Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world. It maintains an extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments in the field.
”I can express myself without fear,” ”I am more connected to the world,” “One company does not own all the media,” “Bring Back Local News,” “Rupert’s Gotta Go!” and “Free press keeps us free” were some of the statements New Yorkers scribbled on post-it notes last week in Queens, responding to a prompt: What does press freedom mean?
The First Amendment Corridor was a one-day interactive, immersive art installation at Culture Lab LIC in Long Island City. Conceived by Katha Cato of the Queens World Film Festival, with the support of core members of F.A.C.T., the First Amendment Culture Team, the event sought to turn one of the gallery’s back hallways into a “living experience” centered on the foundation of American democracy.
Reimagined as a path through major freedom of expression court decisions, the Corridor led to five creative stations on speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. Each had a prompt for visitors to reflect on, like “What I hold sacred, What I believe,” “What is important enough to make you leave your home and come out to the streets,” or “A story you want told is…”
Marija Šajkaš, Senior Communications Manager at CGFoE, helped organize the event, chairing the Freedom of the Press station. In her piece, The First Amendment Corridor in Queens: An Exercise in Free Speech, she reflects on what it was like—and what may come next.
Visitors of the First Amendment Corridor on April 17, 2026, Queens, New York, observing the Freedom of the Press station chaired by Marija Šajkaš, CGFoE Senior Communications Manager
The Corridor attendees were encouraged to leave post-it notes. Some viewers insisted on the debate: “I want YOU to tell ME why do we need all of ….this.”
Find out more about the First Amendment Corridor here.
United States
Hafez v. Accuracy in Media, Inc.
Decision Date: March 5, 2026
The Supreme Court of the State of New York dismissed an organization’s motion to dismiss a defamation and civil rights claim brought against it by students whom it had described as “leading antisemites.” In the wake of protests against the Hamas attacks on Israel and the Israeli war against Gaza, the organization had bought internet domains in the students’ names and created mobile billboards with the students’ names and faces and the statement “leading antisemite” after falsely claiming that the students were leaders of student groups that had signed a letter critical of Israel. The Court found that, despite the higher burden of proof on the students as part of anti-SLAPP legislation, the students had demonstrated that their claims had a substantial basis in law and ordered the matter to proceed.
J. Doe v. the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Decision Date: March 2, 2026
The Supreme Court of the State of New York remanded disciplinary processes back to Columbia University, which had sanctioned students for participating in an occupation of a building as a protest against the war in Gaza. Various protestors had occupied a building and caused damage before the police removed and arrested them. The criminal charges were later dismissed, and the arrest records were sealed. However, the university identified 22 students and placed them at the scene during the disciplinary process based on the sealed arrest records. The Court held that it was impermissible for the disciplinary panel to rely on the sealed arrest records, and as that was the only evidence the panel had to place the students at the protest, it found that the disciplinary determinations and sanctions were arbitrary and capricious. The Court also held that the disciplinary panel disregarded the university’s own guidelines in imputing group conduct to each individual present at the protest. The Court remanded the matter back to the university.
State of Oregon v. Trump
Decision Date: November 7, 2025
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon held that the U.S. President’s federalization and deployment of National Guard troops to the State of Oregon to respond to protest action exceeded his statutory authority. The case arose after the President directed the federalization of approximately 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to support immigration enforcement operations at a federal facility in Portland which was the scene of various forms of protest. When the State of Oregon, the City of Portland, and the State of California challenged the action, the federal government redirected federalized National Guard members from California and Texas to Oregon in apparent contravention of the Court’s initial restraining order. Following a three-day bench trial, the Court found that the protests outside the Portland ICE facility had remained largely peaceful, with only isolated and sporadic instances of violence, and that existing federal and local law enforcement had managed the situation without significant impediment to the execution of immigration laws. The Court held that the President lacked a “colorable basis” to invoke either the inability-to-execute-the-laws provision or the rebellion provision of the statute.
MAY 14: Book Launch—Legal and Ethical Issues of Chilling Effect. CGFoE is inviting you to the launch of Legal and Ethical Issues of Chilling Effect, an edited volume by Gergely Gosztonyi (Eötvös Loránd University—ELTE, Budapest) and Gergely Ferenc Lendvai (Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest). The book, recently published by Springer, includes a chapter authored by the CGFoE Team: a first-of-its-kind comparative analysis of global case law on the chilling effect in freedom of expression jurisprudence. Our panel will feature CGFoE Associate Director Hawley Johnson, volume editor Gergely Gosztonyi, Utrecht University Professor Catalina Goanta, and contributing authors Jonathan Penney, Elena Sherstoboeva, Valentina Pavlenko, and Protus Murunga. May 14, 2026. Online. 9 AM New York Time / 3 PM Central European Time. Register here.
