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The President of the United States expresses support for white supremacists and Nazis. -PEN America

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

U.S.

Trump Gives White Supremacists an Unequivocal Boost
President Trump buoyed the white nationalist movement as no president has done in generations—equating activists protesting racism with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rampaged in Charlottesville. “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth,” wrote David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
NEW YORK TIMES

How to describe extremists who rallied in Charlottesville
The events in Charlottesville are an opportunity to take a look at our terminology and the way we describe the various racist, neo-Nazi, white nationalist and white supremacist groups out there. At AP, we have taken the position that the term “alt-right” should be avoided because it is meant as a euphemism to disguise racist aims.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Baltimore Removes Confederate Statues in Overnight Operation
Beginning after midnight on Wednesday, a crew began making rounds of the city’s parks and public squares, tearing the monuments from their pedestals and carting them out of town. Small crowds gathered at each of the monuments and the mood was “celebratory,” said Baynard Woods, editor at large of The Baltimore City Paper.
NEW YORK TIMES

CNN Won’t Air Trump Campaign Ad Attacking CNN
The new ad, entitled “Let President Trump Do His Job,” casts the press as the president’s enemy and features clips of various mainstream media news anchors, including CNN personalities like Don Lemon, Dana Bash, Fareed Zakaria, Anderson Cooper, and John King. In May, CNN also did not air a Trump ad because it included a graphic that called the media “fake news.”
BUZZFEED

 
Global

Macron seeks release of French journalist Loup Bureau, detained in Turkey
Bureau, 27, was arrested on July 26 and accused of having links to Kurdish militias which Turkey regards as terrorist groups. He is studying for a master’s degree in journalism but has also worked as a reporter, notably on a story for the French channel TV5 on the militia known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
FRANCE 24

Azerbaijan’s “Last Independent Media Outlet” Faces Persecution
Azerbaijan’s government has accused the Baku-based Turan Information Agency, widely seen as the country’s last independent media company, of tax evasion. Turan and international media organizations said the allegations are in fact aimed at silencing independent journalism.
EURASIANET

Bangladeshi Journalist’s Case Casts Spotlight on Controversial Law
A senior official donated livestock to rural residents, but one of the goats died. When journalist Abdul Latif Morol reported this, he was accused of defaming the official under the Information and Communications Technology Act. Though Morol received bail, the case spotlights the use of the law against journalists and the shrinking space for media freedom in Bangladesh.
NEW DELHI TIMES

A look at China’s and Russia’s VPN crackdown
Up until now, China has taken a selective approach to prohibiting VPN use—usually choosing to look away when people tunnelled through the “great firewall” that Beijing has put in place to regulate access to the internet. Russia has a more open internet than China, but it’s just passed a new law banning VPNs and other proxy servers.
AL JAZEERA

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