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.

Disinformation

Disinformation—false information shared with the intent to deceive others—is a fundamental threat to free expression and democracy. More

Campus Free Speech

We believe that for a campus to be open to all ideas, it must be genuinely open to all people, including those from less traditional backgrounds and those from… More

Educational Censorship

Today, books in the US are under profound attack. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school boards, legislators, and prison… More

book-bans

Book Bans

Today, books in the US are under profound attack. They are disappearing from library shelves, being challenged in droves, being decreed off limits by school boards, legislators, and prison… More

Hands typing on a laptop; on top: “Online Abuse”

Online Abuse

Online abuse—from violent threats and hateful slurs to sexual harassment and doxing—poses a direct and pressing threat to free expression. More

Students with backpacks walking on a campus; on top: “Free Expression and Education”

Free Expression and Education

PEN America’s free expression and education program works with schools to ensure robust protections for freedom of speech are balanced with advancements in diversity and inclusion. More

stylized image of handwriting on a page; on top: “Writers at Risk”

Writers at Risk

PEN America supports writers at risk worldwide, defending jailed and threatened writers from persecution. More

PEN America v. Trump

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

Fake News Protestors

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