Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: A free and independent press is necessary for citizens to make informed choices on issues of public concern, to have the information necessary to recognize truth from falsehood, and to hold the powerful and Government officials to account. As reflected in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, a free press is essential to safeguard democracy. The suppression of the press is historically associated with authoritarian rule. As provided in article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, all people enjoy the right to freedom of opinion and expression, which includes the right to seek, receive, and impart information.

An informed public is fundamental to a free society. In accordance with a long United States history of championing freedom of the press around the globe, the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009 was enacted into law ( Public Law 111–166 ). Since the passage of the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009, the global environment for a free and independent press has become more repressive. According to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 363 journalists were imprisoned globally in relation to their work as of December 1, 2022, a new global high that overtakes the prior year’s record by 20 percent and marks another grim milestone in a deteriorating media landscapes.

The Committee to Protect Journalists also reported there was complete impunity in nearly 80 percent of the 263 cases of journalists murdered globally between September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022. According to Freedom House’s publication Freedom in the World 2023 , global freedom has declined for 17 consecutive years, and over the past year, media freedom came under pressure in at least 157 countries and territories assessed in the report. Freedom House data also show that freedom of expression, for the media and individuals, has declined more than any other civil liberty over the last 17 years, and infringement on free expression is one of the biggest drivers of democratic backsliding globally.

According to data from Reporters Without Borders, 55 journalists were killed in 2022, an almost 15 percent increase over the prior year, and since 2020, more journalists have been deliberately targeted and killed in countries considered at peace than in conflict zones. In 2018, the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi intelligence officers acting on explicit orders of the Saudi Government underscored the extent to which those in power will go to stifle the freedom of expression, silence their critics, and eliminate the threat they believe independent journalists pose to their rule.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a partial, declassified intelligence report on February 26, 2021, which concluded that Khashoggi’s murder was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. However, impunity continues for the Saudi officials involved in this crime. In March 2022, a Turkish judge, likely at the behest of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, issued a ruling that closed the criminal trial of the perpetrators in Türkiye (Turkey) and transferred it to Saudi Arabia, where the case against the perpetrators was promptly dismissed, foreclosing the prospect that they will ever be held accountable.

In an effort to combat attacks against journalists and others exercising their right to freedom of expression, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in February 2021 announced the Khashoggi Ban, a new policy allowing the Department of State to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including activities that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journal1ists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work.

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Pub. L. 111-166

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Sec. 2

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 111-166

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