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People of America: Senators only have a few weeks to do this Pass the press lawthe federal “shield” bill The House passed the law unanimously and with bipartisan support earlier in January But he has been waiting in the Senate for a final vote ever since.
The Press Code, if passed, will become law Establishing national protection for journalists Throughout the United States they are forced to identify or give up their confidential sources (except in emergency situations, such as preventing an act of terrorism). The bill also grants other protections, such as limiting what records the government can secretly take from journalists or their email or phone provider that can identify their sources — again, with a limited set of exceptions for emergency threats.
Lawmakers have been pushing to pass federal protections for journalists in the press law over the past year, citing… Recent US government violations. The most recent example was the secret seizure of journalists’ phone records Who used to work at CNN, New York Timesand The Washington Post At the request of the Department of Justice during the Trump administration, to determine the source of the leak.
As noted recently By the edgeHowever, protecting journalists and their sources will become increasingly important in Trump’s second term.
Forcing journalists to reveal the identity of their source can have a real negative impact on news gathering. People will feel discouraged from talking to journalists, and this hurts the public’s ability to be informed about things that affect them. We also increasingly consume our news from independent journalists and small outlets, which may not have the legal resources to fight a government subpoena for their records. The Press Act would provide the same comprehensive protections to journalists across the United States and would also cover independent journalists and outlets that publish information in the public interest.
While the bill does not directly impact the tech industry, TechCrunch, as a news outlet, supports protecting and building on journalistic freedoms. Some of TechCrunch’s most widely read and influential reports have come from readers like you, who have reached out to us and reported corporate malfeasance, exposed mismanagement in the startup world, detailed human rights abuses, and uncovered major breaches, data spills, and cyberattacks—crimes that might otherwise go unreported. If it weren’t for that. TechCrunch has a history of standing up to legal demands to protect our sources. We can only do this by protecting press freedoms.
At this point, the Press Act already has bipartisan support in the Senate, with Senators Ron Wyden, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, and Dick Durbin as co-sponsors. But as The times According to reports, the bill is still stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a small group of senators is said to have opposed it. As is the nature of Congress, a single opposing legislator can stall the legislative process indefinitely.
The bill awaits a final vote in the Senate, weeks before the bill expires at the end of the Congress session. The ACLU has a simple web form you can use Send a memo to your senatorsOr you You can call or email them directly To ask them to vote on the press law.
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