In response to the termination of AP employee Emily Wilder, PEN America said the following:
“As an organization dedicated to the defense of free expression, the dismissal of an employee for exercising speech is something to which we pay close attention. We recognize there are important reasons why news organizations have policies governing journalists’ expression on social media. We are troubled by the apparent link between Wilder’s dismissal and a seemingly coordinated campaign to disparage and discredit her. When a firing comes after ideologically motivated attacks, the employer has a duty to fully clarify its decision and the rationale to the public—and demonstrate how its actions were not simply an attempt to appease the those behind an external pressure campaign demanding retaliation against an individual’s speech.”