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Election officials moved towards regulating political ads on online platforms including Facebook and Google. White House aides said to have given up on controlling or shaping President Trump’s Twitter feed. Skype, one of the last online communication tools not run by a Chinese company, has been removed from app stores in the country. FBI and Justice Department to investigate possible civil rights violations by law enforcement in the St Louis area. The FCC is set to repeal net neutrality rules—send a message to Congress today to oppose the plan. -Anoosh Gasparian, External Relations Coordinator

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

U.S.

Election officials move closer to placing new rules on Facebook and Google
The Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to placing tighter regulations on internet ads published on major web platforms, marking a significant shift for an agency beset by partisan dysfunction and another sign that regulators are seeking to thwart foreign meddling in U.S. elections.
WASHINGTON POST

Aides give up on trying to control Trump’s tweets
None of the advice by Trump’s legal team seemed to have any lasting effect on a president who views acting on his own impulses as a virtue. And these days, the staff has basically stopped trying: There is no character inhabiting the West Wing who is dispatched to counsel the president when he aims the powerful weapon of his Twitter feed at himself.
POLITICO

FBI, Justice Department to Investigate St. Louis-Area Police
A federal investigation will look into possible civil rights violations by police in the St. Louis area in the two months since protests broke out after a white former police officer was acquitted in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
U.S. NEWS

F.C.C. Is Said to Plan Repeal of Net Neutrality Rules
Under a repeal, companies like AT&T and Comcast may be able to charge people higher fees to access certain websites and online services. The companies may also be able to prioritize their own services while disadvantaging websites run by rivals.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

Skype Vanishes From App Stores in China, Including Apple’s
One of the last foreign-run tools for online communication in China appears to be in trouble with the authorities there. For almost a month, Skype has been unavailable on a number of sites where apps are downloaded in China, including Apple’s app store in the country.
NEW YORK TIMES

Bill Proposes Prison for Journalists Who Publish Leaked Police Info
A new clause in an already controversial bill being advanced by Likud MK David Amsalem calls for journalists to be locked up for a year if they publish information leaked from police investigations.
JERUSALEM POST

Court sentences daily Cumhuriyet journalist Oğuz Güven to three years in jail on terror charges
Oğuz Güven, online editor-in-chief of daily Cumhuriyet, has received a three year and one month prison sentence on two separate terror charges. Speaking to reporters after the ruling, Güven once again dismissed the accusations, saying they were a sign of the times for Turkey in terms of press freedom and the judiciary.
HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Journalist shot in Tripura, second scribe killed in two months
Yet another journalist was killed in Tripura, the second in two months. Sudip Datta Bhaumik was allegedly shot by a jawan of the 2nd Tripura State Rifles (TSR) at RK Nagar, near Agartala. Nandagopal Reang, the TSR constable, has been arrested.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS

China’s under-20 team storm out of Germany football match as protesters wave Tibetan flags
China has raised an official fuss over a friendly football match in Germany where activists waved Tibetan flags on the sidelines as a Chinese team played. Soon after the Tibetan flags were unfurled, all of the members of the Chinese under-20 team walked off the field, refusing to return to the pitch until the flags were put away.
SHANGHAIIST

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