Ahmed Zidan
Platforms | Press Freedom | Journalism
Good takes and bad jokes. Dark humor and 🦋hite 🦋ine.
Deputy director, audience, @freedom.press and @pressfreedomtracker.us.
@zidanism on that other site.
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanRecords from Donald Trump’s first term are now subject to release under FOIA. @freedom.press has already filed over two dozen requests targeting critical transparency gaps. Watch @trevortimm.bsky.social explain why this is important, and how you can file FOIAs for Trump’s first term yourself.
- Reposted by Ahmed Zidan“Whether by lawsuit or intimidation, the administration has been eroding press freedom and independence, and by acquiescence, some in the media have encouraged their own surrender,” Harold Holzer, author of “The Presidents vs. the Press,” tells @rcfp.org.
- A billionaire's rationale: - Pay a bribe of $75 million to acquire one of the worst documentaries of all-time and curry favor with a megalomaniac autocrat ✅ - Invest to maintain the legacy of one of the world's most important newspapers (that also accounts for 0.1% of his wealth) ❌
- These quotes just make me sad and angry at the same time: "The feeling in the newsroom is that the way they’ve handled this is like some kind of sick psychological warfare." Links to media reporting on the layoffs have been “passed around like samizdat" It felt like “a guillotine over our heads.
- “The newspaper's finances are barely a rounding error compared to Bezos's wealth, but what its journalists do—accountability journalism about the rich and powerful—does not serve someone who is rich and powerful,” @jasonkoebler.bsky.social writes in @404media.co.
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanThanks for the flag, @wyden.senate.gov. @freedom.press will make a request for a copy of this letter (and any CIA response) our 38th FOIA this year. Keep the tips coming!
- This is how Sen. Ron Wyden clues the public into activity that he finds extremely alarming. He does a press release about a letter he sent to the director of the CIA that basically says, 'I want to make sure you saw the classified letter I sent early today.' www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
- Uncalled for, beyond disgusting, sick, cruel and racist, all at the same time.
- Reposted by Ahmed Zidan🚨 If you’re an iPhone user who is at elevated risk, enable Lockdown Mode to maximize device security settings. If you are an Android user, enable Advanced Protection. And note this may have a small impact on your use of the device. ➕ Want specifics? Reach out to us for training!
- New from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanDHS Secretary says filming ICE is illegal and amounts to doxxing. They’re absolutely wrong. Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again. Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanNew from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
- The amount of BS that this admin. can claim or present in any form, including to courts, might be unprecedented in the history of BS. "The judge’s compromise validated the notion that immigration agents operate under extreme risk, justifying extraordinary protective measures by our legal system."
- As with its baseless claims about Pretti, the govt "presented no evidence supporting its proclamations that Martinez, a union carpenter, was a higher-up in the Latin Kings gang with the ability or intent to put out hits on Bovino" or other agents, @seth-stern.bsky.social writes in @theintercept.com.
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanMore people than ever are using @signal.org to exchange information in large groups. But as groups grow, so does the risk to your messages’ privacy. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to use Signal groups more safely. Our security team shows you how.
- Here’s the Company That Sold DHS ICE’s Notorious Face Recognition App: Immigration agents have used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces of countless people in the US—including many citizens. www.wired.com/story/mobile...
- In Minnesota, we’re seeing the Trump admin. "testing the waters, especially with independent journalists, because they’re perceived as easier prey ... They are seen as easier to target because there’s not a big legal defense to instantly swing into action and have a big budget to support them"
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- With John Adams, "the idea that you couldn’t make fun of the president has that same kind of megalomania and insecurity that we sometimes attach to President Trump. Adams was both egotistical and insecure," Harold Holzer, author of “The Presidents vs. the Press," tells @rcfp.org.
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- On this development, Jem Bartholomew writes in @columjournreview.bsky.social this morning: "At the time of writing, I couldn’t find a single story on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or Washington Post websites referencing this development; in the UK, The Guardian put it on the front page."
- Israeli Military Accepts Gaza Health Ministry Death Toll of Over 71,000 Palestinians Killed During the War: Although many international experts have accepted the data as reliable, and even conservative relative to the true death toll, Israel had refused to accept the count until now.
- The charges against Lemon and Fort “could be viewed as red meat for MAGA’s ever-hungry content creators.” @columjournreview.bsky.social
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanThe front page of tomorrow's Minnesota Star Tribune: Feb. 1, 2026
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanUtterly pathetic and historically unprecedented.
- In his characteristically sharp, observational style, my @freedom.press colleague @seth-stern.bsky.social analyzes the “symbiotic” relationship between cellphone videographers and journalists, including videographers providing "crucial source material for reporters who can’t be everywhere at once."
- 3 MN reporters stress how crucial citizen journalism, mobile footage are for their work "Our public service journalism would not be able to perform the same type of video analyses of the Renée Good and Alex Pretti shootings without the bystanders being willing to record and then upload ... videos."
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- 👂 Can I share a personal note? I’ve worked in press freedom for nearly a decade, at two of the leading organizations in the field. For years, staying in the office until late meant helping coordinate emergency campaigns to free journalists jailed in Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, or other places.
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanA reminder: Rümeysa Öztürk has now been facing deportation for 311 days for co-writing an op-ed the government didn’t like, and journalist Ya’akub Vijandre remains locked up by ICE over social media posts about issues he reported on. Read our newsletter (and subscribe) ⤵️
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanA judge has ordered the release of Twin Cities independent journalist Georgia Fort this afternoon, rejecting the U.S. government’s claims that her allegations constitute a crime of violence that necessitate keeping her detained.
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanWe are OUTRAGED and deeply alarmed by the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by federal agents, and by the government’s escalating effort to criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement. The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is not a crime.
- "This moment is bigger than two journalists. It is about whether the First Amendment has meaning when reporting is inconvenient to those in power," @freedom.press & 40 other orgs say on today's unprecedented attack on press freedom "The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is NOT a crime"
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanThe government’s arrests of journalists @donlemonofficial.bsky.social and @bygeorgiafort.bsky.social are attacks on freedom of the press. Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon, but instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down. Read our statement:
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- Recording police or ICE agents "is an act of journalism, no matter who does it. If those recording are not journalists themselves, their relationship with the press is symbiotic," @freedom.press' @seth-stern.bsky.social writes. "They’re journalists’ sources — even whistleblowers."
- If SCOTUS holds that 4A warrant requirement does not apply to geofence warrants, "it could greenlight mass surveillance on an enormous scale. The government could require tech companies to turn over location data, enabling it to surveil protesters, members of dissenting groups, and even the press."
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanIf it wasn’t already clear that the video footage contradicts the federal government’s statements, watch this Visual Investigation by my colleagues: Alex Pretti did not pose a threat before agents fired 10 shots in 5 seconds, killing him. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanFilming ICE is an act of journalism. Cell phone footage is vital source material for reporters who can’t be everywhere at once. Shooting, killing and other targeting of those documenting news is an attack on press freedom and all else that's good in the world.
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- This is exactly what should happen. I don’t know how much longer the world will continue to capitulate to the U.S. hegemony. Four or five major nations with a spine boycotting the World Cup over human rights abuses could be a historic, course-changing moment.
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- Outrageous: Recently unsealed documents further demonstrate that Rümeysa Öztürk has been facing deportation for 304 days solely for co-writing an op-ed the government didn’t like, despite officials being fully aware that she has no known ties to antisemitism or terrorism.
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanICE agent asked why he's taking pictures of a legal observer's car, replies: "Cuz we have a nice little database and now you're considered a domestic terrorist. So have fun with that."
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- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanNewly unsealed evidence makes it even clearer that Rubio and Noem knew they were targeting students based solely on their political speech and that they knew this policy was unconstitutional. They just didn’t care. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
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- "What a difference a couple of years makes when you’re dangerously uninformed and more concerned with posturing for social media likes than governing," @freedom.press in @tampabaytimes.bsky.social.
- Reposted by Ahmed Zidan"I need my devices back to do my job." wapo.st/4jUxQEe
- Reposted by Ahmed ZidanBREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.
