Bank group sues U.S. regulator over granting crypto trust charters

Cryptocurrency & Free Speech Finance

The ICBA is one of the largest banking advocacy organizations in the U.S., typically representing smaller institutions. It also played a significant role in pushing back against the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that failed to advance in the U.S. Senate last month — in part due to the bankers’ objections that its stablecoin provisions didn’t protect them against direct competition with the deposit accounts that are core to their businesses. Now, the group is targeting the trust charters crypto firms are pursuing as an entry point into the U.S. banking and payments system.”Congress did not create the national trust…

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Todd Butler Compared Street Preacher In Supreme Court Case To “Domestic Terrorism”

I continue to dig through the record of Todd Butler, the new nominee to the Fifth Circuit. I wonder if anyone else did? Butler’s greatest claim to fame is arguing Olivier v. City of Brandon before the Supreme Court. The questions presented were fairly technical: 1. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit holds in conflict with the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, this Court’s decision in Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims seeking purely prospective relief where the plaintiff has been punished before under the law challenged as unconstitutional. 2. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit and at least four others hold…

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The six detained journalists At 12 noon on Friday, Cairo time, Eman Ouf, the rapporteur of the Women’s Committee and the Freedoms Committee at the Egyptian Press Syndicate, was rushing to the public prosecutor’s office. Technically, it was her day off, but the public prosecutor was working as normal, and she – along with other members of the syndicate’s board – feared that the six detained journalists who make up the editorial team of the fact-checking newsroom Matsada2sh would be brought before prosecutors without warning. “I’m too scared they’d be brought in alone,” Ouf told Index on Censorship. “We were here all day yesterday too, because, typically, statements from the [Ministry of] Interior would be followed by being brought to the public prosecutor.” Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Abdallah Qadry, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel were detained by Egyptian security forces, in a coordinated operation spanning several governorates, and in a period of less than 24 hours. Starting on Monday evening, security personnel raided homes, confiscated electronic devices – including devices belonging to family members – and did not show arrest or search warrants, nor did they tell the families where the journalists were being taken. Some were arrested on the streets of Cairo. As of the time of writing, none of the six journalists have been brought before a judicial authority, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), which represents all six. Neither their families nor their lawyers have been allowed to contact them, and their whereabouts remain officially unknown. The arrests brought the number of Egyptian journalists detained in connection with their work to 26, according to EIPR. They also represent something with no recent precedent: the simultaneous detention of an entire independent newsroom’s editorial staff. “Rather than targeting an individual journalist over a specific piece of reporting, the authorities aim to take an entire independent media platform offline by arresting its whole team,” Lobna Darwish, EIPR’s advocacy director, told Index on Censorship. Journalists treated as national security issue Matsada2sh – Arabic for “Don’t Believe It” – was founded in 2018 and has built a reputation for fact-checking government statements, scrutinising official claims, and producing open-source investigative reporting. In a media landscape tightly controlled by the government and mocked by critics for delivering content largely dictated word-for-word by officials, the platform has faced pressure before. In 2023, journalist Karim Asaad was arrested after Matsada2sh published information about Egyptian nationals detained in Zambia alongside a plane carrying cash and weapons. He was released after one day following pressure from the Press Syndicate. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior subsequently issued a statement on Thursday accusing Matsada2sh of being “part of the media committees of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group,” operating from abroad, spreading “false and fabricated news,” and receiving foreign funding. The invocation of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated a terrorist organisation in 2013, carries significant legal consequences for the accused, according to Darwish. “The apparent use of the counterterrorism framework against the six journalists raises serious concerns about the state’s approach to media freedom,” she told Index on Censorship. “It also raises concerns that invoking terrorism allegations may be used to undermine the journalists’ basic due process rights and the constitutional guarantees protecting against imprisonment for offences committed through publication or other forms of expression.” The invocation of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated a terrorist organisation in 2013, carries significant legal consequences for the accused “Unfortunately, this is not new,” she said, adding that the state invokes counterterrorism charges in most cases of arrests based on speech as well as publication of false news, to undermine due process rights and constitutional guarantees. She concluded: “More broadly, the statement treats journalistic activity as a national security issue.” Alarming precedent and unclear red lines In its statement, the ministry also noted that five of the six detained journalists are not registered members of the Egyptian Press Syndicate, an observation which CPJ’s Qudah said could not be used to justify their detention. “The fact that some of the detained journalists are not members of the Journalists’ Syndicate does not justify their detention or invalidate their work as journalists,” Sara Qudah told Index on Censorship. “Any genuine licensing or registration issue should be addressed through transparent administrative or judicial procedures, not through arrests or prolonged detention.” Qudah noted that one of the detained journalists is a Syndicate member, yet was detained regardless. “This should not be viewed simply as a dispute over professional registration,” she said. The arrests follow a well-documented pattern of press suppression in Egypt. Egypt is holding the highest number of journalists behind bars since record-keeping began. In 2024, Egypt ranked 170th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders. “The ‘red lines’ for independent journalism and public criticism in Egypt have become increasingly unclear and constantly shifting,” Darwish said. “Journalists often have no way of knowing what particular piece of reporting might provoke a security response.” The arrests follow a well-documented pattern of press suppression in Egypt Qudah echoed the concern about wider effects. “The fact that an entire newsroom has been detained is particularly alarming,” she said. “It risks sending a message to other journalists that investigative reporting, fact-checking government statements, or scrutinising officials can expose them to serious repercussions. That can contribute to greater self-censorship across the media sector.” In recent years, Egyptian President Abdelfattah El-Sisi has repeatedly warned journalists from coverage which the state deems disruptive and dishonest, calling on newsrooms to only report what the government confirms. Back at the public prosecutor’s office, Ouf waited. The syndicate’s position was clear: whatever the charges, journalists should not face prosecutors alone. “If Egyptian authorities believe that Matsada2sh or individual journalists have violated licensing requirements or committed an actual crime,” Qudah said, “they should present the evidence and allow the allegations to be tested through due process. Journalism itself should not be treated as a security offence.” *Journalist used a pseudonym for security concerns. READ MORE

Physical attacks and threats of violence. Lawsuits. Criminal charges. All, alarmingly, have become everyday hazards for librarians in the USA. “Public libraries nationwide are reaching a breaking point,” declared PEN America in a report published last month. The same is true for school libraries as well. In culture war America, librarians are being portrayed as the bogeymen – sinister figures trying to pervert the minds of the nation’s youth. It’s rubbish, of course. The real perversion here is that of the truth. Access to a wide variety of books is demonstrably a net good for society as a whole. It’s good for the young and developing mind, where reading widely correlates with greater literacy, higher attainment and better emotional wellbeing; for minorities, who feel less isolated and othered through seeing themselves (and others) in diverse literature; for society at large, which always benefits from pluralism. It’s a disservice to deny children the right to read. But the language of “safeguarding”, appropriated by well-funded groups like Moms for Liberty for their own ends, is a powerful one which has left librarians exposed and under attack. While the USA might be home to the most fervent book-banning cheerleaders, the game wasn’t invented there. DH Lawrence, Gustave Flaubert, even Ovid – all faced down powerful people who accused them of promoting values other than the most traditional. Americans are not the only ones doing this today, either. In Viktor Orban’s Hungary, LGBTQ books were wrapped in plastic, as if even a quick leaf through could contaminate. Years back, Russia made the sale of LGBTQ literature illegal. Today, the same is happening in the UK. Our exposé last March of Lowry Academy in Greater Manchester, where nearly 200 books were removed from the school library and the librarian was forced out of her job, is but the most extreme example. Writing on the eve of Banned Books Week 2026, it’s important to highlight that book banning is not the work of the purity police alone. In many places around the world, it’s the literature that challenges governments and dares to defend human rights that is deemed to be beyond the pale. In the latest issue of Index Magazine (get your copy here!), I dive into the world of Hong Kong’s “yellow” bookstores – shops opened in response to repression, and that are now being forced shut. On one level, there are positive aspects to this story about book banning today: people are fighting back, in the UK and the USA and elsewhere. I never expected unassuming librarians and booksellers to become the heroes of our time, but many will not succumb to the pressure to censor literature without putting up a fight. Some are taking great risks to protect books that have been branded as illicit. I salute them. Others are standing alongside the librarians and the booksellers. Earlier this week, I shared a stage at London’s Institut Français with Marc Levy, one of France’s foremost writers. His most recent novel, The Bookshop of Forbidden Books, is an excellent example of people using their craft and platform to confront this growing trend. During our event, Levy pointed out that in today’s USA, the gun is afforded greater legal protections than the book – an absurd thing. As he noted, a book never killed anyone. Indeed, it’s much the opposite. Books have saved countless lives, and it’s our duty to save books in return. READ MORE

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Joseph Mischyshyn/WikiCommons Earlier this week, academic and environmental campaigner Professor Geraint Ellis appeared before the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, where his legal team had applied for the defamation proceedings filed against him to be struck out. The legal action is being brought by two directors of leading fuel supplier LCC Group Ltd, in connection with Ellis’s contribution to a podcast published by Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in August 2023. Ellis, Professor of Environmental Planning at QUB, is a prominent member of the Stop Whitehead Oil Terminal (SWOT) campaign. Through SWOT, Ellis has opposed LCC Group’s proposals for the development of an oil terminal and distribution depot at Cloghan Point in Whitehead, Northern Ireland. The defamation proceedings arise from two episodes of QUB’s podcast Solastalgia: Stories of accidental environmental activism in Northern Ireland. In the podcasts, Ellis and a fellow campaigner discussed their concerns about LCC’s proposed development and the likely environmental consequences. Representatives of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition were in court to monitor proceedings. A full report is on the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition website here. READ MORE

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