In 2022, press freedom is under siege around the world, threatened by the rising tide of authoritarianism & hatred: rsf.org/en/rsfs-2022-w… Journalists are the immune system of democracy, arming publics with the knowledge we need to be self-governing. #HoldTheLine#WPFD2022
Journalists bear witness to war, reveal fraud, waste, & abuse of power, & debunk the falsehoods of corrupt leaders, authoritarian regimes, & untrustworthy corporations.
At its best, a free press guards shared truths against rumors & lies.
It matters when a @POTUS calls journalists guardians of the truth instead of enemies of the people, as autocrats do.
Democratic leaders earn trust by repeating facts that a free press & public can confirm.
Corrupt demagogues erode trust in journalism by repeating lies. #WPFD2022
In the US, @uspresstracker documented 144 assaults against journalists in 2021 — far lower than 624 in 2020, but more than the total for the previous 3 years combined.
Emolumental corruption enabled by @Mike_Pompeo: "by failing to disclose the gifts, the @WhiteHouse45 violated the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution, which makes it illegal to take gifts from foreigners without permission from Congress" nytimes.com/2022/04/08/us/…
A year+ on, @TwitterGov's labels for US government accounts & campaign accounts are still WILDLY inconsistent. As with failures to ensure state & local public health & election officials are @verified, @Twitter's inaction is negligent in a pandemic, infodemic, & now war in Europe
When the @WhiteHouse isn't labeled as a "US government account," it's fair to conclude that its executives & board either don't care or think this matters.
”listeners & viewers are getting around Russia’s media barricades through the use of virtual private networks & ‘mirror sites’ that duplicate content but use a different URL.”
“Russians during the Cold War would try to tune in @RFERL by fiddling with the radio dial”
🎙💡🔒📲📻🖥
It should be the official foreign policy of the USA to uphold human rights by providing access to info to every person on Earth through satellites, VPNs, & mesh networks.
Congress should vastly increase funding for @OpenTechFund. @POTUS should oppose Internet shutdowns. #KeepItOn
Less than 2 years ago, the Trump administration attempted to shift @OpenTechFund’s funding away from open source projects.
Our coalition called on Congress to @SaveOTF & maintain US support for Internet freedom tools that Russians & others are using now: opentech.fund/results/suppor…
A historical note from AOTUS @dferriero: Before FDR signed a law creating @USNatArchives in 1934, @librarycongress held some public records & others were scattered across our union.
“The sheer scale of the tragedy strains the moral imagination”—@edyong209 theatlantic.com/health/archive…
More Americans died last week than on 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina.
~9 million of us lost a parent, child, sibling, spouse, or grandparent.
~149,000 children lost a parent or caregiver
Why did the CDC issue new guidelines allowing the end of indoor masking after 1000+ people died of COVID daily for 6 months?
If the US faced daily hurricanes that each killed 1,000 Americans for half a year, would we stop building levees, pumping water, & providing aid & shelter?