Industry & Advocacy News

Authors Guild Condemns Administration’s Attacks on Free Expression, Creates Legal Tracker

Free Speech

March 5, 2025

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The Authors Guild is closely monitoring a disturbing wave of executive orders and governmental actions that pose direct threats to free expression—the cornerstone of our profession and democracy itself. These measures threaten not only authors’ ability to create, but also to receive federal funding and support through institutions like the NEA and NEH.

Executive Orders Restricting Speech 

Several recent executive orders have implemented restrictions on language and expression. EO14151 and EO14173 prohibit federal agencies from providing funding to organizations with programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. EO14168 restricts funding for entities that “promote gender ideology” and enforces a strict biological definition of gender. These restrictions affect writers applying for grants through the NEA, NEH, and other federal programs, potentially disqualifying applicants based on their viewpoint. 

A federal court in Maryland has already temporarily blocked key provisions of the DEI order, ruling they are “unconstitutionally vague” and “squarely, unconstitutionally ‘abridge the freedom of speech.'” 

Broader Pattern of Speech Suppression 

Beyond funding restrictions, we’ve documented additional concerning patterns: 

• Scientific and Medical Censorship: The NSF, NIH, and CDC have been instructed to avoid certain words and terms in funded research and publications, limiting vital research in underserved communities.
• Historical Erasure: The National Park Service removed references to transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument website, distorting the historical record.
• Media Access Restrictions: Press organizations have faced exclusion from White House access for refusing to adopt government-approved terminology.
• Threats Against Journalism: Journalists reporting on government activities have faced threats of criminal prosecution, creating a chilling effect on free press.
• Regulatory Intimidation: Federal agencies have launched investigations against tech companies with relationships to fact-checking services, suggesting a pattern of using regulatory authority to influence speech.

The Authors Guild Council has formally adopted a new principle in response:

We believe that no word should be banned. 

Words are the raw materials from which writers build their essays, novels, poems, and stories. Writers choose their words carefully, and the freedom to choose the right word is fundamental to good writing and to the freedom of expression that underpins any open society. 

Our Response 

The Authors Guild is not standing idle. We are building coalitions with free speech organizations, press foundations, and civil liberties groups while simultaneously supporting legal challenges to unconstitutional executive orders. Our team is actively documenting patterns of speech suppression affecting authors and researchers, and we continue to advocate vigorously for the protection of free expression in all forms. We will have more updates soon.  

What You Need to Know: Our Legal Tracker

The Authors Guild is maintaining a comprehensive legal tracker of First Amendment violations affecting writers, researchers, and creative professionals. This resource will help us document patterns, identify affected communities, and build effective legal challenges. 

Call to Action: Report Your Experiences

Have you been directly affected by these executive orders or speech restrictions? We need to hear from you.

• Have you been instructed to remove certain terms from your work?
• Have you faced obstacles in research or reporting?
• Is your book being banned by schools, libraries, or other government entities?
• Have you experienced  other instances of government interference with your free expression? 

Please contact us directly at staff@authorsguild.org with details of your experience. Your reports will help strengthen our advocacy and inform potential legal action. All communications will be treated with appropriate confidentiality and will not be shared or published without permission.