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. 

President Trump re-tweets three inflammatory, unverified anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British extremist. The president also is reported to be re-upping false conspiracy theories he had previously discounted, including about President Obama’s birthplace. As women continue to speak up about their unsafe workplaces, NBC fires morning news anchor Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations. A conservative website’s correspondent is arrested at University of Connecticut appearance. A campaign official for Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore shoves a cameraman outside a rally in Alabama. And the traditional White House holiday party for the press becomes political amid the administration’s denigration of journalism. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

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

U.S.

Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos
President Trump shared three inflammatory anti-Muslim videos—whose authenticity could not be independently verified—on Twitter posted by a far-right British activist. The videos were first shared by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First, which bills itself a political party but has been widely condemned as an extremist group that targets mosques and Muslims.
WASHINTON POST

Trump Once Said the ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape Was Real. Now He’s Not Sure.
Trump’s falsehoods about the “Access Hollywood” tape are part of his lifelong habit of attempting to create and sell his own version of reality. Advisers say he continues to privately harbor a handful of conspiracy theories that have no grounding in fact. In recent months, they say, Trump has used closed-door conversations to question the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
NEW YORK TIMES

NBC News fires ‘Today’ anchor Matt Lauer after sexual misconduct review
Matt Lauer, an anchor of “Today” for two decades, was fired by NBC News after a detailed complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace that took place during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The accusation also noted that the alleged behavior continued after the games.
NBC NEWS

Gateway Pundit Correspondent Arrested During Speech at UConn
A Washington correspondent for a provocative conservative website who spoke at the University of Connecticut was arrested after he appeared to grab a woman who had taken papers off the lectern at which he had been speaking.
NEW YORK TIMES

Video shows a Roy Moore staffer shoving a Fox News cameraman outside a campaign rally
At least one campaign official for Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore shoved a cameraman outside a rally in Alabama, a confrontation captured on video moments before the man made opening remarks at the event.
WASHINTON POST

CNN disinvites itself from annual White House holiday party for the press
Tensions between the president and the people who cover him are at a low point, or at least are at the same low point they’ve always been at since Trump began calling the news media “fake” and the “enemy of the American people.” That dynamic seems to have made the event like a dinner among distant relatives who try to keep up a brave face despite despising each other.
WASHINGTON POST

 
Global

India is upholding an open internet as the US moves to dismantle net neutrality
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its recommendations on net neutrality that make it mandatory for telecom companies to treat the internet—declared a basic human right by the United Nations—as a public utility, not a luxury.
QUARTZ INDIA

Chinese court sentences Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che to 5 years in jail for ‘subversion’
Lee Ming-che, a community college teacher in Taiwan known for his pro-democracy and human rights activism, has been sentenced to five years in jail for “subverting state power” in China. A harsh sentence that many see as a warning shot to other activists intent on undermining Beijing’s interests.
SHANGHAIIST

Spike in Chinese censorship over Beijing migrant worker evictions, kindergarten scandal
Censorship in China has spiked in recent days as the government scrambles to contain public anger over the forced evictions of migrant workers and claims of child abuse at a kindergarten in Beijing, according to a monitoring group.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

AFP did not destroy copies of journalist’s phone records it unlawfully accessed
The Australian federal police did not destroy all copies of phone records it obtained unlawfully, without a warrant, for the purpose of identifying a journalist’s source, despite saying the contrary, according to a recent inspection.
THE GUARDIAN

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]