Twitter explains why it won’t ban Trump. Scaramucci’s declaration of war on leaks is tested as his own financial disclosure form winds up published in Politico. Department of Justice chimes in, pledging to seek jail terms in leak cases. High legal hurdles face advocates planning to challenge Trump ban on transgender military service. Outdoor retailers including Patagonia and REI pledge to take to the streets in defense of public lands and the environment. -Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director

 

U.S.

Why Twitter won’t ban President Donald Trump
Twitter does ban harassment and hateful conduct, but there is a lot of wiggle room as to what constitutes such behavior. For instance, though it may be crude to tweet that a TV host was “bleeding badly from a face-lift,” they are at best in a gray area when it comes to violating Twitter terms.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Scaramucci Calls for Inquiry After ‘Leak’ of Financial Form
Under federal law, anyone can request such a disclosure form on a government website 30 days after its receipt. His serrated-edge response rippled through the White House, with several staff members expressing astonishment at the public outburst.
NEW YORK TIMES

Sessions to launch DOJ probe into leaks, Scaramucci says
A leak investigation would come at a low point for the attorney general’s relationship with the president, marked Tuesday by Trump’s remark that “time will tell” as to whether Sessions would remain in his job. Sessions was among Trump’s earliest supporters and one of his highest-profile surrogates throughout last year’s campaign.
POLITICO

‘People are scared’: LGBT groups say they’ll rush to fight Trump’s transgender military ban in court
Attorneys and advocacy groups like Lambda are preparing to challenge the decision, saying potential plaintiffs are lining up to file suit. The only thing keeping them from the courthouse is the ambiguity of the announcement. The president has issued no executive order, policy memo, guidance, or rulemaking — just a string of tweets.
WASHINGTON POST

A Call to Activism for Outdoor Apparel Makers
At issue: an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to review 27 national monuments, possibly rescinding or shrinking the designation of federally protected land. Patagonia’s efforts have focused on Bears Ears, a 1.35 million-acre tract in Utah that includes Native American cultural artifacts and tribal lands.
NEW YORK TIMES

Is Being ‘Unapologetic’ the New Patriotic—or a Form of Resistance?
The allergy to apology meets with exasperation over so-called political correctness, a selling point of Trump’s candidacy. He won: so, then, did the offenses his campaign refused to apologize for or, in the case of former staffer and journalist-mauler Corey Lewandowski, swore never happened. Witnesses and video footage be damned.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

The Lonely Crusade of China’s Human Rights Lawyers
For lawyers who veer into sensitive areas of the law, the pressure is applied slowly; it begins with a simple invitation to tea from the police. What kinds of cases are you working on? an officer asks. Do you know what your colleague has been up to lately? How are your children finding their new teacher?
NEW YORK TIMES

In court, a Turkish journalist delivers a searing attack on the government
After spending more than seven months in prison on terrorism charges that could keep him there for years to come, Ahmet Sik, a Turkish journalist, appeared in an Istanbul court Wednesday with a fleeting opportunity to publicly rebut his powerful accusers.
WASHINGTON POST

Journalist Chakka Bahadur Malla arrested in west Nepal
Chakka Bahadur Malla was registering a case with the police after he was attacked along with four municipal officials on July 13. Malla had received injuries and was recovering when he was arrested after a police complaint was registered against him.
IFEX

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]