Shutdown of Messaging App Telegram, Used for News and Encrypted Communications, a Far-Reaching Attack on Free Expression in Russia
“This retaliatory effort to shut down Telegram demonstrates the Russian authorities’ fundamental disregard for free expression and the right to privacy, and highlights the risks to basic human rights… More
Growing Barriers to Writers Visiting the United States Impair Essential Cross-Border Dialogues
The barriers for international writers and artists visiting the U.S. are growing, impairing the ability of PEN America and other organizations to foster cross border dialogues that are so… More
Yassmin Abdel-Magied, PEN World Voices Festival Participant, Turned Away by US Immigration Officials
"We are dismayed that an invited guest to our annual PEN World Voices Festival, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, the founder of an organization called Youth Without Borders, was turned away by… More
Myanmar Judge’s Decision to Continue Prosecution of Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo a Miscarriage of Justice
“Myanmar’s prosecutors are engaged in a politically motivated effort to punish journalism. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's arrest and imprisonment is a black mark on Myanmar’s nascent democracy,… More
Threats Against Leftist Bookstore Go Beyond Free Expression
“Political disagreements are one thing. Threatening to burn down a bookstore is another, and is unacceptable. While protests and calls to boycott are of course free and protected speech, that… More
Department of Homeland Security’s Plans for Journalist Database Must be Quashed Immediately
Under any circumstances, an effort by the Department of Homeland Security to create a database identifying journalists and logging the ‘sentiments’ of hundreds of thousands of press outlets would… More
Eskinder Nega Released from Unwarranted, Cruel, and Unjust Detention
"The current state of emergency in Ethiopia is being used to crush freedom of expression and dissent, but Eskinder has shown that he will not be silenced. This time, he and… More
Coalition of Arts Groups Resists Third Iteration of Trump Travel Ban
"By preventing travel to the U.S. by individuals from targeted countries, the ban essentially silences those people's voices for Americans, and disregards the fundamental role that immigrant voices and… More
Trump Administration’s Plan to Require Personal Online Information from Visa Applicants Likely to Have Widespread Chilling Effect
"Requiring visa applicants to provide the government with information about the last five years of their social media use is an invasive and extremely broad requirement that will undoubtedly… More
Arrest and Inhumane Detention of Eskinder Nega an Outrageous Attack on Free Expression in Ethiopia
In Eskinder Nega's own words, as reported to PEN America, “[o]ur condition in prison is inhuman, to say the least. Better to call it [j]am-packed than imprisoned. About 200 of… More
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