UNESCO reports that reporters on the environment have been increasingly attacked, hundreds over the last 15 years. U.S. environmental reporters are also under attack with 36 press freedom violations since 2017. Reporters covering protests are particularly at risk, and their sources need protection. (Freedom of Press Foundation, May 10. 2024) For related FAC coverage, click here and here.
FIRE reports that the Supreme Court is set to rule on important cases regarding online speech and a case involving how governments pressure private groups for political reasons. The cases will decide these questions: Can public officials block users on social media accounts they use for official business?; Can protest organizers be held negligent and liable for acts committed by unidentified people at the protest?; Do laws that regulate social media content moderation violate the
The recent pro-Palestinian protests have led universities to call in local police, eroding their legitimacy as a self-governing entity. Said John Thelin, University of Kentucky College of Education emeritus professor of higher education, “One has to think of an American college or university as a ‘city-state’ in which its legal protections and walls include the campus — grounds, buildings, structures facilities — as legally protected, along with a university’s rights to confer degrees. Calling in
California police agencies are violating Penal Code Section 409.7 with their arrests of reporters and photojournalists during recent campus protests. The code prohibits police from interfering with reporters during a protest and from citing reporters for failing to disperse and allows reporters to enter closed areas around a protest. (Freedom of the Press Foundation, May 16, 2024, by Caitlin Vogus) In related news, California Highway Patrol officers fired into crowds at the Palestinian protests at
Leonard Downie, Jr. in The Washington Post, May 21, 2024, argues that Donald Trump’s recent threats against the news media should be taken seriously. During his first term, he undermined public trust in the press and factual reporting in numerous ways from making thousands of false statements to asking for boycotts of certain news organizations. One of the greatest fears is that if elected again, Trump would resist accountability by curtailing the press that criticizes