How to limit Trump’s power to destroy the press
Time to check government secrecy too
Four more years … of government secrecy?
Secrecy • NewsletterHow secretive would a second Trump or a Harris administration be? And how much could either presidential candidate rein in the government’s sprawling secrecy system if they wanted to?
Meet our new website
Encryption • NewsletterThis week, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) unveiled a new website that reflects our commitment to action-based advocacy for press freedom.
New York Times pushes for PRESS Act
PRESS Act • NewsletterDear Friend of Press Freedom,Here are some of the most important stories we’re following from the U.S. and around the world. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please forward it to friends and family. If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here.New York Times pushes for …
Israel’s detainment of reporters must stop
Arrests/Prosecutions • NewsletterThe U.S. should not only demand its ally explain the arrest of an American journalist, but pressure it to release the 43 Palestinian journalists who remain in custody if it can’t prove they committed a crime.
Declassify Khashoggi records now
NewsletterToo much about Jamal Khashoggi's murder remains hidden, and this secrecy prevents accountability and serves to endanger other journalists.
US hides its best hurricane predictions
NewsletterWe’re in the middle of an especially dangerous hurricane season, but the government’s weather forecaster won’t release its most accurate predictions.
Declassify RT documents
NewsletterDeclassification would explain a move that raises serious First Amendment concerns about press censorship and questions of cherry picked evidence.
Declassify CIA torture report
NewsletterThe U.S. keeps too many secrets about its actions in the aftermath of 9/11.
Crunch time for the PRESS Act
NewsletterThe Senate is running out of time this year to pass the most important press freedom legislation in modern times.
New Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy
NewsletterAs the first Ellsberg Chair, Lauren Harper’s work will focus on highlighting and fighting the multitude of ways the government keeps secrets.
Chicago police ignore journalists’ rights
NewsletterThe Chicago Police Department repeatedly dispersed, arrested, and threatened journalists at protests during the first two days of the DNC.
Marion County Record raid, a year later
NewsletterLast week, special prosecutors cleared the Record’s reporters of wrongdoing, and this week, former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody was charged for obstructing the investigation of the raid.
Further accountability needed in Marion
NewsletterSpecial prosecutors this week finally released their report on last August’s police raid of the Marion County Record. The report recommends criminal charges against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, and clears the Record and its reporters of wrongdoing.
Gag rules stifle financial journalism
NewsletterThe Securities and Exchange Commission requires defendants who settle cases it brings to contract away their right to deny the SEC’s allegations. So does the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That means potential sources can’t speak to financial journalists.
Pressure Netanyahu to protect journalists
NewsletterWith Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting the U.S. this week, officials who claim to care about press freedom need to make clear to him that the U.S. will not tolerate killings, imprisonments, or censorship of journalists by its ally.
Don’t let prosecutors define journalism
NewsletterFederal prosecutors are claiming a startling new power: the ability to decide what is or isn’t “legitimate” journalism.
Police must protect press covering RNC
NewsletterAs journalists arrive at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum to cover the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC), we can expect the public to take to the streets to protest everything from Donald Trump’s nomination to the ongoing war in Gaza and the killing of Dvontaye Mitchell.
Platform cases uphold press precedent
NewsletterWith all eyes on the Supreme Court’s disturbing opinion on presidential immunity, you may have missed that the court also issued an important First Amendment decision this week about social media content moderation.
Assange freed, press freedom imperiled
NewsletterJulian Assange has finally been freed after reaching a surprising deal with U.S. authorities to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act. The plea deal avoids the worst outcome of a court precedent that could be used against journalists, but it still threatens press freedom.
Election safety support for journalists
Collaboration/team security • NewsletterAlongside a coalition of press freedom organizations, we’ve teamed up with the Knight Election Hub to support journalists.
Stop ad-based location tracking
Device safety • NewsletterTracking IDs baked into your mobile device reveal visits to abortion clinics and more.
Support the Internet Archive
Expert analysis • NewsletterHelp out a critical resource for journalists as it experiences a series of digital attacks.
Chrome phases out popular ad blocker — what now?
Communication security • NewsletterIt’s the Digital Security Training team at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), with security news that keeps you, your sources, and your devices safe. If someone has shared this newsletter with you, please subscribe here.In the newsIn its push to rework permissions within Google Chrome desktop …
See, this is why we need encryption
NewsletterU.S. intelligence agencies suggest China is involved in a breach of multiple major U.S. telecommunications providers.
Indicted NYC mayor forgets phone passcode
NewsletterEric Adams allegedly claimed that he had changed the passcode and told the FBI he did not remember it.
Discord boosts private call encryption
NewsletterDiscord announced its rollout of end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls in one-to-one and group direct messages, voice channels, and Go Live streams.
Apple seeks dismissal of NSO Group lawsuit
NewsletterApple has filed a motion to withdraw a lawsuit against NSO Group, an Israeli spyware company.
Telegram rethinks messaging on content moderation
NewsletterFollowing the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, the messaging app modified its FAQ page to clarify some new rules.
City sues security researcher after revelations about ransomware attack
NewsletterColumbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced that the data was either “encrypted or corrupted.”
Telegram misrepresented amid founder’s arrest
NewsletterThe arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov has helped foster the mistaken notion that the app is a standard end-to-end encrypted messenger.
Data broker breach leaks Social Security numbers (again)
NewsletterNational Public Data confirmed nearly 3 billion records were affected.
Russia blocks access to Signal
NewsletterThe latest move means that the app has been removed from Google Play and Apple App Store in Russia.
Cloudflare hides abusive websites
NewsletterThe Spamhaus Project has released a blog criticizing Cloudflare — a content delivery network and cloud cybersecurity provider — for providing security services to abusive domains. These websites could contain spam, phishing links, malware, and even botnets.
Android spyware flies under the radar
NewsletterThe cybersecurity firm Kaspersky disclosed that at least five Google Play applications contained Mandrake, a sophisticated cyberespionage tool.
Google backtracks on ad privacy plan
NewsletterGoogle has a habit of hitting the brakes on products and features — so much so that it’s become something of a meme to be “killed by Google.” This time it decided to backtrack on its long-standing plan to replace traditional tracking in its Chrome browser.
Beware fraudulent CrowdStrike emails
NewsletterLast Friday, computer systems worldwide were taken down by a defective update from enterprise cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike. In the wake of the outage, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency is warning of phishing emails, with attackers posing as CrowdStrike customer support.
What to do about AT&T breach
NewsletterAround 110 million AT&T subscribers were affected by a data breach from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2022, TechCrunch reported.
Massive Authy leak, plus Proton Docs
NewsletterThe parent company for Authy, an application for two-factor authentication, has issued a critical security update to its Android and iOS users. According to BleepingComputer, hackers utilized leaked phone numbers from past data breaches to identify up to 33 million Authy users.
Eavesdropping on AirPods?
NewsletterApple released a firmware update patching a critical Bluetooth vulnerability in AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Fit Pro. According to its support page, an adversary in Bluetooth range could spoof as an intended source device for these wireless headphones. When the targeted headphones send a connection request to the spoofed device, it could eavesdrop on confidential conversations.
J-School Digital Security Curriculum: September Update
NewsletterHello 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 …
J-School Digital Security Curriculum: July Update
NewsletterHello 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 …
