As of Dec. 15, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented 32 detainments or charges against journalists in the U.S. — 28 of those at immigration-related protests — according to a new report released by the Freedom of Press Foundation (FPF) project this week.

The report notes how, unlike most years, the majority of journalists were released without charges or had them soon dropped, with law enforcement instead focusing on deterring news gathering rather than pursuing charges.

• Read the Tracker's 2025 arrest report

Tracker Senior Reporter Stephanie Sugars, who authored the report, said it was “shocking” to see the sharp increase in the number of journalists released without being charged.

“While perhaps a sign that officers know the journalists cannot be charged as protesters, each detention pulls eyes and ears from often chaotic protest scenes, and that may well be the point,” Sugars said.

For journalist Dave Decker, being arrested at an anti-deportation demonstration in Miami last month and held in custody for more than 30 hours was a way to “put the brakes on press freedom,” he told the Tracker.

“News is only news for a couple of hours, when it’s breaking like that,” Decker said. “I would say that there were no wires out there, there were no local people, there were no stand-ups, no TV, no helicopter. There was none of that there. So I was literally the only journalist out there. They effectively stopped the news from getting out.”

In 2025, more than 30 journalists were detained or charged for doing their jobs.

freedom.press/issues/report-mo…

Reposted from the US Pirate Party.

Weeks of voting has come to a conclusion, and it is official: Boston, MA will be the host city for the 2026 Pirate National Conference, taking place on June 6th, 2026.

A single round knockout elimination tournament featuring twelve cities has concluded with Boston defeating fellow finalist city Vicksburg, MS.

The following cities, in addition to Vicksburg, shall remain in permanent consideration for a future conference host city:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Chicago, IL
• Las Vegas, NV
• Louisville, KY
• Mobile, AL
• New Orleans, LA
• Plattsburgh, NY
• Portland, OR
• Providence, RI
• San Francisco, CA*
• Seattle, WA

*San Francisco was host city for the 2025 Pirate National Conference and thus was not in consideration for the 2026 conference
We promised a conference on a boat, and by hell or high water, we will get ourselves a conference on a boat.

Boston being selected as host city not only provides us with an instantly recognizable location, but one so deeply entrenched in U.S. history and struggles against tyranny.

As well, this allows us to honor the Massachusetts Pirate Party properly. The MAPP features some of the hardest working and most dedicated Pirates in the country, so having our conference, one which will mark twenty years of the United States Pirate Party, in their home state is fitting.

There wouldn’t be a twenty years old Pirate Party in existence today without the work of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. For that, I could not think of a more perfect setting.

We look forward to providing you with more details about our conference as the weeks go on. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Boston (or online, since it’s a in-person-online hybrid conference).

Boston, Victory is Arrrs.

masspirates.org/blog/2025/12/1…

Weeks of voting has come to a conclusion, and it is official: Boston, MA will be the host city for the 2026 Pirate National Conference, taking place on June 6th, 2026.

A single round knockout elimination tournament featuring twelve cities has concluded with Boston defeating fellow finalist city Vicksburg, MS.

The following cities, in addition to Vicksburg, shall remain in permanent consideration for a future conference host city:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Chicago, IL
• Las Vegas, NV
• Louisville, KY
• Mobile, AL
• New Orleans, LA
• Plattsburgh, NY
• Portland, OR
• Providence, RI
• San Francisco, CA*
• Seattle, WA

*San Francisco was host city for the 2025 Pirate National Conference and thus was not in consideration for the 2026 conference
We promised a conference on a boat, and by hell or high water, we will get ourselves a conference on a boat.

Boston being selected as host city not only provides us with an instantly recognizable location, but one so deeply entrenched in U.S. history and struggles against tyranny.

As well, this allows us to honor the Massachusetts Pirate Party properly. The MAPP features some of the hardest working and most dedicated Pirates in the country, so having our conference, one which will mark twenty years of the United States Pirate Party, in their home state is fitting.

There wouldn’t be a twenty years old Pirate Party in existence today without the work of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. For that, I could not think of a more perfect setting.

We look forward to providing you with more details about our conference as the weeks go on. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Boston (or online, since it’s a in-person-online hybrid conference).

Boston, Victory is Arrrs.

uspirates.org/the-2026-pirate-…

Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang pulled Cambridge’s Flock surveillance camera contract as a result of the December 9th Public Safety Meeting. Thanks to everyone who spoke out against these cameras and to Digital 4th and the ACLU for their efforts on this issue.

The Cambridge Police Department still wants to put up surveillance cameras from a different vendor instead of Flock, who put up two additional cameras after the City Council ordered them removed. That is a fight for another day. For now, we are happy for the win!

masspirates.org/blog/2025/12/1…

ICYMI

On October 20th, the United States Pirate Party had begun the process of determining the location of the 2026 Pirate National Conference, marking 20 years of the United States Pirate Party.

This week was the finals week between finalist cities Boston, MA (1) and Vicksburg, MS (4).

Tomorrow, December 15th, we shall reveal the winner of the location tournament finals and find out once and for all where the Conference will take place.

Those of you who are disappointed in your city of choice not making it to the finals, fear not: all ten cities eliminated, including the eleventh city due to be eliminated tomorrow, will remain in consideration for future conferences. San Francisco, which was the host city for the 2024 Pirate National Conference, shall return to consideration as well.

