Before he championed democracy abroad, Woodrow Wilson built America's first modern censorship regime, jailing dissenters and crushing opposition in the name of war.

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.

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.

Anthony Comstock turned Victorian panic into federal censorship, criminalizing “obscene” speech and policing American morality. This is his story.

Freedom of speech is a human right and a fundamental American freedom.

College faculty must be free to ask tough questions and facilitate learning without the threat of institutional censorship.

Due process demands that authorities provide fair, unbiased, and equitable procedures when determining a person’s guilt or innocence. 

Freedom of the press protects the ability of journalists and news media to publish information free from official censorship. 

Freedom of assembly is the right of individuals to come together to express shared ideas, and is guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Religious liberty is the right to follow the faith of your choice — or to follow no faith at all.

FIRE’s signature, core defense program provides free, non-legal assistance to individuals whose fundamental civil liberties are violated.

FIRE strategically litigates in courts nationwide to vindicate the First Amendment and due process rights of everyday Americans.

FIRE’s College Policy Reform team works to proactively and systematically challenge campus policies that violate the free speech rights of students and faculty.

FIRE defends your individual rights at the state and federal level by advocating for rights-protective legislation and against bills that would abridge those rights.