Want to receive this digest in your inbox? To subscribe, simply click here and choose DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression from the list.

Pew survey finds that a majority of rural residents say their local news media covers areas other than theirs, while a majority of urban residents say the opposite. Fox TV anchors push back as their invited guest commentators advance conspiracy theories on the causes of the Notre Dame cathedral fire, while YouTube places information about the 9/11 attacks alongside news videos and livestreams of the fire. Arguments begin in a case challenging restrictions on trademarks deemed ‘immoral, deceptive, or scandalous’ on First Amendment grounds, with no mention of the offending company name itself. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honorees, are part of a team that received a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on human rights abuses by the Myanmar military in Rakhine state. -Anoosh Gasparian, External Relations Manager

 

DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression

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

U.S.

For Many Rural Residents in U.S., Local News Media Mostly Don’t Cover the Area Where They Live
Americans in urban communities are more likely to say local news media mostly cover the area where they live, while rural residents say that their local news media mostly cover another area, such as a nearby city, according to a new survey.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Fox News Anchors Shut down Conspiracy Theories About Notre Dame Fire
On two separate occasions on Monday afternoon, Fox News anchors Shepard Smith and Neil Cavuto cut interviews short after their guests wildly speculated and parroted conspiracy theories that the blaze that suddenly destroyed much of the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was an intentionally malicious act.
DAILY BEAST

A Vulgar Term Goes Unmentioned as It Gets Its Day in Court
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a curious case in which no one dared say the word at the heart of the dispute, which was the brand name of a line of clothing that had been denied federal trademark protection.
NEW YORK TIMES

Imprisoned Myanmar Journalists Awarded Pulitzer Prize*PEN Case List: Learn More
On Monday in New York the Pulitzer Center handed its award for International Reporting to Reuters staff, with a special mention for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who are serving seven years in Yangon’s Insein Prison for “exposing state secrets.”
CNN

Global

As Notre Dame Burned, an Algorithmic Error at YouTube Put Information about 9/11 under News Videos
As people turned to YouTube to see livestreams from trusted news organizations of the fire in progress, the platform showing them background information about 9/11. Google said, “These panels are triggered algorithmically and our systems sometimes make the wrong call.”
NIEMAN LAB

Opinion: “I Co-Founded the BDS Movement. Why Was I Denied Entry to the U.S.?”
“Given my regular, unhindered travel to the US for years, this ban seems to be an ideologically and politically motivated measure that fits in with Israel’s escalating repression against human rights defenders.”
GUARDIAN

Being Tracked While Reporting in China, Where ‘There Are No Whys’
“When I was wide awake, my followers were by turns menacing and buffoonish. There were seven of them, and they took down the information of anyone I spoke to, making it too dangerous to interview residents. The police stopped me many times a day at checkpoints, demanding to look through my phone and often deleting photos and videos.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Russian Parliament Adopts Internet Controls Bill
Russia’s lower chamber of parliament has adopted a bill that would expand government control over the internet, raising fears of widespread censorship. The State Duma on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to support the bill, which still has to be approved by the upper chamber of Russian Parliament and signed into the law by the president.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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]