Industry & Advocacy News
March 5, 2025
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, which began in early 2025 and have continued into 2026, threaten not only authors’ ability to create, but also to receive federal funding and support through institutions like the NEA and NEH.
Several 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 temporarily blocked key provisions of the DEI order, ruling they are “unconstitutionally vague” and “squarely, unconstitutionally ‘abridge the freedom of speech.'”
Beyond funding restrictions, we’ve documented additional concerning patterns. In May 2025, the International Bar Association published an analysis documenting the administration’s “wide-ranging crackdown on freedom of speech,” including the targeting of student protesters, lawyers, and the press, and stressing the First Amendment implications of using federal power to punish dissent. Source
June 2025 – Detention of journalists covering protests
A 2026 First Amendment review notes that by mid-2025, federal and local authorities had detained 32 journalists covering protests, all at events involving immigration enforcement, with press advocates warning that this pattern chills coverage of protests and immigration policy. Source
October 2025 – New Pentagon press rules
By late 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had imposed Pentagon reporting rules requiring journalists to publish no information without Department of Defense approval; virtually all major military-affairs reporters refused to sign, and The New York Times sued, calling the rules a direct First Amendment violation. Source
July 2025 – FCC-pressured cancellation of “The Late Show”
In July 2025, CBS canceled the top-rated “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” shortly after Colbert criticized Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, for paying a legal settlement to President Trump while seeking FCC approval for a major merger, raising concerns that FCC leverage was being used to punish critical speech. Source
September 2025 – FCC-linked suspension of Jimmy Kimmel
ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for on-air comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder after FCC Chair Brendan Carr publicly urged the network to act, which free-speech commentators described as government regulatory pressure influencing editorial decisions. PBS source; NPR source
December 2025 – Continuing FCC threats to broadcasters
Advocacy videos and statements in December 2025 documented FCC officials explicitly threatening to revoke or scrutinize broadcast licenses over content critical of the administration, which media-law advocates described as viewpoint discrimination using regulatory power. Source 1; Source 2
September 2025 – Government retaliation after Charlie Kirk’s killing
After the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025, the federal government and other authorities threatened to punish people who “spoke ill” of him; the ACLU argued that disciplining teachers, public servants, and others for critical speech about a political figure is unconstitutional retaliation. The ACLU also documented officials leaning on schools to discipline teachers and on agencies to punish public employees for expressing disagreement with Kirk’s politics, framing this as viewpoint-based punishment by government actors. Source
September–November 2025 – Chilling warnings against military critics in Congress
In November 2025, after six Democratic lawmakers released a video reminding service members to refuse illegal orders, Trump publicly labeled them “traitors,” called their actions “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” and amplified posts suggesting they should be hanged, which First Amendment experts flagged as dangerous intimidation of elected critics. Source
April 1, 2026 – Ongoing threats to speech and assembly
A Center for American Progress report detailed how protesters, students, and NGOs that voice disagreement with the administration are facing harsh threats to their constitutional freedoms of speech and assembly, including politically motivated investigations and retaliatory immigration enforcement. Source
August 2025 – Defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting began winding down operations in August 2025 after President Trump signed a law clawing back more than $1 billion in CPB funding through 2027, which press-freedom advocates criticized as a politically motivated attack on independent public media. Source
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.
December 15, 2025 – NOPE Act announced
Congressman Jason Crow announced the No Political Enemies (NOPE) Act to shield nonprofits, media outlets, and educational institutions from politically motivated investigations and prosecutions, explicitly citing the targeting of elected officials for prosecution, violations of appropriations law used to pressure colleges and universities, and restrictions on access for journalists as abuses of federal power. House source; Senate source
February 22, 2026 – “Silencing Dissent: The First Amendment Under Attack” hearing
House Judiciary Committee Democrats held a spotlight hearing titled “Silencing Dissent: The First Amendment Under Attack,” focused on uses of federal power against critics, journalists, and protesters, including threats of prosecution and regulatory harassment of media. Witnesses and members described investigations, license threats, and security-clearance retaliation as part of a broader chilling effect on protected speech. Press release; Hearing video
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.
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.
Have you been directly affected by these executive orders or speech restrictions? We need to hear from you.
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.
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