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Journalists confront White House press secretary about presidential truthfulness, and even usually supportive Wall Street Journal editorial board says President Trump’s record is increasing the likelihood that few will believe him during a real crisis. GoDaddy pulls plug on white nationalist site AltRight.com. Denver Post editorial page editor resigns after follow-up editorial again protesting the devastating cuts to his newspaper’s resources by the hedge fund ownership is rejected for publication. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

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

U.S.

White House reporters confront Sanders: Why should Americans still believe Trump?
The questions come after Rudy Giuliani revealed that President Trump had reimbursed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. Several correspondents noted that Giuliani’s revelation directly contradicted past statements made by both Trump and Sanders.
THE HILL

The Stormy Daniels Damage
“Mr. Trump asked Americans, not least his supporters, to believe his claims about the payments. They were false and conveniently so in putting the onus on Mr. Cohen. Now, as more of the story has emerged, he wants everyone to believe a new story that he could have told the first time.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Richard Spencer’s Website Dropped by GoDaddy
“GoDaddy does not condone content that advocates expressions of hate, racism or bigotry,” the domain registrar said in a statement. “While we detest the sentiment of such sites, we support a free and open Internet and, similar to the principles of free speech, that sometimes means allowing such tasteless, ignorant content.”
DAILY BEAST

Denver Post Editor Who Criticized Paper’s Ownership Resigns
“Our obligation is to the reader and the truth,” Post Editor Chuck Plunkett said after his editorial was rejected by the owner’s chief operating officer. “We should not be allowing ourselves to be quiet about something our own people are doing that would be considered dangerous, bad for our communities and bad for democracy.”
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

Israeli court convicts Arab poet of incitement *PEN Case List
Dareen Tatour’s case became a cause celebre for freedom of speech advocates in Israel. It drew attention to the advanced technology used by Israeli security agencies to trawl through social media to identify and arrest users suspected of incitement to violence, or of planning attacks.
REUTERS

Malaysia election: Opposition leader Mahathir facing fake news charge
Police reportedly opened an investigation into Mahathir Mohamad after he claimed his plane was sabotaged in the run up to next week’s general election. The government has justified the controversial anti-fake news law as necessary for state security, but it has been widely criticized by human rights groups and opposition lawmakers.
CNN

Myanmar journalists say government failing to protect press freedom: survey
Activist group Free Expression Myanmar and its partner organizations interviewed 200 journalists, finding almost half believed they had less freedom than a year earlier. Several journalists in Myanmar have recently faced legal action in connection with their work, including detained Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.
REUTERS

Media in ‘crisis’–Pacific press freedom comes under spotlight
Titi Gabi, a senior journalist in Papua New Guinea, said there is no media freedom in the country and journalists are often working in fear. “There is a lot of censorship, there is a lot of control,” she said.
RADIO NEW ZEALAND

Tanzania bloggers win temporary court order against state crackdown
Tanzania’s communications regulator had given bloggers until May 5 to heed tough new internet content rules. Six human rights watchdogs, media organizations and bloggers filed a joint case asking the judiciary to block implementation of the regulations, arguing that they violate free expression and privacy of internet users.
REUTERS

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