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Two women in court seeking paths to tell their stories of alleged affairs with President Trump. Fox News analyst quits citing outrage at the network’s denigration into a “propaganda machine” for the Trump Administration. New report says that former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon oversaw early efforts to collect Facebook data on U.S. voters at Cambridge Analytica, the firm he helped found with the Mercer family. Federal and state investigations open into Facebook and its handling of users’ data. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

The most pressing threats and notable goings-on in free expression today

U.S.

Allegations from women in his past shadow Trump
Accusations about Trump’s past sexual exploits bubbled up on three fronts Tuesday, with two women pressing court cases and a porn actress publicly needling the president. Trump has so far weathered the rising #MeToo movement, but the latest developments served as a fresh reminder about the shadow thrown by questions about the thrice-married businessman’s past.
CBS NEWS

An “Ashamed” Fox News Commentator Just Quit The “Propaganda Machine”
“Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” wrote Ralph Peters, a Fox News contributor.
BUZZFEED NEWS

Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s collection of Facebook data, according to former employee
Conservative strategist Stephen Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s early efforts to collect troves of Facebook data as part of an ambitious program to build detailed profiles of millions of American voters, a former employee of the data firm said.
WASHINGTON POST

Facebook Faces Growing Pressure Over Data and Privacy Inquiries
Federal regulators and state prosecutors are opening investigations into Facebook. Politicians in the United States and Europe are calling for its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify before them. They are all focused on the same thing: whether Facebook mishandled users’ data.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

China Approves Giant Propaganda Machine to Improve Global Image
The new broadcaster will be called “Voice of China,” mimicking the U.S. government-funded Voice of America that started up during World War II to advance American interests. It’s been reported that the new entity would be created through merging China Central Television, China Radio International, and China National Radio.
BLOOMBERG

Iran’s global campaign to silence journalists crosses a line, and borders
What’s new about the recent move against BBC journalists by Iran’s judiciary, though, is that Iran is now attempting to intimidate journalists living and working in a foreign country. This is a new frontier in the Islamic Republic’s audacious attempts to stifle free expression.
WASHINGTON POST

Facebook Warns on Fake News in Mexican Presidential Campaign
In newspaper ads on Tuesday, Facebook lists 10 tips, such as “Doubt the headline,” “Check the source,” and “Carefully observe the URL.” At the bottom of the page, a banner reads, in Spanish, “Together, we can limit the diffusion of fake news.”
BLOOMBERG

Two Reuters Reporters Have Now Spent 100 Days Behind Bars in Myanmar for Exposing a Massacre
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo would normally spend their days chasing sources and writing stories. But today, after a full 100 days in jail, the two Reuters reporters spent their hours in a dusty Myanmar courthouse, where they could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted of possessing secret government documents.
TIME

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