Among the charges brought upon by special counsel Robert Mueller against 13 Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 election, was the act of illegally purchasing political advertisements on social media made to appear as an American source. Now, two democratic legislators are renewing their push to ban anonymous online political ads.
What they're saying: Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) released statements on Friday trying to rekindle interest in the Honest Ads Act, which would require online political ads to follow the same rules as television or print ads. "There is now a crystal clear account of Russians buying ads to sew discontent," Kilmer told Axios. "It's time to do something about it."
A State Department official tells Axios "the United States is troubled" by news that a Turkish court sentenced three prominent journalists, Nazlı Ilıcake and brothers Ahmet and Mehmet Altan, as well as three other media employees, to life in prison.
"These extraordinary sentences appear to be another example of the Turkish authorities criminalizing journalism under the state of emergency in order to discourage the free expression of viewpoints critical of the government," the official said.
Why it matters: The ruling marks a major defeat for press freedom in Turkey, which currently holds a world-leading 73 journalists in prison and is considered the No. 1 worst jailer of press by the Committee to Protect Journalists, ahead of China and Egypt.
Despite all the groans about a "unicorn" IPO drought, such companies last year saw a record number of exits in North America and Europe, according to a new report from Pitchbook.
Why it matters: With an increasing number of startups valued at $1 billion or more, and continued availability of late-state private financing, there's been a growing concern over lack of liquidity for investors and early employees.
