The press freedom crackdown in Egypt is getting even worse. An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of the country’s last independent news outlets, and slapped its editor with a crushing fine.
The shutdown of Mada Masr is an attack on independent journalism everywhere.
Can journalists enter a polling place? Photograph a voter? Photograph a marked ballot?
What about polling place selfies? Your own ballot?
There are no blanket rules!
Get ready for election day NOW. Research your local jurisdiction and read these tips from our friends at NPPA:
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📩 Read in our weekly newsletter:
- The Espionage Act’s big, bad week
- Journalists fight back
- Overspending and secrecy at DHS
- Photojournalist speaks out from ICE jail
- What to do when cops claim anonymity
- Plus, what we're reading...
https://freedom.press/issues/espionage-act-the-zombie-law-haunting-halloween-week/
Operation Keyhole, a far-reaching ICE spy program targeting activists, reporters, and more, resembles "the kind of intelligence activities J. Edgar Hoover adopted to suppress the Civil Rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s."
More in Wired:
"If they can lock me up and strip me of my protected status because they don’t like what I post, film or say in public, who’s to say who — or what — they’ll go after next?" writes photojournalist Ya'akub Vijandre, who has spent over a year in ICE jail.
A despicable attack on the First Amendment right to record law enforcement, which also shows exactly why that right exists.
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-releases-video-of-ice-agent-slashing-observers-tire
Many Colorado courts have stopped livestreaming their proceedings, even though it’s required by state law, in response to abuse by fewer than 1% of users.
Reducing transparency isn’t the answer. Address the misuse, but don’t punish the public.
https://www.pagosasun.com/stories/court-livestreams-offer-information-transparency,156943
Politicians demand we trust them with warrantless spying under Section 702 of FISA, yet won’t follow the law on declassifying court opinions that point out abuse.
Congress must demand major reforms and block renewal of 702 until the opinion is public.
Parents, please check your kids' Halloween candy.
We just found a strategic lawsuit against public participation inside a Milky Way.
Mac users: Control the privacy of your web browser. Our friends at @eff have just released Privacy Badger for Safari.
Read more in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):
https://freedom.press/digisec/blog/privacy-badger-now-supports-safari/
Records obtained through FOIA requests have helped journalists and the public uncover major insights.
When FOIA offices lose staff and resources, requests pile up and secrecy gets worse.
Tell Congress to protect FOIA today:
Halloween PSA: To keep your phone from turning haunted, be sure to install updates for your apps and operating systems as they drop. Here’s the story about what’s going on inside those updates: fpf.training/updates
“The ultimate injury here … is to the democratic public.”
A good reminder of who is ultimately harmed by retaliatory censorship. It isn't just about Trump feuding with the press.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-media-ban-citizens-lawsuit-f5a70baaa97dba1bdd4cda365b5f635d
FOIA offices are being decimated across federal agencies, leaving the government unable to fulfill public records requests.
Don’t let this blatant attack on transparency fly under the radar.
Tell your representatives to safeguard FOIA.
Waiting 10 years to charge Comey with espionage says everything. The Espionage Act is so poorly written that it’s just a blank check to go after political rivals and whistleblowers.
The abuse won’t end until the law is reformed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/us/politics/james-comey-charges-doj.html
The Espionage Act is a horrible law that's been abused for years to go after sources and whistleblowers, including by Comey's FBI.
It's also been used to investigate Clinton, Biden, and Trump. Everyone should hate it by now!
Just get rid of it!
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/us/politics/james-comey-charges-doj.html
"Brendan Carr is not the journalism police. And he is just about the least qualified person in the country to lecture the press about journalistic ethics," FPF's Seth Stern said.
“Can the president then offer on eBay to sell them, all of our national security secrets to the highest bidder?”
This question was posed during our Presidential Records Act appeal hearing. DOJ's answer? Yes.
More in the Classifieds.
https://freedom.press/the-classifieds/doj-says-presidents-should-be-able-to-sell-secrets-on-ebay/
📩 Read in our weekly newsletter:
- Help put Flock on the chopping block
- Ethically challenged FCC chair lectures press on ethics
- Congressional threats to BreakThrough News are unconstitutional harassment
- Plus, what we're reading...
https://freedom.press/issues/get-the-flock-away-from-the-press/