PEN America releases Trump the Truth: Free Expression in the President’s First 100 Days documenting over 70 incidents of the White House undermining the press to date, more than the number of working days since Trump took office. Google refines and broadens it’s policies on hate speech and fake news in a bid to protect advertisers from finding themselves adjacent to unsavory content‎. Trump’s attacks on press are to blame for drop in US standing in annual global press freedom survey. -Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director

DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression

PEN America’s take on today’s most pressing threats to free expression

U.S.

The YouTube Dilemma: When Digital Advertising And Objectionable Content Collide
While the bulk of public attention has fallen on the content that Google allows on YouTube, several major agencies and brands also announced that they will suspend or scale back their activity on AdX, Google’s third-party digital advertising exchange, so to avoid being featured alongside “unsavory” content.
FORBES

Donald Trump’s ‘Media Bashing’ Is Already Hurting America’s Press Freedom Ranking
The freedom of information advocacy group, also known as Reporters Sans Frontières, has released its annual World Press Freedom Index. The new rankings show the U.S. has slipped from 41st to 43rd place since last year’s index, largely driven by “toxic” campaign rhetoric leading up to the presidential election.
HUFFINGTON POST

FCC Announces Plan to Reverse Title II Net Neutrality
The Federal Communications Commission is cracking open the net neutrality debate again with a proposal to undo the 2015 legislation. The argument for net neutrality is that the limitations put on internet providers are worth the tradeoff for keeping the internet open. If internet providers have the ability to control or influence which websites you visit, that’ll hugely tip the scales in favor of their own services.
THE VERGE

Sowing Climate Doubt Among Schoolteachers
The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank known for attacking climate science, has been mailing the book “Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming” to public school teachers throughout the United States. The institute says it plans to send out as many as 200,000 copies, until virtually every science educator in America has one.
NEW YORK TIMES

At Least Half of Americans Think Trump and the Media are ‘Regularly’ Wrong
The media says President Trump makes claims that aren’t true. Trump says the media produces fake news. And in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, at least half of Americans say both Trump and the media “regularly” disseminate false information.
WASHINGTON POST

 
Global

China Offers Rare Insight Into Punishment for Speaking With Foreign Media
Chinese citizens regularly face retribution for making critical comments about China to foreign media. Reporters Without Borders described Chinese President Xi Jinping as “the planet’s leading censor and press freedom predator,” noting that more than 100 journalists and bloggers are currently detained in China.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Nothing to See Here: Mongolia Media Goes Dark to Protest Curbs
Several Mongolian media outlets suspended content to protest a bill they fear would lead to censorship just two months before the former communist dictatorship elects a new president. The legislation would allow police to impose fines for spreading libelous or defamatory information, without going through the courts.
BLOOMBERG

Kashmir Shuts Down Social Networks for a Month
The government in India’s Jammu and Kashmir State ordered internet service providers in the restive Kashmir valley to block 22 social networking services, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, for a month, an unusually harsh measure to counteract escalating waves of protests and violence in the region.
NEW YORK TIMES

Kenya’s Press Freedom Has Stagnated, Says Report
Kenya’s press freedom rating stagnated for the past two years, an indication that the country has done little to improve the media environment. The Reporters Without Borders report says violation of media freedoms in Kenya has become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise.
ALL AFRICA

Theatre, Dictatorship, and Western Indifference in Belarus
When Belarus Free Theatre canceled a Saturday evening show at the end of March, it did so with a mixture of pride and determination. Earlier that day, several of the cast had been caught up in a violent clampdown unleashed by the authorities in Belarus, leading to five castmembers being among the nearly 1,000 arrested that day.
THE STAGE

DARE is a project of PEN America’s #LouderTogether campaign, bringing you a daily-curated roundup of the most important free expression-related news from the U.S. and abroad. Send your feedback and story suggestions to [email protected]