This Fourth of July, Sign the Petition
Independence Day is always a time to reflect on our personal freedoms, and what it took for us to get them. This year, it’s time for us to ask… More
New Media, Old Threats
With the tools to broadcast opinions and ideas now in the hands not just of writers and journalists but millions of Turkish citizens, the question is not whether social… More
Surveillance and International Law
The Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression of the UN and the OAS weigh in on the legal framework for surveillance programs More
Dispatch from South African PEN on Dropping of President’s Defamation Suits
South African PEN Vice President Ray Louw writes from Johannesburg about the impact of President Zuma's decision to drop his defamation lawsuits. More
Liu Xia Pens Open Letter to Xi Jinping
On June 12, 2013, Liu Xia, under house arrest since her husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010, penned an open letter to Chinese President… More
Liu Xia’s Brother Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
On Sunday, June 9, hours after Xi Jinping and Barack Obama wrapped up their two-day Sunnylands summit, a Chinese court sentenced Liu Hui, the brother-in-law of jailed Nobel Peace… More
Will the Armies of Censorship Wear Flip Flops?
At Facebook, a legion of flip flop-wearing staff are on the front lines of free expression battles. Is this a good thing? More
New Approach Needed in Leak Investigations
PEN American Center warns that overzealous investigations in the U.S. threaten press freedom and free expression abroad as well. More
Remember Tiananmen
As Milan Kundera famously wrote, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” More
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award: Ayşe Berktay
PEN American Center named Ayşe Berktay, a translator, writer, and activist in Turkey, as the recipient of its 2013 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Berktay, a leading advocate… More