Nigeria, April 1 -- On March 20, 2026, US District Senior Judge Paul Friedman found for The New York Times in a ruling deeming the Pentagon's media access policy in breach of the US Constitution. Central to the policy was the requirement that all credentialled journalists sign a pledge that officials would not be asked for information they were not authorized to release. The Pentagon Facilities Alternative Credentials (PFACs) policy was found to have violated the First Amendment for its lack of reasonableness and being "viewpoint-discriminatory", and the Fifth Amendment for not outlining clear standards governing cases when press credentials can be denied.

The judge thought the policy's purpose was rooted in notions of removing "disfavo...