Legislation Proposed to Shield Journalists from Government Surveillance of Their Data

Legislation known as the PRESS Act (Protect Reporters from Exploitive State Spying) has been reintroduced by bipartisan House and Senate groups in the US. This legislation aims to provide news gatherers with protection against government efforts to scrutinize their data. The proposed law would restrict the government’s power to force data disclosures that could reveal the sources of journalists. The Senate bill would expand disclosure exemptions and standards to encompass email, phone records, and other information held by third parties.

The PRESS Act would also require the federal government to allow journalists to respond to requests for information. Courts can still require disclosure if it is necessary to prevent terrorism, identify terrorists, or prevent serious “imminent” violence. The Senate bill is the work of Richard Durbin, Mike Lee and Ron Wyden, while the House counterpart comes from Representatives Kevin Kiley and Jamie Raskin.

Sponsors characterized the bill as necessary to protect First Amendment press freedoms. Anonymous source leaks help keep the government accountable, Wyden says. He adds that such surveillance can scare off reporters and sources who worry about retaliation. Lee, meanwhile, says the law also preserves the public’s “right to information” and helps them participate in representative democracy.

The senators point to cases in both Democratic and Republican administrations in which law enforcement officials demanded information to obtain sources. Most notably, Trump’s Justice Department is known to have seized phone records and email logs from major media outlets such as CNN and The New York Times following an April 2017 report on former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of investigations into the 2016 presidential election.

Journalist protection laws exist in 48 states and the District of Columbia, but there is no federal law. This void allows the Department of Justice and other government agencies to quietly grab data from telecommunications and other service providers. In theory, the PRESS Act fixes this gap and minimizes the possibility of abuses.

There is no guarantee that the PRESS Act will reach President Biden’s desk and become law. However, both camps in Congress are betting that bipartisan support will help. The House version passed “unanimously” in the previous session of Congress, Wyden’s office says.