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“709 Crackdown 2.0” Global call against China’s renewed crackdown on human rights lawyers
Today, we call for urgent global attention to the Chinese government’s new wave of repression against human rights lawyers unfolding over the past three months. More
PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression This Week
PEN America works tirelessly to defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture. Here are some of the latest ways PEN America is speaking out. More
New Mississippi Bill to Curtail Materials that Deal with Sex Leads Some Libraries to Raise the Minimum Age for a Library Card to 18
(NEW YORK)— Mississippi has begun implementing a newly chaptered law governing what materials are allowed in public and school libraries. House BIll 1315 prohibits libraries from contracting with electronic vendors… More
PEN America Calls on Jordanian Officials to Lift Ban on Satirical News Site Al Hudood
“Blocking a website that publishes satire shows an intolerance toward criticism that is troubling, particularly when the same site is readily accessible in neighboring countries where the state of… More
PEN America Calls for Release of Turkish Journalist Arrested Under Anti-Terrorism Laws for Airing an Opinion Critical of the Government
“PEN America stands in solidarity with Merdan Yanardağ and calls on Turkish authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally. Journalists and writers should be free to work and express… More
PEN America on Drag Story Hour Shutting Down Miami Chapter: A “Sadly Predictable” Outcome Due to Anti-LGBTQ Laws in Florida
"Florida’s state-endorsed censorship disrupts the power of art to cultivate connection and unjustly vilifies the LGBTQ community. Free expression in Florida is under threat—and the impact won’t just remain… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Emerson Whitney
I see life through the lens of writing to the extent that I’m not exactly sure what life is if not a book? More
Building Resilience: Identifying Community Solutions to Targeted Disinformation
People need reliable information to participate fully in the democratic process. Particularly, they need it to choose their next elected representatives, assess policy and policy proposals both locally and… More
New Report: Communities Can Counter Disinformation by Taking Local and Cultural Context Into Account
Kate Ruane, director, Sy Syms U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America, said: “Much of the conversation about how to counter disinformation pays insufficient attention to how people actually… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with KB Brookins
I love poetry because it is a genre that embraces imitation and history—the fact that we still write sonnets and teach epics is exciting to me! More