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Person who opened fire at YouTube headquarters reported to have believed video site was censoring her. President Trump, who has not held a solo news conference since February 2017, continues disparagement of U.S. press during appearance with presidents of three Baltic countries. Chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, commended by President Trump and seeking FCC approval to expand on the 39-state TV station network, says newspapers and magazines are left-wing and serve no purpose. Defamation suit filed against InfoWars by man whose picture spread across social media after the right-wing outlet misidentified him as the Parkland school gunman. The AP reports on devices to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages that appear to be present in Washington, D.C. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

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

U.S.

YouTube shooting: Female suspect ‘angry over video postings’
The suspect in a gun attack at YouTube’s HQ in California had expressed anger over its treatment of her video postings, media reports say. Reportedly she was angry that YouTube was filtering her videos and reducing the money she could make.
BBC NEWS

Trump mocks American press during press conference with Baltic leaders
President Trump during a press conference Tuesday mocked the American press, telling the president of Latvia to pick a “Baltic reporter” to ask a question. Trump frequently rails against the media, accusing reporters and networks of having biased coverage against him.
THE HILL

Sinclair Chairman Claims Entire Print Media Has ‘No Credibility’
In emails to New York magazine, David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast group, said that print—as in newspapers and magazines—is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance.
NY MAG

Massachusetts man files defamation suit against InfoWars
A Massachusetts man filed a defamation lawsuit against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Texas-based InfoWars website, alleging they falsely identified him as the gunman who killed 17 people at a Florida high school.
WASHINGTON POST

U.S. suspects cellphone spying devices in D.C.
For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Global

Ethiopia frees journalists, politicians rearrested under martial law *PEN Case List
Local media in Ethiopia are reporting the release of recently detained journalists and activists. A total of 19 people were picked up in Bahir Dar, capital of the Amhara regional state on March 26 for flouting orders under a state of emergency. Among those freed was Eskinder Nega, an award-winning journalist who had been held since 2011 over charges of terrorism.
AFRICA NEWS

Facebook bans over 200 new Russian accounts
Facebook said on Tuesday that it removed over 200 accounts and pages linked to Russian trolls that had attempted to influence U.S. politics around the time of the 2016 election.
THE HILL

Egypt police raid website office, arrest editor-in-chief
The raid came two days after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, an official oversight body, told the website Masr al-Arabia to pay 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,849) as a fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during last week’s presidential election.
REUTERS

Exclusive: Facebook CEO stops short of extending European privacy globally
Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday that he agreed “in spirit” with a strict new European Union law on data privacy but stopped short of committing to it as the standard for the social network across the world.
REUTERS

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