Pirates: Will it be Boston or will it be Vicksburg?

We shall find out tomorrow.

uspirates.org/icymi-the-tourna…

Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

Rümeysa Öztürk has been facing deportation for 262 days for co-writing an op-ed the government didn’t like, and journalist Ya’akub Vijandre remains locked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over social media posts about issues he reported on. Read on for more on what we’re working on this week.

Stop the gatekeeping. The First Amendment’s for all of us

In the early days of the internet, online news confused analog-era judges, who pondered questions like, “If this is journalism then why are there no ink smudges on my fingers?” These days, First Amendment advocates tend to chuckle when thinking back on that era. But apparently it’s not quite over yet.

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Senior Adviser Caitlin Vogus wrote for the Sun-Sentinel about a judge in Florida’s unfortunate ruling that YouTube-based outlet Popcorned Planet can’t avail itself of the state’s reporter’s privilege to oppose a subpoena from actor Blake Lively. The court’s decision would “effectively exclude any independent journalist who publishes using online platforms from relying on the privilege to protect their sources.” If it stands, “vital information will stay buried,” she explained.

And FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm spoke to Columbia Journalism Review about another subpoena from Lively that’s testing whether celebrity blogger Perez Hilton can claim the privilege. “Hilton is gathering information, talking to sources, and publishing things in order to have the public consume them. That fits the definition of a journalist,” Timm explained. As CJR noted, FPF’s U.S. Press Freedom Tracker “was one of the few to highlight the Hilton case.”

It’s not a question of whether Popcorned Planet and Hilton are great journalists or if they pass some editorial purity test. It’s a question of whether the courts will allow litigants to chip away at First Amendment rights that protect all journalists, no matter what platform they use to report or what subjects they cover.

• READ THE OP-ED

Administration is trolling America with its FOIA responses

As The New York Times reported this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement claimed it has no body-worn camera footage from Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, Illinois, despite a federal judge’s explicit order that agents wear and activate those cameras.

And as The Daily Beast reported, the Department of Homeland Security told FFP’s Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper that Kristi Noem had no Truth Social Direct messages, despite her millions of followers. Harper requested cabinet officials’ messages in a Freedom of Information Act request after President Donald Trump accidentally publicly posted correspondence with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

As Harper told the Times, “They are trolling citizens and judges … ICE continues to feel increasing impunity and that it has the right to behave as a secret police that’s exempt from accountability.” FPF is, of course, appealing.

• READ THE NYT STORY

Don’t weaken Puerto Rico’s public records law

When the U.S. Navy quietly reactivated Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico earlier this year, some residents saw the promise of new jobs, while others saw it as a painful reminder of past harms from the American military presence on the island.

Puerto Ricans — and Americans everywhere — deserve basic answers about what the military is up to as tensions escalate with Venezuela and whether Puerto Rico’s government is coordinating with the Pentagon and whether their concerns are being taken into account. And of course, there are countless local issues Puerto Ricans are entitled to be informed about.

But at the moment when transparency is most essential, lawmakers are trying to slam the door shut.

• READ MORE

Don’t just take our word for it…

Throughout 2025 we’ve been hosting online events platforming journalists impacted by anti-press policies at the national and local levels, so you can hear directly from the people we hope will benefit from our work.

Read about three of our recent events. This week’s panel features journalists whose reporting is complicated by sources unwilling to come forward due to fear of retaliation. Last week we spoke with journalists about the difficulties of covering the immigration beat during Trump 2.0, and last month we talked about the immigration cases against journalists Sami Hamdi and Ya’akub Vijandre over their support for Palestinian rights (shoutout to our friends at The Dissenter for writing up that event). And there are even more past events on our YouTube channel.

• BROWSE OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

WHAT WE'RE READING

Chokehold: Donald Trump’s war on free speech and the need for systemic resistance

Free Press
In a comprehensive new report, Free Press’s Nora Benavidez analyzes how Trump and his political enablers have sought to undermine and chill the most basic freedoms protected by the First Amendment.

Press freedom advocates sound alarm over Ya’akub Vijandre, stuck for over two months in ICE custody in Georgia

WABE
We cannot just accept that “every so often the administration is going to abduct some lawful resident who said something it doesn’t like about Israel or Palestine,” FPF’s Seth Stern told WABE.

Watched, tracked, and targeted: Life in Gaza under Israel’s all-encompassing surveillance regime

New York Magazine
A powerful essay by Palestinian journalist Mohammed Mhawish about life in Gaza “under Israel’s all-encompassing surveillance regime.”

​​ICEBlock creator sues Trump administration officials saying they pressured Apple to remove it from the app store

CNN
Threatening to punish app stores if they don’t remove apps the government dislikes is unconstitutional. This time it’s ICEBlock, but tomorrow it could be a news app.

Longtime LA radio exec Will Lewis dies; Went to prison in Hearst case

My News LA
Many heroes work behind the scenes on press freedom. Will Lewis was one of them. A radio executive who championed public media, he spent 15 days in prison to protect sources. RIP.

‘Heroic excavators of government secrets’

National Security Archive
Congratulations to the indefatigable National Security Archive on 40 years of clawing back the self-serving veil of government secrecy.

freedom.press/issues/stop-the-…