To maintain the free flow of information to the public by establishing appropriate limits on the federally compelled disclosure of information obtained as part of engaging in journalism, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Durbin) introduced …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The PRESS Act (Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act) creates a federal "shield law" that protects journalists from being forced to reveal their confidential sources or hand over unpublished materials to the government. The bill addresses concerns that federal agencies have used subpoenas and legal demands to compel journalists to disclose sensitive information, which can chill investigative reporting and threaten press freedom.
Who Benefits and How
Journalists and news organizations are the primary beneficiaries. They gain legal protection from federal subpoenas demanding they reveal sources or hand over notes, recordings, and unpublished materials. This allows reporters to promise confidentiality to sources with greater confidence, which is essential for investigative journalism that exposes government wrongdoing or corporate malfeasance.
Confidential sources—such as whistleblowers, government insiders, and corporate tipsters—also benefit because they can share information with journalists without as much fear that they will later be identified through legal compulsion.
Technology companies and service providers (email providers, cloud storage, telecommunications carriers) gain clarity on when they can resist federal demands for journalist communications stored on their platforms.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, DOJ, etc.) face new restrictions on their ability to obtain information from journalists during investigations. They must now meet a high bar—proving to a court that disclosure is necessary to prevent terrorism or imminent violence—before they can compel a journalist to reveal sources.
Prosecutors handling cases that touch on national security or criminal matters may find it harder to build cases if key evidence is held by journalists who are now protected from disclosure.
Key Provisions
-
Core protection: Federal agencies cannot compel journalists to disclose "protected information" (source identities and records obtained during journalism) unless a court determines disclosure is necessary to prevent terrorism or imminent violence.
-
Service provider protection: Tech companies cannot be forced to hand over journalist communications stored on their systems without court authorization and advance notice to the affected journalist.
-
Narrow exceptions: The shield does NOT apply if the journalist is suspected of being a foreign agent, is designated as a terrorist, or is personally suspected of committing a crime (unrelated to journalism).
-
Content limitations: Any compelled disclosure must be narrowly tailored—not "overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive"—and limited to verifying published information.
-
Defamation carve-out: The law does not apply to civil defamation, slander, or libel cases, meaning journalists cannot use this shield to avoid accountability in those lawsuits.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
The bill aims to protect journalists from being compelled to disclose information obtained during their work, except in cases involving terrorism or imminent violence.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A person who regularly gathers and disseminates news or information of public interest.
Any entity that stores, processes, or transmits information electronically for customers.
Writings, recordings, and photographs as defined by Federal Rule of Evidence 1001.
An entity or employee in the judicial or executive branch with power to issue subpoenas.
Activities related to gathering and disseminating news or information of public interest.
An account used by a journalist that is not provided by their employer.
A device used by a journalist that is not provided by their employer.
Information identifying sources or records obtained during journalism activities.
Offenses as defined in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology