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.

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

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed his support this week for the PRESS Act, the strongest shield bill Congress has ever proposed. One of the most important things reporters can do is write about the PRESS Act in news reports or editorials, and non-journalists can help spread the word with op-eds and letters to the editor. Read more in our 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.

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.

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.

The Supreme Court seems to understand the First Amendment limits on government coercion of speech — except when it comes to national security

The first whistleblower prosecuted by the Trump administration, Reality Winner pled guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act. Her case is the latest in a long history of targeting sources and whistleblowers under the draconian law.

Will the Trump administration use the Espionage Act to prosecute reporters?

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.