NEW YORK—In an open letter published today, leaders of seven of the nation’s most prominent free speech and press freedom organizations call on civic and other major institutions—including universities, media organizations, law firms, and businesses—to “stand more resolutely” against what the letter describes as the Trump administration’s “multi-front assault on First Amendment freedoms.” Spearheaded by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the letter is signed by leaders of the Knight Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, PEN America, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF USA).

“First Amendment freedoms will wither if institutional leaders don’t assert and defend them,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute and a signatory to the letter. “This letter is meant to be a call to duty, and to civic courage.”

The letter represents a collective, unified response by the leaders of major free speech organizations to the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on the freedoms of speech and the press. It calls for a forceful, uncompromising response to these attacks, and it expresses dismay that some institutions have capitulated rather than resisted the administration’s unconstitutional demands. It states, “when one institution ‘bends the knee,’ its peers face increased pressure to do the same. Each surrender asserts First Amendment rights more costly and more perilous. We fear that if major institutions continue to submit rather than stand on their rights, the freedoms of speech and the press will be seriously and perhaps irrecoverably weakened.” 

The letter concludes by noting, “Our organizations have all committed significant resources to challenging Trump administration policies that violate the First Amendment … and we are willing to do more.” It implores “this country’s most powerful, well-resourced, and prestigious institutions [to ] play a larger part” in the defense of freedoms “that are integral to our democracy.”

Read today’s letter here.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected]