Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press is a promise by a government not to punish journalists (and other people who report the news) for doing their job without censorship. It is an idea like freedom of speech: it lets people express their opinions or beliefs. Many countries have laws or constitutional amendments protecting freedom of the press. The word "press" in the phrase comes from the printing press.

Like with freedom of speech, freedom of the press does not protect everything that a journalist writes. A journalist can be sued for libel, which is publishing false and damaging claims about a person. Publishing copyrighted material is not legal in many countries. Writing about state secrets, like military plans, weapon designs, or other classified information is almost always illegal.

• Internet censorship

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