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]

Egypt extends jailing, interrogation of critical journalist
Egyptian authorities have extended the detention period of a well-known investigative journalist and begun a new round of interrogation after charging him with publishing false news and belonging to a banned group. Ismail Alexandrani, a journalist and researcher, was a specialist in the politics of Egypt’s turbulent Sinai peninsula and had been critical of Egypt’s current government. GLOBAL JOURNALIST

Prominent Vietnamese activist Nguyen Van Dai badly beaten
The human rights campaigner and lawyer, Nguyen Van Dai, and three of his associates, have been attacked and robbed by masked men during a visit to fellow activists in central Vietnam. They were in a taxi heading back to Hanoi when they were intercepted by men they identified as plainclothes police officers. The assault is the latest in a series of violent attacks on civil rights campaigners. NEW AMERICA MEDIA

No end in sight for VICE journalist Rasool as detention passes 100 days
Mohammed Ismael Rasool, a journalist for UK-based VICE News, was detained over 100 days ago while reporting in Turkey and charged with terrorism offenses but is yet to be presented with an indictment. Rasool and two colleagues were apprehended on Aug. 28 whilst reporting in Turkey’s southeastern city of Diyarbakır. Rasool is still in prison despite his colleagues being released 11 days after their imprisonment. TODAY’S ZAMAN

Kenya: Activist Boniface Mwangi sues police for rejecting demonstration request
Activist Boniface Mwangi has sued the police for denying his request to march to the State House to present a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta during the United Nation’s International Anti-Corruption Day on Wednesday. Mwangi wants the court to compel the respondents to allow him to go ahead with the demonstration and the public be allowed to join him. He also wants to be accorded security during the procession. ALL AFRICA

China slaps exit ban on wife, son of defected former journalist
Authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have prevented the wife and son of a former columnist at a top Chinese newspaper from leaving the country to join him after his defection. Li Xin, rights activist and writer for the cutting-edge Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, fled to India three months ago after he leaked information about the inner workings of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “stability maintenance” system. RADIO FREE ASIA

Social media terrorist activity bill returning to Senate
Senator Dianne Feinstein will reintroduce legislation that would force social media operators such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to notify federal authorities of online terrorist activity, a spokesman said. The bill follows deadly attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, CA that have fueled concern among U.S. lawmakers about how potential terrorists might be using social media to communicate and plan more such assaults. REUTERS

Russian activist sent to prison for unauthorized protests
A Russian activist has been sentenced to three years in prison under a new law that tightens punishment for taking part in unauthorized protests. Ildar Dadin was the first person to be sent to prison under the 2014 law that criminalizes anyone found to have violated restrictive public assembly rules more than twice within 180 days. ABC NEWS

WhatsApp is how Facebook will dominate the world
Here in North America, high bandwith sites such as YouTube and Facebook drive the majority of Internet traffic. But elsewhere in the world, the most popular service is a messaging tool that many in the U.S. haven’t even heard of: WhatsApp, purchased by Facebook for $22 billion last year. As technologies mature across the developing world, the company is poised to deploy added services to the masses. WIRED