A powerful, insightful, and disturbing interview Chip Gibbons from #ProtectTheProtest coalition member @rightsdissent.bsky.social on last week's executive order.

Use this tool from @rightsdissent.bsky.social to tell the State Department to demand Israel release these activists and journalists. secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/state-dept...

Read the latest from @dropsitenews.com on Israel's illegal interception of Global Sumud Flotilla boats, below 👇 Then tell @statedeptus.bsky.social that Israel must release Drop Site journalist Alex Colston and the rest of those abducted immediately: secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/state-dept...

War Powers Watch: Trump and Venezuela Constitutional law expert @chipgibbons.bsky.social reviews the legal issues around Trump's extrajudicial killing of 11 individuals in a speedboat in the Caribbean www.youtube.com/live/XKy8QBs...

NEWS: Judge to drop the RICO charges against all 61 Cop City protesters accused of racketeering! These charges were always an absurd affront to the First Amendment and should never have been looming over these activists' heads for so long. apnews.com/article/atla...

Thank you Senator Paul for your speaking out. Our Constitution and our principles are clear. The President cannot order someone dead because he suspects they committed crime. And extrajudicial executions are a war crime.

Do you know about the Free to Speak Bill of Rights & Resource Hub? We helped build this collaborative tool with @rightsdissent.bsky.social + @greenpeaceusa.bsky.social to share resources that strengthen organizing, defend free speech and keep our coalitions grounded in shared values. Check it out!

📣Urge your reps to support the Land of the Free Act and repeal a pernicious provision, invoked by the Trump admin., to arrest and attempt to deport legal residents for exercising their right to free speech, including targeting Rümeysa Öztürk for co-authoring an op-ed. Via @rightsdissent.bsky.social

Great post from @hrdag.org about protecting our rights by protecting our data

LIVESTREAM: Register now to see our conversation with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Whistleblower Anthony Aguilar, August 12 at 3:30pm. Aguilar saw first-hand how the GHF 'aid' sites became "death traps" for starving Palestinians in Gaza. secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/livestream...

NEW: As part of a separate FOIA investigation, we have discovered that the DHS distributed a “Situational Awareness Bulletin” about the 2022 film "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" Read @chipgibbons.bsky.social for more on the discovery: www.rightsanddissent.org/news/dhs-dis...

The people have a right to transparency and a functioning Congress. We don’t know what’s in the Epstein files, but depriving the people of a functioning legislature in order to hide these secrets is outrageous.

BREAKING: Defending Rights & Dissent Lawsuit Uncovers FBI Surveillance of Journalists and Peace Activists at Left Forum @chipgibbons.bsky.social breaks down our discovery that 2 FBI agents secretly attended a panel on WikiLeaks at the 2018 conference www.rightsanddissent.org/news/defendi...

The Trump administration's attempted deportation is unconstitutional. It is outrageous an immigration judge was still moving along with removal proceedings in spite of a federal judge's injunction. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

VIDEO: Our policy director @chipgibbons.bsky.social joined @majorityreport.bsky.social yesterday and spoke with @emmavigeland.bsky.social about Mahmoud Khalil and the history of U.S. crackdowns on political dissent www.rightsanddissent.org/news/video-c...

Federal agencies can't limit requests for government information about third parties this way. If CBP doesn't want to release information about its communications with these organizations, it shouldn't communicate with them.

Defending Rights & Dissent in June: 🔹Investigating Our Govt's Role in Gaza “killing fields” 🔹Filed amicus brief supporting Khalil et al's case against Columbia 🔹War on Iran, CIA analyst sentenced, 'No Kings' rallies, GTMO expansion, CBS settlement & more www.rightsanddissent.org/news/newslet...

BREAKING: In response to our FOIA request about the government’s collusion with private blacklisting organizations like Canary Mission, Betar, and the ADL, CBP is claiming it cannot release files mentioning a “business” unless the business consents on their letterhead.

BREAKING: The FBI likely has 28,240 pages of files on Wikileaks founder and journalist Julian Assange, excluding any files from the Mueller Investigation.

THREAD: With Palestinians being killed at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, we filed two FOIA requests last week to expose our government's complicity in Israel's killing fields in Gaza.

CBS is considering settling for $20 million in Trump's anti-free press lawsuit, reportedly in exchange for FCC approval of their corporate merger. That's an attack on press freedom that we can't afford. Take action now! Tell CBS not to settle! secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/cbs-dont-s...

The Trump administration wants to review every post, like, and retweet of everyone applying for educational, vocational, or cultural exchange visas. Why? To police political thought.

Mahmoud Khalil’s Legal Battle Is Far From Over After 104 days in ICE detention, Mahmoud Khalil was released on a judge’s order last weekend. But the Trump administration remains committed to deporting him.

One year ago today, Julian Assange walked free after a decade and a half of persecution. Today, we are actively suing the FBI in court to compel them to release their files on Assange and WikiLeaks. They still hope to keep secret the full story of their dirty war against journalism.

