DOJ attempts to put lid on violations of 1st Amendment protections for journalists
DOJ Formally Adopts New Policy Restricting Use of Compulsory Process to Obtain Reporter Information
“The U.S. Department of Justice formally adopted a new policy that restricts the use of compulsory process to obtain information from, or records of, members of the news media acting within the scope of newsgathering activities. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the new policy, effective immediately, in a memo to Department leadership.
“The Attorney General also reiterated his support for the durability of these policy changes. To further protect members of the news media in a manner that will be enduring, he asked the Deputy Attorney General to undertake a review process to further explain, develop, and codify the policy announced today into Department regulations. He also reaffirmed the Department’s support for congressional legislation to protect members of the news media,” DOJ.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation weighed in:
This announcement is a potential sea change for press freedom rights in the United States. Over the past decade — spanning multiple administrations run by both parties — the Justice Department has increasingly spied on reporters doing their job, casting a chill over investigative reporting and putting countless whistleblowers at risk.
While we’re encouraged to see this announcement ending this invasive and disturbing tactic, the devil is — of course — in the details. The Justice Department must now write this categorical bar of journalist surveillance into its official ‘media guidelines,’ and Congress should also immediately enshrine the rules into law to ensure no administration can abuse its power again. If they follow through, this commendable and vitally important decision by the Biden administration has the potential to stem the tide of more than ten years of erosion of press freedom.
The latest viral topic on White House wanting its message on COVID vaccines, meaning no message not fitting it’s narrative in social media put freedom of speech advocates on guard, as Forbes reports:
White Press Secretary Jen Psaki was a hot topic on Twitter after she had a curt exchange with Fox New Channel’s Peter Doocy over the issue of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on social media. President Joe Biden has been especially critical of social media platforms, notably Facebook, for allowing the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus as well as vaccines.
As Social media has been censoring COVID information, or raising red flags on any post mentioning COVID with thoughts or evidence not in line with CDC and Dr Fauci, Biden appears to be demanding further censorship of opposed opinions. To not be able to be exposed to both sides and make personal evaluations is a huge thrust against freedom of speech and personal Constitutional freedoms.
Layman’s words for compulsory one sided reporting by the media is brain washing, as evidenced by a year of hysteria during the lockdowns that blinded critical thought and warnings of collateral damage of personal freedoms as the NY post warns in an article “Government dictating what social-media bans is tyrannical:”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki casually confirmed on Thursday what skeptical conservatives and some civil libertarians have been suspecting for years: that the world’s biggest speech platforms take direction from the government in choosing what content to suppress, amplify, or remove.
“We are in regular touch with social media platforms” about COVID-19 related misinformation, including misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine,” Psaki said. “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook.”
“Misinformation” in the White House context is disagreement with its narrative, a very dangerous precedent for any topic of discussion, whether universally relevant health topics , the White House I’ll informed factually selective anti gun agenda, or otherwise.
This tweet puts an ironic and sarcastic twist on the fiery debate triggered by Psaki’s comments: