You can help protect press freedom. Urge the Biden administration to end the case against Assange

    A new FPF video explains exactly how the Espionage Act charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange endanger journalists and news outlets

    Publishing government secrets shouldn’t be illegal

    The DOJ must end the Assange case before it turns journalists into criminals

    Help save the First Amendment

    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.

    Indictment threatens digital journalism

    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.

    Harsh punishments for leakers hurt journalism

    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.

    Bipartisan support for the PRESS Act

    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.

    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.

    Government must explain newsroom raid

    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.

    Northwestern’s student newspaper helps kill anti-speech prosecution

    Student journalists set an example for the professionals when it comes to standing up for the First Amendment