Ex-CIA employee deserves a long prison sentence — but not for leaking documents
It’s troubling that our government apparently views disclosing its secrets as an exponentially more serious offense than possessing troves of child pornography
The case for ignoring censorship orders
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.
Proposed Espionage Act reforms are vital for investigative journalism
Amendment would stop unconstitutional charges against journalists and whistleblowers without impacting real espionage cases
Prison time for reporting on leaks?
Don’t give presidents the tools to jail journalists.
Another record year for press-freedom violations in the US
While we did not see the scope of national social-justice protests of 2020—a year in which journalists were arrested or assaulted on average more than once a day—2021 still outpaced the years before it for press-freedom violations. We systematically capture this data in the US Press Freedom Tracker, where Freedom of the Press Foundation, in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom groups, has documented aggressions against journalists in the United States since 2017.
Why is Chelsea Manning still in jail?
The ongoing detention of Chelsea Manning is inhumane and punitive, and she should be released immediately.
Prosecuting WikiLeaks for publishing activities poses a profound threat to press freedom
Any Espionage Act prosecution also threatens journalists at the New York Times and Washington Post.
Trump’s anti-press rhetoric is dangerous, but his actions are worse
Over 300 news organizations join together and publish editorials denouncing Trump's attacks on the press. And while his rhetoric gets an outsized amount of attention, his administration’s actions are more dangerous to the press than anything Trump has said.
Obama used the Espionage Act to put a record number of reporters' sources in jail, and Trump could be even worse
Will the Trump administration use the Espionage Act to prosecute reporters?
Correcting the Error-Riddled Wall Street Journal Column on WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, and Press Freedom
Since the audio of whistleblower Bradley Manning's statement to the court leaked last week, it's becoming clear how much of a threat the government's "aiding the enemy" charge against Manning threatens all whistleblowers. Famed law professor Yochai Benkler and First Amendment scholar Floyd Abrams wrote an op-ed in the …