#press-freedom

#press-freedom

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday declined to immediately rule on the Washington Post's request for the government to return devices seized from reporter Hannah Natanson in a January raid of her home. But the judge, William B. Porter of the eastern district of Virginia, acknowledged the enormity and significance of the seizure during the afternoon hearing. Ms Natanson has basically been deprived of her life's work, he said.

About 15 migrants who are not from Cameroon have been sent to the country by the United States since January, according to Alma David, one of the attorneys advocating for the deportees. The deportations to Cameroon come amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to pressure foreign nations into signing onto secretive third-country deportation agreements, which allow the federal government to remove migrants from the U.S. and send them to places other than their country of origin.

This recognition is a reminder of why public records laws have teeth - and why someone has to be willing to use them.

PG&E scaling up to provide power to new data centers is beyond comical. They can't even deliver reliable power to residential customers. My area of San Jose, including my own home, has experienced over a dozen power outages since 2022, the longest lasting eight and nine hours back-to-back during the 2022 heatwave. Before we rely on PG&E to supply power to these new data centers, city leaders should be asking the utility how committed they are to serving their residential customers.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The amnesty law for political prisoners in Venezuela is delayed. The Chavista regime had hoped for a swift debate of the bill, but the suspension of Tuesday's parliamentary session made it clear that it won't be so simple. The issue is even at risk of not being included on the agenda of the National Assembly meeting scheduled for Thursday. These delays stem from conflicting views within Delcy Rodriguez's government regarding the scope of ending years of political persecution in Venezuela.

Figures released by the Interior Ministry showed that a total of 818 crimes targeting "media" were registered with the BKA, Germany's federal investigative police force, between April 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025. That averages out at roughly 41 cases per month over a 20-month period, and compares to 290 crimes, for an average of roughly 24 per month, in the calendar year 2023. The increase equates to roughly 71%.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The email landed in Lizzie Johnson's in-tray in Ukraine just before 4pm local time. It came at a tough time for the reporter: Russia had been repeatedly striking the country's power grid, and just days before she had been forced to work out of her car without heat, power or running water, writing in pencil because pen ink freezes too readily.

One journalist, who spoke anonymously out of fear that being named would place more pressure on my family, said their father had been detained and warned by security forces that they were monitoring overseas journalists. They knew everything about me somehow, the journalist said. They said they know where I live. They even gave my father the address, the telephone number, where I'm sitting exactly in the newsroom.

Two independent journalists were detained by Chinese officials after they published a report alleging corruption by a local official in southwestern China, rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday, condemning the incident. Police in Chengdu said they were investigating a 50-year-old man surnamed Liu and a 34-year-old surnamed Wu on suspicion of making "false accusations" and conducting "illegal business operations." Authorities said they were placed under "criminal coercive measures," a term typically referring to detention.

In the wake of ruthless arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort in Minneapolis, one Harvard political scientist is arguing something many of us have suspected for a long time: the US is moving away from its traditional democratic framework toward a fundamentally different system of governance. In an interview with the media industry publication Status, Harvard political scientist Steven Levitsky made the case that the Trump administration's assault on democratic norms has now become extreme, even by the standards of right-wing dictators.

Official lies after an ICE killing begin to backfire. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the fatal shooting of a protester by border control agents triggered mass demonstrations and presented the Trump administration with an unexpected test of its immigration strategy. Footage captured by onlookers has undercut official statements and intensified questions about the level of force and use of high-tech tools being used to crack down on dissent.

In video comments, the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "Make no mistake, under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you." So people have a First Amendment right to worship that DOJ will protect, but journalists suddenly have no First Amendment right to report on issues of public interest and concern? We disagree.

The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort on Friday signal an increasing willingness for the federal government to criminalize newsgathering activities. While the legal merits of those arrests have yet to be tested, they are a red flag for journalists and newsroom leaders everywhere. Given the speed and unpredictability of recent federal actions - including the seizure of a Washington Post reporter's equipment earlier this month - every newsroom must prepare now to defend its right to report the news.

Thursday's arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort like the recent raid on the Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson demonstrate the administration's lawless crusade against routine journalism. In normal times the expectation is that even when a journalist's conduct might technically fit the legal elements of a crime jaywalking to get footage of a protest, for example prosecutors will exercise their discretion and judgment to not apply the law in a manner that chills the free press. Those assumptions are inverted now.

Lemon's arrest, alongside that of Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort, has sent shockwaves through press freedom and civil rights communities, raising urgent questions about the government's treatment of journalists covering protests and other matters of public concern. Both reporters were engaged in newsgathering related to demonstrations over recent federal actions in Minneapolis when they were taken into custody.