punished for exposing billionaire tax evasion while billionaire tax evaders themselves continue to be afforded leniency by the judiciary.

Published Feb. 2, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

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FAQs about the PRESS Act

Newsletter

The PRESS Act -– which passed the House last week with no opposition — is the most important press freedom legislation in modern history. It would finally put an end to retaliatory surveillance of journalists who embarrass officials, as well as court orders requiring journalists to choose between burning their sources and risking jail time. As it heads to the Senate, we answer some of the common questions we’ve seen asked about the act. Topics range from the substance and scope of the bill to what you can do to help get it through the Senate.

Published Jan. 26, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Official portrait of Rep. Kevin Kiley, on left, wearing a blue jacket and red tie; Official portrait of Sen. Dick, on right, wearing black jacket and striped tie.

PRESS Act passes the House

Newsletter

The House of Representatives passed the PRESS Act by unanimous consent on Jan. 18, 2024. The act is a bipartisan reporter’s shield bill that would protect journalists from being forced to name their sources in federal court and would stop the federal government from spying on journalists through their technology providers. It’s the strongest shield bill we’ve ever seen — and also the one with the best chance of becoming law. Now it’s up to the Senate to finish the job.

Published Jan. 19, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

A portion of the Nov. 30, 2023, court order attempting to censor BusinessDen reporter Justin Wingerter

The case for ignoring censorship orders

Newsletter

Our U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 11 prior restraints against journalists in 2023, the most since it started tracking them in 2017. The Supreme Court has called prior restraints — or government orders not to publish information — the “most serious” First Amendment violation. They are almost never constitutional. And yet, courts keep entering prior restraints with little regard for the law, leaving journalists censored while often slow-moving appellate processes play out.

Published Jan. 12, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

Journalist Tim Burke, wearing a baseball cap, sits in front of computers with blurred images

Government must explain newsroom raid

Newsletter

It’s been more than seven months since the May 2023 FBI raid of Florida journalist Tim Burke’s home newsroom, after Burke found and publicized Fox News interview outtakes where rapper Ye made antisemitic remarks. Yet the government still hasn’t explained the basis for the raid or returned all of Burke’s seized equipment and information.

Published Jan. 5, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation

FPF; CIA, Adapted from Electronic Frontier Foundation CC By 2

New declassification task force may be more bark than bite

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: Why the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety reports should be public

Published Feb. 16, 2025 Lauren Harper

Screenshot 2025-02-07 at 10.26.09 AM

Here’s how you can help save government data

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: Why should the public have to wait until 2034 to file FOIA requests with DOGE?

Published Feb. 9, 2025 Lauren Harper

Screenshot 2025-01-31 at 10.05.37 AM

My Groundhog Day prediction: More secrecy

Secrecy•Newsletter

Disappearing government data, transparency double-standards — another busy week tracking government secrecy

Published Feb. 2, 2025 Lauren Harper

President Donald Trump, pictured in the Oval Office, holds the signed executive order mandating the release of JFK, MLK, and RFK assassination records.

Health agencies silenced, DOGE transparency in doubt, and more

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: President Trump’s first week back in office was a busy one, with many orders worsening government secrecy

Published Jan. 26, 2025 Lauren Harper

President Donald Trump at his first inauguration in 2017

Government secrecy issues to watch during Trump’s presidency

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: Will Trump keep trying to flush presidential records down the toilet?

Published Jan. 20, 2025 Lauren Harper

Elon Musk carries his son to a meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss DOGE with lawmakers.

Will DOGE be subject to transparency rules?

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: Be skeptical when government says the sky is falling anytime classified documents enter public domain

Published Jan. 19, 2025 Lauren Harper

Aws Fahmy, 45, left, who was injured in the U.S. Marines raid in Haditha in 2005 and Omer Chasib, right, who lost his father in the same attack stand at the scene in Haditha, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012

Join live FPF-New Yorker discussion on Haditha massacre reporting

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: Trump may fire the archivist. She can still fight secrecy

Published Jan. 12, 2025 Lauren Harper

Adam Davis fertilizes a field with bio-solids near Corrine, Utah, in 2014

EPA has known for 20 years that it promotes toxic fertilizer

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: The CIA drugged unsuspecting Americans as part of its mind-control research programs.

