The Dissent Newswire

On Monday May 9, 2022, Defending Rights & Dissent urged UK Home Secretary to reject the US's extradition request for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. As US-based NGO focused on the First Amendment, it is highly unusual for us to correspond with foreign governments. However, given the extraordinary nature of Assange’s case and its implications for press freedom not just in the US, but globally, we are compelled to do so.

Yesterday, it was reported that due to opposition from civil liberties groups and Congressional progressives, House Democrats have postponed a vote on the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act. Defending Rights & Dissent, along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) has asked for public comments regarding privacy and civil liberties issues concerning the government’s efforts to counter domestic terrorism. On April 25, 2022, Defending Rights & Dissent submitted public comments calling attention

Earlier this morning, as expected, a UK magistrate ordered Julian Assange’s extradition to the US. This is the result of the UK Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the WikiLeaks publisher’s appeal. The extradition order will now go to UK Home

Billionaires don’t care about protecting free speech.  If anything, the whole point of billionaires is to nullify your voice.  Whether by pocketing lawmakers with their unlimited political donations or gobbling up legacy and new media companies, the 1% want to

Last month, the public learned that the FBI frequently fails to comply with its own rules regarding particularly sensitive investigations involving political and religious organizations, the media, and public officials. And not just minor rule-breaking, but SIGNIFICANT lapses averaging more

By now, you’ve probably at least been within the periphery of the latest faux-outrage on the right regarding something called “critical race theory,” or CRT for short. You’ve probably been assaulted by hair-on-fire headlines or cable news chyrons like: Clearly,

One wonders if the Louisiana Supreme Court would be so cavalier with matters of liability if the events of January 6 happened in the Bayou state? In a bizarre and dangerous ruling that could chill free speech rights, the state’s

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the surveillance tactics used to find an alleged bank robber were unconstitutional. Specifically, Judge M. Hannah Lauck of the Eastern District of Virginia pointed to the use of a “geo-fence