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Congress must intervene against what the Society of Professional Journalists and a coalition of press freedom groups and civil liberties organizations call a “perilous escalation” of government power targeting the free press, SPJ announced.
In a Jan. 23 statement, SPJ said the coalition, led by Demand Progress, expressed alarm over the FBI’s raid on the home of Hannah Natanson, a reporter for The Washington Post. During that raid, agents seized Natanson’s phone, work computer, personal laptop and a smartwatch capable of tracking her movements.
The groups warn the raid “raises serious questions about whether federal authorities obtained a search warrant under false pretenses and in violation of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980,” SPJ said.
Read the entire SPJ statement and the coalition’s letter to congressional leaders here.
SPJ: Phoenix, Arizona Chapter 