Published Jan. 5, 2025 Lauren Harper

Screenshot 2024-12-18 at 2.33.09 PM

Aliens, Gitmo, and the weather: Excessive secrecy affects everything

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: a look back at 2024

Published Dec. 29, 2024 Lauren Harper

U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, June 27, 2006

Gitmo, background checks, and drones: a busy week in secrecy news

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: U.S. government declassifies 1960 report stating Israeli nuclear site was for weapons

Published Dec. 22, 2024 Lauren Harper

The sun sets above the U.S.-Mexico border wall, seen in Yuma, Ariz., Wednesday, June 9, 2021

National security claims hide information from families separated at border

Secrecy•Newsletter

Plus: how you can help preserve federal data at risk of being deleted

Published Dec. 15, 2024 Lauren Harper

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Private browsing isn’t that private

Newsletter

On all major browsers, research suggests many users overestimate the privacy promises of private browsing mode, with many believing that it allows them to hide their IP address, encrypt their web traffic, browse anonymously, and more. That’s why you’ll want to read about what private browsing mode does and doesn’t do.

Published Jan. 4, 2024 Dr. Martin Shelton

J-school security curriculum: Major updates in progress

Announcements•Newsletter

A revamped digital security 101 module is coming soon!

Published April 27, 2026 Evan Summers

Want to run digital security trainings?

Announcements•Newsletter

Want to learn how to teach “digital security 101” in your J-school? Of course you do!

Published March 31, 2026 Dr. Martin Shelton

J-school security curriculum: Content updates!

Announcements•Newsletter

Check out the latest updates to our digital security 101, authentication, and malware modules.

Published Feb. 19, 2026 Evan Summers

J-school security curriculum: ‘Digital security 101’ updates

Announcements•Newsletter

We’ve made updates to our “Digital security 101” module, and more.

Published Dec. 16, 2025 Dr. Martin Shelton

J-school security curriculum: New resource pack!

Announcements•Newsletter

Check out the new resource pack for our “Digital security 101 — Crossing the US-Mexico border” module.

Published Oct. 27, 2025 Evan Summers

J-school security curriculum: Reviewed and refreshed!

Announcements•Newsletter

On the heels of our new module focused on U.S. southern border journalism, we are happy to announce a range of additional updates to modernize the rest of the J-school curriculum.

Published Aug. 25, 2025 Evan Summers

J-school security curriculum: New module!

Announcements•Newsletter

We’re thrilled to announce a new module focused on U.S. southern border journalism

Published July 1, 2025 Dr. Martin Shelton

J-school security curriculum: DeepSeek leak and more ‘fun’ news

Newsletter

Well, at least there’s a lot of stuff to talk to your class about

Published Feb. 21, 2025 Dr. Martin Shelton

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J-school security curriculum: Into the Dangerzone

Newsletter

We’ve added new slides to our Malware module to help instructors get started sharing the good word about Dangerzone.

Published Nov. 25, 2024 Dr. Martin Shelton

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J-School Digital Security Curriculum: September Update

Newsletter

Hello again!It’s Martin, principal researcher at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), with our regular update on the U.S. Journalism School Digital Security Curriculum.J-school security curriculum highlightsTo account for new username and privacy options in recent versions of Signal, we made some small changes to the …

Published Sept. 19, 2024 Dr. Martin Shelton

FPF default cards (5)

J-School Digital Security Curriculum: July Update

Newsletter

Hello again!It’s Martin, principal researcher at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), with our regular update on the U.S. Journalism School Digital Security Curriculum.Before we jump in, I want to share that we’re hiring a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) consultant to help us develop a …

Published July 29, 2024 Dr. Martin Shelton