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The offices of the "Des Moines Register", in Des Monies, Iowa, 29 January 2020, Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Iowa journalist Andrea Sahouri acquitted on misdemeanor charges from 2020 protest coverage

CPJ issues statement in response to the acquittal of “Des Moines Register” reporter Andrea Sahouri by a court in Iowa, on two misdemeanor charges stemming from her coverage of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

A police officer wears his Watch Guard Body Camera in Ipswich, MA, U.S., 29 July 2020, Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Justice in Policing Act does not do enough to rein in body-worn cameras

Reformers often tout police use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) as a way to prevent law enforcement misconduct. But, far too often, this technology becomes one more tool in a toolbox already overflowing with surveillance technology that spies on civilians.

Sheriff's officers at a command post overseeing security for people voting from their car in a parking lot on the campus of Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, 30 June 2020, George Frey/Getty Images

Scholars under surveillance: How campus police use high tech to spy on students

It may be many months before college campuses across the U.S. fully reopen, but when they do, many students will be returning to a learning environment that is under near constant scrutiny by law enforcement.

A general view of Baltimore, Maryland, from a drone, 16 June 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests continued across the US in reaction to the death of George Floyd. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Officials in Baltimore and St. Louis put the brakes on Persistent Surveillance Systems spy planes

In recent weeks, officials in both cities voted unanimously to spare their respective residents from further invasions on their privacy and essential liberties by a panoptic aerial surveillance system designed to protect soldiers on the battlefield, not residents’ rights and public safety.

A young man holds a poster with images of prisoners of conscience, during an opposition pro-democracy demonstration, Duraz, Bahrain, 15 August 2014, Ahmed AlFardan/NurPhoto

Bahrain: Rights groups call on the Biden administration to prioritise human rights in the Gulf

In a joint letter, IFEX joins rights groups in bringing attention to the ongoing suppression and deterioration of human rights in Bahrain, and urges US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to fulfill President Biden’s pledge to prioritise human rights when it comes to US foreign policy in the region.

Sports enthusiasts follow various games on screens at a sports betting shop, Nairobi, Kenya, 15 July 2019, SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images

Ghanian online news site temporarily blocked over Kenyan gambling report

Ghanaian news site taken offline temporarily, over a piece on Kenya’s gambling industry, points to a surreptitious form of censorship based on a U.S. copyright law.

Representatives of Human Rights First, PEN America, POMED, CPJ and others gather in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, 2 October 2019, to remember Jamal Khashoggi, OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

US must hold Mohammed bin Salman accountable for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, rights groups say

In response to the release of a U.S. congressional report identifying Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as having ordered the operation against journalist Jamal Khashoggi, rights groups call on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on the prince, and suspend arms sales.

CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta speaks to the media after arriving at the White House, in Washington, DC, 16 November 2018, after a judge ordered the White House to reinstate his press credentials. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

PEN America settles landmark First Amendment lawsuit with U.S. government, shielding reporters from retaliation

The settlement agreement affirms the basis of PEN America’s challenge on behalf of its journalist Members who were threatened and retaliated against by President Trump.

A surveillance camera on Market Street in San Francisco, California, 7 October 2020. EFF and ACLU filed a lawsuit against the city and county, alleging police illegally tapped into a network of surveillance cameras to keep track of police-brutality protesters in the spring. Scott Strazzante/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

New EFF report shows cops used Ring cameras to monitor Black Lives Matter protests

The LAPD sent at least one request for Amazon Ring camera video of last summer’s Black-led protests against police violence – raising First Amendment concerns.

Ghada Oueiss/Facebook

Ghada Oueiss on the psychological toll of social media attacks

Targeted Al Jazeera journalist Ghada Oueiss talks to the Committee to Protect Journalists about being hacked, navigating online misogynistic smear campaigns, and living in fear of physical repercussions for her work since the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen on a mobile screen as he remotely testifies during a hearing on Section 230 by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Washington, D.C., photo Illustration by Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

It’s not Section 230 you hate, it’s oligopolies

Section 230 is not a gift to Big Tech, nor is repealing it a panacea for the problems Big Tech is causing – to the contrary repealing it will only exacerbate those problems. The thing you hate is not 230. It’s lack of competition.

An activist holds a banner that reads 'We want to be free' during a rally in solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners, in Krakow, Poland, 3 July 2020, Artur Widak/NurPhoto

Members of US Congress speak out in support of the Belarusian people

In recognition of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus, PEN America is sharing statements from members of the US Congress reminding the world that the struggle for free expression and democracy in Belarus has not been forgotten.

A U.S. Senator points to a newspaper article about a Supreme Court nominee before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, 12 October 2020, Demetrius Freeman - Pool/Getty Images

The old media and the new must work together to preserve free speech values

‘I urge us all to stay steadfast to our traditional distaste for government regulation of journalistic practice. Good journalism is certainly an ideal. It is an admirable quality to urge any media outlet to adopt and follow,” EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene.

An employee at a cafe, which uses a unified biometric facial recognition system for payments, in Moscow, Russia, 25 March 2020, Gavriil GrigorovTASS via Getty Images

Why EFF doesn’t support bans on private use of face recognition

Instead of a prohibition on private use, EFF supports strict laws to ensure that each of us is empowered to choose if and by whom our faceprints may be collected.

Executive Director of PEN America Los Angeles Michelle Franke, CEO of PEN America Suzanne Nossel, Ai Weiwei and Jennifer Egan arrive at the PEN America 2018 LitFest Gala, Beverly Hills, California, 2 November 2018, Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Reckoning and reconciliation after the Trump era

This episode of the PEN Pod segment “Tough Questions” addresses the activism we’ve all had to take up over the past four years, the priority issues the Biden-Harris administration should aim to resolve, and the importance of looking back at the Trump era in order to resolve the trauma we experienced from it.