PEN America Criticizes “Excessive and Aggressive” Police Response to Hong Kong Protests Over Extradition Bill
We are appalled to see that Hong Kong Police have responded to these historically significant and largely peaceful protests with the widespread use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and… More
International New York Times Retiring Cartoons, in Effort to Avoid Future Lapses, Shuts Down Channel of Potent Political Commentary
Free speech and open discourse demands an understanding that mistakes and offenses will occur, and a determination that these not be answered by shutting down expression to avert future… More
PEN America: Release of Journalist Ivan Golunov Shows Even an Intransigent Government Can Be Moved by an International Outcry
(NEW YORK)-- In response to the news that Russian authorities have dropped all charges against Russian journalist Ivan Golunov, PEN America issued the following statement: "The dropping of all charges against Ivan… More
Bahrain’s Threat to Crack Down on Social Media Users Would Violate Free Expression, Says PEN America
“Punishing people for reading statements and commentary the government doesn’t like is a clear violation of fundamental freedoms of expression and an unwarranted restriction on access to information,” said… More
PEN America: Detention of Russian Journalist Perpetuates Trend of Government Harassment of Press
PEN America calls on the Russian government to immediately release Ivan Golunov, an unjustly detained journalist, and to drop the false accusations against him. A country where most media… More
PEN America LA Awarded California Arts Council “Local Impact” Grant for Literary Mentorship Program
“Emerging Voices is grateful to receive support from the California Arts Council, allowing us to continue our decades-long mission to enrich and diversify the literary community in Los Angeles… More
PEN America Urges Illinois Prison Officials to Reverse ‘Troubling’ Decision to Remove 200+ Books in a Prison Library
"The fact that these removed books deal primarily with contemporary racial issues is, unfortunately, not a surprise to us,” said James Tager, Deputy Director of Free Expression Research and… More
U.S. Government’s New ‘Extreme Vetting’ Policy for Visa Applicants May Curtail Free Expression Online, Says PEN America
“The U.S. government’s new policy is unlikely to provide any real security benefit and instead conjures up the way authoritarian governments seek to limit the free exchange of ideas,”… More
Newsroom Transparency Tracker Empowers the Public in an Age of Distrust
The Transparency Tracker provides: • A media literacy tool that empowers the public to hone in on reliable sources of news and defend themselves from fraudulent news and misinformation • An accountability tool… More
President’s Tweet Suggesting Boycott of CNN’s Parent Company, AT&T, A Disregard for Press Freedom
"The president's suggestion to boycott a major U.S. corporation because of news coverage that he finds unfavorable makes plain the self-serving, insidious nature of his attacks on the media… More