PEN’s Free Expression Digest brings you a daily curated round-up of the most important free expression-related stories from around the web. Please send your feedback and suggestions to [email protected]

71-year old Gao Yu in hospital after demolition raid on home *PEN Case List
Award winning Chinese journalist Gao Yu has been hospitalised after officials forcibly demolished a shed of about 50-60 square feet outside her home on grounds of illegal construction, US-backed Radio Free Asia reports. HONG KONG FREE PRESS

Gag laws in Chile anger journalists
The Chilean Senate this week approved a bill that would punish anyone who makes public information about current judicial investigations. Journalists are calling it a “gag law” that would restrict the public’s freedom of information at a time when the country’s ruling elite are being shamed. THE NEW YORK TIMES

Bangladesh students protest after blogger hacked to death
Students in Bangladesh have held protests over alleged government inaction after another secular blogger was killed by suspected Islamists. Nazimuddin Samad was hacked with machetes on Wednesday in the capital Dhaka and then shot, police said. BBC NEWS

Guangzhou activists sentenced to jail after backing Hong Kong protests
In October 2014, five men in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, in a show of support for pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, unfurled a banner reading “Freedom Is Priceless! Support Hong Kong’s Fight for Freedom.” Now two of the men have been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for “incitement to subvert state power.” THE NEW YORK TIMES

Spain: Journalist fined for Twitter photos of police arrest
A Basque magazine said Friday one of its photographers has been fined under Spain’s so-called “gag law” for posting photographs of police making an arrest. Argia magazine said Axier Lopez was fined 601 euros ($680) for uploading photographs to his Twitter account last month of police arresting a woman who had failed to appear in court. ABC NEWS

The Economist website is now censored in China
A bold denouncement of Xi Jinping will typically get censored very quickly in China. So it’s not surprising that The Economist, the 171-year-old business news publication, is the latest foreign publication to face an online ban in the Middle Kingdom. QUARTZ

Arizona House leadership to reporters: Show us your papers
On Thursday, the state’s House leadership imposed a ban on reporters who don’t submit to an extensive background check that includes criminal and civil histories, prior addresses, and even driving records. Should the background check reveal any convictions or irregularities, the reporter would not be permitted to enter the floor of the House. MOTHER JONES