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Hurricane coverage highlights the critical role of local journalism, and brings to mind why authoritarian governments don’t like it. Los Angeles has become the largest city nationwide to remove Columbus Day as an official city holiday, replacing it with a day to commemorate indigenous people. Using fake quotes, backers of President Trump on social media claim credit for pressuring House Speaker Paul Ryan to denounce the “antifa.” -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

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

U.S.

Pro-Trump tweeters take credit for pressuring Paul Ryan
The campaign to paint Ryan as supportive of violent leftists is an example of right-wing trolls’ ability to shift narrative so that politicians feel compelled to respond. The memes attacking Ryan with false quotes were part of a wider online campaign to hound members of Congress about the antifa, particularly prominent Republicans.
POLITICO

What a hurricane tells us about local news
Local news is hard to find, and when it exists it has often been tailored to fit the national narrative. In recent years, the national story has been unusually ugly. But local reporting from Texas this week wasn’t.
WASHINGTON POST

Outlaw firearms at public rallies, demonstrations
The visible presence of large numbers of deadly weapons at a demonstration has the potential to silence people. Many who want to exercise their First Amendment rights may be afraid to attend, much less speak.
USA TODAY

Congress faces decision on whether to rein in controversial spying program
It was designed to spy on foreign citizens living outside the U.S. and bars the targeting of American citizens or residents. But critics say the program also sweeps up the electronic data of innocent Americans who may be communicating with foreign nationals, even when those foreigners aren’t suspected of terrorist activity.
USA TODAY

 
Global

Western social media firms under fire as Iranians hint at dialogue over censorship
The Supreme Council of Cyberspace is supposed to shield Iranians from the internet’s blasphemous or sinful content. But it also stifles freedom of speech and expression, and communications monitoring can land Iranian activists, or anyone else who breaks the country’s conservative social rules, in serious trouble.
INDEPENDENT

Misuse of cyber crimes laws stifled freedom of expression: Farhatullah Babar
Senator Babar of Pakistan stated: “To fight militant mindset we need to build intellectual infrastructure that rests on the foundations of free inquiry and free debate not only in academic institutions but as a way of life.”
THE NATION

Journalism watchdogs lambaste Macau for denying entry to Hong Kong journalists reporting on typhoon
The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association released a joint statement claiming, “A number of Hong Kong journalists had been rejected entry to Macau in recent years. We have expressed deep regrets over the Macau authority’s arbitrarily restrictive immigration policy.”
HONG KONG FREE PRESS

Mexico’s President denies he tried to silence a prominent critic
According to five people who recounted the gathering, the president singled out Mr. González and told him that his son, a prominent anti-corruption crusader, should halt his criticism of the government.
NEW YORK TIMES

Ukraine preparing to deport Russian journalist for ‘propaganda’
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the move a “deliberate provocation” by the Ukrainian security service and nationalist radicals. The move was condemned by a representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitors the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
REUTERS

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