Open letter concerning Vice.com reporting on USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020

To: press@vice.com, erika.allen@vice.com
Subject: Open letter concerning errors in Vice.com reporting on USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020

In your May 13 vice.com article on USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020, I found it is reporting as fact and without citation conclusions that seem clearly opposite to a plain reading of the Congressional record regarding the legislation.  I suggest Vice News promptly review the report and if in error, acknowledge the mistake and correct it prominently, according to SPJ's Code of Ethics.

The full content of this letter is also available at my personal blog https://pablo-misc.blogspot.com/2020/05/open-letter-concerning-vicecom.html.

The article leads with:

"The US Senate has voted to give law enforcement agencies access to web browsing data without a warrant, dramatically expanding the government’s surveillance powers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic."

and supports this claim with:

"Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT) attempted to remove the expanded powers from the bill with a bipartisan amendment."

However, what the article portrays as "expanded powers" are simply not present in the reauthorization bill.  To the contrary, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) leads its summary of the House bill with a description of new limitations on the FBI:

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation may not seek certain FISA-authorized orders to obtain (1) call detail records on an ongoing basis, (2) a tangible thing where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would typically be required, or (3) cellular or GPS location information."

I have read the full content of the related amendments in the House bill and see this as a fair summary.

While Senator Wyden's amendment to the House bill would have added new limits on well-established powers under the Patriot Act, it did not pass, and by no means were those powers extended in the reauthorization bill.

Therefore, your report in Vice stands in error.

Regards,
Pablo Mayrgundter

May 14, 2020, Austin TX

Update:
I've been sent two other reports that do seem to get the story right:

Engadget.com

Senate passes Patriot Act amendment strengthening independent oversight

But another amendment intended to protect privacy failed.

Vox.com
The Senate voted to let the government keep surveilling your online life without a warrant
Many senators wanted to forbid the government from secretly collecting information about your internet habits, but an amendment failed by just one vote.