Trump says he'll decide on whether to attack Iran within the next 2 weeks. Congress needs to remind him that it isn't up to him and put a stop to this reckless saber-rattling immediately. Write your reps NOW, urge them to say NO WAR ON IRAN loud and clear secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/urgent-act...

After suing the FBI for WikiLeaks files, we finally received notice that the first 260 pages had been processed for release. The FBI withheld all but 10 pages in their entirety. After all these years, what are they still hiding?

Take action immediately: As Trump weighs joining Israel’s war with Iran, Congress must tell him NO! secure.rightsanddissent.org/a/urgent-act...

More than 5 million people, in over 2,100 cities, joined #NoKings protests on Saturday in the largest day of action against President Trump since his return to office -- @democracynow.org reports: www.democracynow.org/2025/6/16/no...

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbot announced plans to deploy the National Guard across the state ahead of this weekend’s planned protests. This needless escalation will only heighten tensions and increase the potential for violence. Respect free speech and the right to protest!

Trump seems to think he can dictate where and when people can protest his policies. Thankfully, the First Amendment doesn’t work that way. Protest is not a crime, no matter how much Trump doesn’t like it.

The targeting of reporters in LA is inexcusable. The public interest in press coverage of protests couldn’t be more self-evident. We helped lead this letter to remind federal officers of journalists’ constitutional right to report on civil unrest. media.freedom.press/media/docume...

We unequivocally condemn Trump's deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles. This aggressive overkill will only escalate the potential for violence.

We can condemn violence without attacking free speech. The shooting in Boulder was a tragedy, not a pretext to be exploited for political ends. "Free Palestine" is free speech, not hate speech.

Trump is partnering with Palantir to compile mass datasets of your data -- tell Congress to put a stop to this dangerous escalation in government mass data collection before it's too late! actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...

NEW: We've teamed up with Project South to sue the DHS and the FBI for failing to provide "Cop City" records on the surveillance of protesters www.rightsanddissent.org/news/defendi...

Rights organizations object to ‘entirely absurd’ Virginia gag policy -- we're glad to join this effort from @freedom.press and @spj-posts.bsky.social to allow public employees to speak to the press freedom.press/issues/right...

The FBI's investigation into the publication of the Dobbs draft decision could "instill a wide-reaching chilling effect on First Amendment-protected newsgathering." Read the letter we signed alongside 11 other press freedom defense organizations: www.rightsanddissent.org/news/free-pr...

11 other leading press freedom groups (including @freedom.press, @penamerica.bsky.social, & more) join us in warning that the FBI's investigation into a draft SCOTUS opinion leak could instill a widespread chilling effect on newsgathering everywhere. www.rightsanddissent.org/news/press-f...

Last month, we launched a major FOIA project to investigate the private groups creating blacklists of pro-Palestine students for Trump to arrest and deport www.rightsanddissent.org/news/defendi...

UPDATE: A federal judge says Mahmoud Khalil’s detention is likely unconstitutional. We hope the next step will be to set him free. Protest is not a crime.

There is no federal law that makes it a crime to give a draft Supreme Court opinion to journalists. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino must immediately clarify what federal statute the reopened investigation into the Dobbs leak is predicated on.

BREAKING: Badar Khan Suri released! @chipgibbons.bsky.social reacts from the courtroom: "We applaud Judge Patricia Giles' ruling to immediately release Badar Khan Suri. Giles said this ruling is in the public interest, to end the chilling impact on free speech created by his detention."

Our Policy Director @chipgibbons.bsky.social on the detention of Twitch streamer Hasan Piker: "We are deeply disturbed that CBP is stopping political commentators at the border to interrogate them about First Amendment protected activities. Such an abuse of power is an affront to press freedom."

Our Policy [email protected] on today's release of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk

BREAKING: Federal judge orders immediate release of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts student who was unjustly arrested by plainclothes ICE officers in March after writing an op-ed against the genocide in Gaza. “There is no evidence here,” the judge said. www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

Yesterday the Senate HELP committee delayed a final vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025 after Democrats and Rand Paul approved amendments making it clear that opposing the genocide in Gaza is free speech, not antisemitism.

Mohsen Mahdawi goes free! Mahdawi was targeted for his First Amendment protected speech and should never have been detained.

Michigan police and the FBI raided the private homes of pro-Palestinian activists yesterday. This is a shocking affront to the First Amendment and a disturbing escalation of the war on free speech.

Deporting dissent: The dangerous precedent set by the persecution of pro-Palestine activists | Dr. Ramzy Baroud for @middleeastmonitor.bsky.social www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250422-dep...

We are deeply disturbed that another Palestinian activist has been taken into custody, likely in retaliation for political speech. The Trump administration is clearly abusing immigration enforcement in order to wage war on the First Amendment.