for attacks on journalists and media personnel is an acute problem globally and a primary challenge to protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the press. (5) According to the press freedom rankings issued annually by Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, countries with the most restrictive media and information environments include Burma, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Dijbouti, Syria, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. (6) The Government of Turkey, since a failed coup attempt in 2016, has used terrorism and national security laws to shutter hundreds of media outlets and jail dozens of journalists, compounding the effects of more than a decade of expanding ruling party influence over the ownership of mainstream media in the country at the expense of independent outlets. (7) The Government of China maintains one of the most restrictive media and information environments in the world and seeks to control free speech inside and outside the country through censorship, onerous media organization registration requirements, harassment, imprisonment, conditioning of press credential renewals for foreign journalists and media personnel and visa issuance for foreign journalists and media personnel on positive coverage of China, and the operation of a digital surveillance system so pervasive that both routine and sensitive reporting activities and many aspects of daily life are subject to government monitoring. (8) Russia has continued to use sophisticated tools to block and control information online and employ draconian laws to pressure independent media. (9) Expansion and export of new technologies used for censorship and digital surveillance represents a notable threat to human rights, including press freedoms, transparency, and democratic governance globally, and constitute a critical challenge to United States national interests. (10) Other countries’ restrictions on the activities of United States journalists and media personnel, other countries’ censorship and blocking