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Debate over presidential lying renews in wake of changed stories over pre-election payment to silence Stormy Daniels. Reports surface of firm, hired to find dirt on former Obama administration officials and commissioned to target Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo accusers, linked to the Iran nuclear deal. Junot Díaz withdraws from Sydney Writers’ Festival, has books taken off U.S. bookstore shelves, and awarding of Nobel Prize in Literature postponed following allegations of sexual harassment by several women. Denver Post newsroom protests censorship of editor who resigned after he was barred from posting editorial criticism of the newspaper’s hedge fund owner. The New York Times looks at the security of data sets academic researchers have collected from Facebook. -Dru Menaker, Chief Operating Officer

 

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

U.S.

Dizzying Twists, Turns, Contradictions in Trump’s Stormy Daniels Scandal
Trump and Cohen, who deny wrongdoing, face a thicket of legal trouble in the growing scandal that reflects an apparent cover-up that could well yield fraud, money-laundering, or other criminal charges.
SEATTLE TIMES

Israeli Operatives Who Aided Harvey Weinstein Collected Information on Former Obama Administration Officials
Documents show that Black Cube, an Israeli private-intelligence firm, was instructed to find information about key individuals and their “relationships” with Iran lobbyists and how they benefitted through their policy work on Iran.
NEW YORKER

Allegations Against Junot Díaz Leave Book World Asking Tough Questions
The accusations against Junot Díaz were detailed during an exchange at a writers’ event and in statements made on social media by female authors. The allegations sparked discussion about sexism in the literary community and calls for support of women writers.
CNN

Denver Post Workers to Owner: Invest in News or Sell
After editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett resigned last week, workers at The Denver Post and other newspapers are set to protest what they say are predatory management practices.
PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE

Scholars Have Data on Millions of Facebook Users. Who’s Guarding It?
For more than a decade, professors, doctoral candidates and researchers from academic institutions around the world have harvested information from Facebook. The Times reviewed Facebook data sets compiled by academics from 2006 to 2017.
NEW YORK TIMES

 
Global

Poland’s Holocaust Law Triggers Tide of Abuse Against Auschwitz Museum
Officials at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum describe how they were subjected to a wave of “hate, fake news, and manipulations” as a result of the controversy surrounding a contentious Holocaust speech law.
GUARDIAN

Newspaper Takeover is ‘Staggering Blow’ to Cambodia’s Free Press
After Cambodian journalist Aun Pheap is exiled and branded an enemy of the state, press censorship has worsened with the sale of the Phnom Penh Post, seen as the last bastion of free press in Cambodia.
GUARDIAN

Trump’s Comments About Gun Laws in Britain and France Prompt Anger and Rebukes
While addressing the NRA convention, Trump cited the rising number of knife attacks in Britain while speaking in support of gun rights in the U.S., also suggesting that one person with a gun could have stopped the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris.
WASHINGTON POST

Photojournalist Killed in Kabul Left a Legacy of Images
On Monday, Shah Marai was among the couple of dozen journalists in Kabul who had rushed to the site of yet another bombing, when a second attacker detonated his explosives amid the reporters and first responders.
NEW YORK TIMES

German Official Voices Concern Over Limits on Foreign Press in China
Foreign Ministry State Secretary Andreas Michaelis underscored the importance of free speech and press. “[We] receive China Global Television network… in every household. Why should this not be possible in China for Deutsche Welle?”
BUSINESS INSIDER

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