FIRE Newsdesk
Free speech is a fundamental right that underpins democratic societies by allowing people to express their opinions and engage in public discourse.
Press Releases
Figures of Speech
Woodrow Wilson: America’s worst president for free speech
Analysis
Before he championed democracy abroad, Woodrow Wilson built America's first modern censorship regime, jailing dissenters and crushing opposition in the name of war.
Ida B. Wells: Journalist, activist, civil rights icon, and free speech hero
Analysis
In 1892, a mob destroyed a Memphis newspaper after it published an anti lynching editorial. Through death threats and violence, they tried to erase journalist Ida B. Wells’s message. Instead, they made her fight impossible to ignore.
Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier
Analysis
Two hundred fifty years after "Common Sense," Thomas Paine’s life reminds us that free speech and free thought are the lifeblood of a free society.
How Anthony Comstock became America’s most powerful censor
Analysis
Anthony Comstock turned Victorian panic into federal censorship, criminalizing “obscene” speech and policing American morality. This is his story.
Charlie Kirk’s death and the fight for free speech
FIRE Documentary
After the murder of Charlie Kirk at a Turning Point USA campus event, the country was left debating the future of free speech. Featuring firsthand accounts, difficult conversations, and an unflinching look at the First Amendment, FIRE asks what it really means to coexist in a country where disagreements are not small, and sometimes are life and death.
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Expression
From breaking news analysis and legal battles to cultural trends, this is where we go beyond the headlines — taking you into the fight to defend the First Amendment and bringing you the stories that shape free speech in America.
The Eternally Radical Idea
What is the Eternally Radical Idea? It is freedom of speech. The unfettered right to state your opinion is extremely rare in human history. Check out FIRE CEO Greg Lukianoff's blog on Substack.
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
We are a podcast community that explores free speech: not just free speech’s applicability under the law, but also its place in our life and culture.
Free Speech Dispatch
Brought to you by FIRE's Senior Scholar for Global Expression, the Free Speech Dispatch is a regular series covering new and continuing censorship trends and challenges around the world. Our goal is to help readers better understand the global context of free expression.