● Annual Report: The State of the World’s Human Rights. This week, Amnesty International published its annual report, issuing a grave warning: a new “anti-rights” world order is shaping up and must be urgently resisted. “We are confronting the most challenging moment of our age,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard. “What marks this moment as fundamentally different is that we’re no longer documenting erosion around the system’s edges. This is a direct assault on the foundations of human rights […].” The right to protest is one of the many under attack, including by the authorities of Nepal, Tanzania, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, India, Kenya, the US, Venezuela, the UK, Türkiye, and Serbia, among others. Read the report here.
● US: How Foreign Aid Cuts Threaten Free Expression and Its Defenders Worldwide. ARTICLE 19 published a first comprehensive assessment of how the United States’ sweeping foreign aid cuts have impacted freedom of expression work globally. Based on quantitative analysis, 64 interviews, and hundreds of secondary sources, Targeted documents the cuts of at least 283 free speech projects, their value amounting to at least 1.7 billion USD. “[T]his is a moment for other states and donors to step up,” said ARTICLE 19’s Senior Director for Law and Policy Barbora Bukovská. “Civil society is our strongest defence against autocratic resurgence, democratic backsliding, and the spread of increasingly insular, nationalist policies.”
● US: Legal Brief to Defend Press Access to Federal Immigration Courts. Reporters Without Borders has submitted an amicus curiae brief in support of the lawsuit brought by immigrant rights group The Advocates for Human Rights against the Trump administration. The challenge concerns the repeated denial of public access to immigration court proceedings in violation of the First Amendment and seeks to secure a preliminary injunction to stop the continued closure of hearings. “When reporters, as part of the general public, are excluded from immigration proceedings,” the brief argues, “the injury extends beyond the denied observers and interested family and hurts the entire public, depriving them of perhaps the principal means of understanding how deportations actually happen.”
On Saturday, April 18, in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Munich, Germany, tens of thousands protested for a faster renewable energy transition, accusing the government of slowing down the shift. On Sunday, in Rabat, Morocco, around 5,000 demonstrators marched in solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel’s new death penalty law for Palestinians. Also on Sunday, in Masafer Yatta, the occupied West Bank, children, parents, and teachers protested the blocking of the only safe way to their school by Israeli settlers and soldiers. On Monday, in the US, at least 62 people, veterans and activists among them, were arrested while protesting the US war on Iran in the Capitol building in Washington, DC. On Tuesday, in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, students and civil society groups flooded the provincial parliament demanding audits of government policy, an end to corruption, and enforcement of legislative oversight.
Last Thursday, April 16, as lawmakers were scheduled to debate a controversial anti-Semitism bill, a crowd gathered near the parliament in Paris to protest it. The law, which its backers claim would tackle increasing anti-Semitism rooted in the hatred of Israel, mobilized hundreds of protesters and parliamentary opposition. Over 700,000 people signed a petition against the law.
Background: The government-backed bill, dubbed “Yadan law” after the lawmaker who introduced it, would expand the definition of “apology for terrorism” to apply to speech that “implicitly” justifies or minimizes acts deemed terrorist. (Human rights experts already consider the offence of “apology for terrorism” under current French law as incompatible with freedom of expression standards.) The bill would also criminalize calls for the “destruction” of any state recognized by France. Opponents view the provisions as overly broad and vague. Some argue that, by equating the protection of Jewish people with the protection of Israel, the law itself risks fueling anti-Semitism.
Significance: The civic mobilization took place in the context of shrinking space for expression, particularly regarding Palestinian solidarity, which has been subjected to administrative and legal repression, including through banned demonstrations, prosecutions for incitement to terrorism, and suppression of student movements.
State Response: On April 14, police arrested students at Sorbonne University, Sciences Po, and Paris-Saclay University during a sit-in protest against the “Yadan law.”
Partial Results: Hours before the scheduled parliamentary debate, the bill was withdrawn. “This is a victory for parliamentary resistance and the 700,000 people mobilized through petitions and in the rallies,” wrote Member of Parliament Marianne Maximi. However, the government intends to reintroduce a similar bill this June.
FoE Violations: In a climate already repressive of pro-Palestinian voices, the “Yadan law” would threaten to further contract expression in France. UN experts, including Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan, argued the bill would “chill legitimate public debate and human rights advocacy.” Reporters Without Borders warned the bill could also undermine press freedom.
● Consultancy Opportunity: Media Freedom and Law in Africa. The Pan African Lawyers Union is seeking legal experts to design a practical online course on Media Freedom and Law in Africa for lawyers across the continent. Apply by April 30. Find out more here.
● Call for Applications: Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes submissions of candidates for the position of Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. The deadline is June 15. Learn more here.
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