Dissent NewsWire

November 23, 2022

Illinois Takes the Lead in Codifying Workers’ Rights

When voters went to the polls across the country for the midterms, it wasn’t just their member of Congress they were selecting. Voters also had the chance to weigh-on policy directly through ballot initiatives and referendums. Across the country, progressive,
November 23, 2022

The FBI should not let Israel get away with the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh

On May 11, 2022, an Israeli sniper murdered Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.  The Al-Jazeera reporter was wearing a blue press vest while covering an Israeli raid on a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.  Abu Akleh’s family
November 23, 2022

First a fist bump, then carte blanche for the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

On October 2, 2018, Washington Post columnist and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey. His body was reportedly dismembered. Khashoggi was a critic of the Saudi government. US intelligence concluded that Crown Prince
November 21, 2022

The FTC Should Step In to Prevent the Government From Violating the Fourth Amendment By Buying Our Personal Data

Defending Rights & Dissent joined 17 other anti-surveillance organizations urging the Federal Trade Commission to look closely at the government’s use of commercially available data to evade legal restrictions on the collection of personal information, and to exercise the full
November 18, 2022

Ten Years After a Discriminatory and Illegal Investigation Was Launched Against Her, Sherry Chen Reaches Settlement With Dept. of Commerce

Sherry Chen, a scientist at the National Weather Service was arrested in October 2014 after an illegal and discriminatory internal investigation (read more here). She was wrongly charged with espionage and faced 25 years in prison and a fine of
November 4, 2022

Chelsea Manning’s Long Fight for Radical Transparency

In 2010, as an Army private serving in Iraq, Chelsea Manning released hundreds of thousands of classified records shining light on the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These files included the “Collateral Murder” video (which showed American soldiers gunning
November 2, 2022

Senator Durbin needs Con Law 101

For someone heading up the Judiciary Committee, it appears Senator Dick Durbin missed out on a few key days of Constitutional Law. In his tweet, “Free speech does not include spreading misinformation to downplay political violence,” Senator Durbin strays far
October 31, 2022

DHS’ Secret Dossiers on Portland Protesters

Yet again, intelligence agencies have stepped outside of the law to conduct politically-motivated surveillance of protesters. This time, DHS was the culprit. According to an internal DHS report, agents assigned to Portland during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests drew up
October 14, 2022

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the value of truth in the shadow of empire

If extradited, Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act – a draconian sentence intended to deter other journalists and truthtellers from revealing the long shadow of the American empire. On Saturday, October 8, DRAD
October 11, 2022

Justice for Alex Odeh: 37 years later, the activist’s assassination remains unsolved

37 years ago today, Alex Odeh was assassinated at the offices of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) as part of a coordinated bombing campaign to silence activists. For decades, Defending Rights & Dissent has stood in solidarity with ADC in
October 7, 2022

The FBI is an enemy of indigenous liberation

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we remember how the FBI surveilled and repressed AIM and other indigenous liberation movements. In 1969, American Indian Movement (AIM) activists occupied Alcatraz Island, invoking the Sioux Treaty of 1868, which grants unused federal lands to
September 30, 2022

How Far Did the CIA Go in Its War on WikiLeaks?

Did the CIA use a Spanish security firm known as UC Global to spy on WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange while toying with plans to assassinate or kidnap the Australian national? In spying on Assange, did the CIA and UC Global
September 30, 2022

Abolitionist Policy Tool Dreams of a Post-War on Terror World

Two decades of the War on Terror make it clear that incremental reforms are insufficient to ameliorate the harms of a global system predicated upon Islamophobia and violence. Tendrils of the War on Terror encircle the globe and extend deep
September 19, 2022

Defending Rights & Dissent, National Coalition Against Censorship Oppose Speech-Chilling Resolution that Conflates Criticism of Israel with Anti-Semitism

The proposed resolution intends to adopt the working definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) along with its 11 contemporary examples.  Anti-Semitism is a reprehensible form of bigotry, however, several of the examples attached to the IHRA definition incorrectly equate constitutionally-protected criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, effectively chilling free speech. 
September 15, 2022

The United States of Surveillance: A Constitution Day Story

This coming Saturday will mark the 235th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by 39 of the 41 delegates to the convention that crafted America’s current form of government. The document they circulated to their respective states for ratification