Latest Research: 50%+ American College Students on a Censored Campus |
In a new report, America’s Censored Campuses: Expanding the Web of Control, we document the dramatic escalation in political censorship in colleges and universities across the country since we began tracking state-level educational gag orders in 2021. The report found that more than half the students at U.S. colleges and universities now study in a state with at least one law or policy restricting what can be taught or how campuses can operate, with a record-setting 21 laws passed in 2025. “The administration frequently justifies its actions in the name of protecting free expression, but the record shows its aim is to censor speech and exert control over the circulation of ideas,” said PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman.
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Mongolian Language and Culture Erased Online in China |
The Chinese government is waging a systematic campaign to erase Mongolian language, music, and culture online. A new report by PEN America and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, “Save Our Mother Tongue”: Online Repression and Erasure of Mongolian Culture in China, documents how vibrant digital spaces that once enabled Mongolians to communicate in their own language, share their music and literature, and organize peaceful protests, have been dismantled.
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ICE’s Threat of Violence Is a Threat to Free Expression |
On January 9, two days after ICE officer Jonathan E. Ross shot poet Renee Nicole Good to death in Minneapolis, comedian John Mulaney announced that he was postponing his shows in the city because of safety concerns. He’s not the first artist to avoid a locale because of ICE’s potentially violent presence. This shrinking of the public square may not be what the Trump administration says they are doing by increasing ICE deployment, but nevertheless, free expression, open exchange, and the cultural and arts sectors are clear casualties of this crackdown.
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In 2025, members of PEN America have published over 100 works, spanning fiction, children’s and young adult literature, translations, nonfiction, and more. Help us congratulate our members by checking out their publications. |
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| The Book Is About a Tree.
Why did a book about an oak tree get called “deliberate indoctrination and gender-fluid and non-binary ideology?” We talked to author Katherine Applegate to find out why her book wishtree has been pulled from community reads in Wisconsin and Virginia. |
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Immigration Status as a Weapon of Censorship
The recent denial of a visa to British-born Imran Ahmed, a lawful permanent U.S. resident and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, marks a terrifying expansion of an assault on freedom of expression and research into online falsehoods. Amanda Wells and Timothy Richardson write that by using immigration status as punishment for work that mitigates digital harms, the administration is moving deeper into state-sponsored retaliation over speech and activities it simply doesn’t like. Read more >>
Florida Action Alert
Florida has earned the unfortunate distinction as the number one book-banning state in the country for three years in a row, and shows no signs of slowing down. Two new dangerous bills would drive the state’s book-banning crisis to unimaginable heights. Floridians: Oppose these new bills using this action alert. Read more >>
How to Protect Yourself from Digital Harassment
Growing targeted attacks on faculty and science researchers are raising concerns. In discussing PEN America’s workshops to support them, beck Haberstroh notes, “we try to think like a doxxer would” and then provides steps suggested to diminish harassment. Read more in Nature >>
Apply Now for Emerging Voices Fellowship
PEN America’s Emerging Voices Fellowship selects 10 early career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world for a virtual five-month mentorship program. The fellowship includes curated one-on-one mentorship, workshops, introductions to editors, agents, and publishers, and an honorarium of $1,500. Applications are open until Jan. 31. Apply here >>
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“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
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