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Special rapporteur leading UN investigation of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing finds that Saudi Arabia has not met its international human rights obligations and renews request for the criminal trial to be made public. (See more about PEN America’s advocacy on behalf of Jamal Khashoggi.) New York Times feature explores how prominence of anti-B.D.S. legislation and the ‘battle over Israel’ impact First Amendment rights. (Find out more about PEN America’s position on anti-B.D.S. legislation.) Federal First Amendment lawsuit filed against South Dakota governor to halt legislation aimed at preventing anti-pipeline protests. -Nora Benavidez, Director of U.S. Free Expression Programs

 

DARE: Daily Alert on Rights and Expression

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

U.S.

How Efforts to Legislate Against Anti-Semitism and the B.D.S. Movement Affect the First Amendment
Since 2014, anti-B.D.S. legislation in more than two dozen states has been applied to a variety of individuals or groups. The A.C.L.U. has challenged laws such as the one in Texas, which required people to certify that they were not boycotting Israel in order to receive relief after Hurricane Harvey. In two cases, federal courts held that the laws violated the First Amendment.
NEW YORK TIMES

SD ACLU Files First Amendment Lawsuit against KXL Protest Bill
The ACLU is representing several environmental and indigenous rights groups and individuals who are planning to protest the pipeline and encourage others to do so, according to the complaint. But “due to their activity, the plaintiffs now fear prosecution under the criminal statutes and imposition of civil liability.”
RAPID CITY JOURNAL

Grindr Is Owned by a Chinese Firm, and the U.S. Is Trying to Force It to Sell
The Trump administration is expanding its efforts to block Chinese acquisitions in the United States, moving to force a Chinese firm that owns Grindr, the gay dating app, to relinquish control over concerns that Beijing could use personal information to blackmail or influence American officials.
NEW YORK TIMES

Kim Reynolds Signs Bill Requiring Iowa Universities to Respect ‘Free Speech’ on Campus
The law requires state universities to adopt policies respecting free speech on campus. But Democrats argued one section will pave the way for discrimination. One sentence in the bill would allow student groups that receive public university funding to bar certain students from leadership positions based on their identity, they argued.
DES MOINES REGISTER

 
Global

UN Investigator Calls on Saudi Arabia to Make Khashoggi Murder Trials Public *PEN Case List: Learn More
Agnes Callamard, who has been leading a UN investigation into the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October, said the hearings that Saudi Arabia has conducted looking into the murder have not met international standards and called for more transparency. She has also requested a country visit.
THE HILL

Journalist Maria Ressa Arrested Again by Philippines
Officials this week charged her and some of the Rappler’s board members with allegations of violating investment and securities law, which Ressa claims is yet another attempt to silence her and and the site. Calling her arrest an “abuse of power and a weaponization of the law,” she was released later in the day after posting bail.
HUFFPOST

‘It’s Become a Farce, Really’: Egyptian Actors Who Criticized Sissi in Washington Are Kicked out of Union
Actors Amr Waked and Khaled Abol Naga spoke out against Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi at a Capitol Hill event in Washington intended to draw attention to proposed changes to the Egyptian constitution that could let Sissi serve until 2034. Then Egyptian actors’ union expelled them, accusing them of treason.
WASHINGTON POST

Arab Media Forum in Dubai: I have a goal and will fulfill it, says world’s youngest journalist
“I come from the midst of bombs, destruction, bullets, and jails, and I have been told over and over again not to do what I am doing because I will get hurt,” said 12-year-old Janna Jihad, who uses social media to upload video reports from the ground in Ramallah to her Facebook followers, who total almost 300,000.
GULF NEWS

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]