Focus Issues
Because many challenges to free expression transcend national and regional boundaries, PEN America looks at Focus Issues through a comparative lens to identify trends in free expression violations and strategies to address them in communities around the world. Read below to learn more about the prevailing threats to free expression today.
Distinct local contexts can shape threats to free expression and the resistance that challenge them. Learn more the conditions for free expression in our Focus Regions.
PEN America v. Trump
The suit seeks to stop President Trump from using the machinery of government to retaliate or threaten reprisals against journalists and media outlets for coverage he dislikes. More
Fraudulent News
The proliferation of false information and rising distrust in the established news media, due in part to a deliberate campaign of denigration, pose a looming crisis for American democracy… More
Campus Speech
While free speech is alive and well on campus, it is not free from threats, and must be vigilantly guarded if its continued strength is to be assured. More
#LouderTogether: Donald Trump and New Threats to Expression
As a candidate, President Donald Trump ran on a platform that was explicitly hostile to a free press, dismissive of the voices of minority populations, and indifferent to fact-based… More
Digital Freedom
Nearly 50 percent of the imprisoned writers on PEN America's case list are persecuted for what they have written or blogged online. In response to this growing threat, PEN… More
The M Word: Muslim Americans Take the Mic
Follow us on Facebook! For centuries, Muslim Americans have played a vital role in building America’s varied and inspiring cultural landscape. But throughout history, their voices have often been marginalized… More
Alert Us
To any writer artist who is at risk, or is in need of assistance, including those denied entry into the U.S. as a result of the latest Trump Administration travel ban. 
PEN America On 
Impossible to take seriously an admission that exposes all the Saudis' previous claims about #Khashoggi's fate as flagrant lies. An independent, international investigation is required. The Saudi regime must not be allowed to literally get away with murder.
This praise of an assault on a journalist is the backdrop for @PENamerican v Trump, our suit to protect the free press rights enshrined in the First Amendment. The horror of Jamal Khashoggi’s apparent murder is in mind too. https://t.co/v7Rk0WA4y8
In 2009, Todd Bol fashioned a library on a stick using wood from his old garage door. Nearly 10 years later, 75,000 dollhouse-size libraries have sprouted on front lawns in 88 countries. https://t.co/ohBg8DQw9b