The National Coalition Against Censorship calls on the federal Department of Education (USED) to abandon its attempt to amend the Education Department General Administrative Regulations to create an ideological chokepoint for all grant money distributed. These grants are a vital part of the ecosystem of research and inquiry in educational institutions, and the threat to screen grantee output for [...]
Photo: Macklemore/Facebook As an organization defending freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry, the National Coalition Against Censorship condemns the decision to blacklist Macklemore from certain large music venues because of his political expression. Large venues have immense cultural power to determine the limits of speech and opinion in public spaces. While private stadium venues and their owners have [...]
Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) announced a new resource as part of Don’t Delete Art (DDA), its initiative supporting artistic freedom online. The resource, titled Online Age Verification: An Advisory for Artists with Websites, provides a primer on the swath of new age verification laws in the United States, and their potential impact on artists who host [...]
Photo: SWinxy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) Last week, the National Coalition Against Censorship, joined by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Cato Institute, PEN America, the First Amendment Lawyers Association, and the Rutherford Institute, filed an amicus brief in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in American Association of University [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship condemns President Trump’s latest attack on the protected expression of a civil society group, this time in the form of a legal threat against the Center for American Progress (CAP) for its publication of a report disputing the President's claims about the correlation between National Guard deployment and decreased crime rates. Last week, the [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship is deeply concerned that Missouri state officials are retaliating against a Missouri Public Library for hosting a 'Rainbow Story Time' for families with young children. This free, voluntary, community event featured readings of two picture books for preschoolers: Rainbowsaurus, which depicts two dads and three children on a colorful search for a rainbow dinosaur, [...]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is once again abusing its powers to engage in unconstitutional censorship of broadcasters, continuing its nearly year-long crusade against Disney for airing Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes about the Trump administration. The FCC’s latest salvo was the unprecedented demand that 8 ABC stations undergo license renewal years earlier than required. Yesterday, NCAC, the American Civil Liberties Union, the [...]
This week, the National Coalition Against Censorship joined organizations across the ideological spectrum in filing amicus briefs in support of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and Harvard University in their challenges to the Trump administration’s violations of academic freedom. The cases center on the administration’s threats to punish Harvard and Columbia University by revoking billions of dollars in [...]
Dear Mr. D’Amaro, We, the undersigned civil rights, civil liberties, free speech, press freedom, consumer advocacy and pro-democracy organizations, write to stand in solidarity with the Walt Disney Company for resisting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s unprecedented abuse of its power to censor and punish Disney-owned broadcast content. The targeted campaign to punish and alter your broadcast content is [...]
Yesterday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency will consider ABC’s decision not to air President Donald Trump’s July 16 address about election security as a factor in its early review of licenses to eight ABC-owned stations. This is merely the latest attempt by Chairman Carr in the FCC’s ongoing campaign to punish broadcast licensees [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship strongly opposes the federal government’s proposed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) grant rule changes seeking to overhaul the selection and management of its research grants. The OMB claims that these changes would increase transparency and accountability, but if implemented, these changes would render federally funded programs especially vulnerable to politically driven grant decisions. [...]
Today the National Coalition Against Censorship condemned “Saving America’s Story,” a recent White House report excoriating the Smithsonian Institution for not presenting a simplified and singularly optimistic view of U.S. history. The report is the latest culmination of attacks upon the Smithsonian that began in 2025, and signifies the administration’s latest attempt to control knowledge, stifle intellectual freedom, and end [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship condemns the decision by Florida International University to punish students for participating in anti-ICE demonstrations. These students were exercising constitutionally protected speech rights, and the university’s choice to punish them by withholding their diplomas and forcing them to record personal apologies violates the principles of free expression. When students wore t-shirts stating “ICE OFF [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), represented by the SMU Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic, filed an amicus brief this week in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the consolidated cases of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas v. Paxton and Computer & Communications Industry Association v. Paxton. The lawsuit challenges the Texas App [...]
Monumental Resistance: Stonewall, (24 hours standing at Stonewall), still image from timelapse video, 2018 (1) In the past year and a half, the federal government’s efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ cultural expression have been unmistakeable, yet the blueprint for these censorship pressures has long been fomenting in states like Florida and Texas, where challenges to LGBTQ+ books [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has joined The Future of Free Speech, the ACLU, and the Center for Democracy & Technology in submitting comments to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to declare that the television show The View is exempt from equal opportunities requirements as a bona fide news interview program. These requirements demand that broadcasters provide [...]
Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is excited to announce that Don’t Delete Art (DDA) is now an official component of its Arts and Culture Advocacy work. This announcement follows NCAC’s six years of active stewardship of Don’t Delete Art as a collaborative initiative addressing issues impacting the dissemination of art online. In this new chapter, Don’t Delete [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) today launches The Artist’s Guide to Defending Artistic Freedom, a new resource for artists and cultural workers. Focusing on censorship prevention and response strategies, the Guide empowers artists to defend their free expression rights. It offers negotiation tactics and talking points that can help artists make a case for the retention of a contested [...]
On Friday, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) led Poets & Writers, Electric Literature, Authors Guild, Dramatists Guild, and lawyer Annie Dorsen in filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Rhode Island Latino Arts v. National Endowment for the Arts, urging the court to affirm that the National Endowment for the Arts [...]
Introduction Typically, when a controversy arises (or is anticipated) regarding a particular artwork, the program organizer or curator has an implied responsibility to explain the artwork and their own original reasons for choosing it. Sometimes, however, curators are unable to defend the selection of work, whether because of inexperience or because of an implied risk to their employment status. [...]
Today the National Coalition Against Censorship commended Meta’s Oversight Board regarding its recent decision to establish new policy recommendations for account governance. Read the full statement below. Excerpted from the full decision: Part 6: Account Governance Good Practices: guiding principles to the industry suggested by the Meta Oversight Board. Respecting Users’ Rights to Clear and Comprehensive [...]
Miniluv. Mural mockup by Seth Indigo Carnes. 2025. Image courtesy of the artist. Today the National Coalition Against Censorship and Artists Equity Group condemned town officials of Rockland, NY, whose actions resulted in the censorship of a mural by a local artist. Though the mural was commissioned for an external facade of a privately-owned building, [...]
Essay originally commissioned by and published for Full Bleed, Issue 08, in May, 2025 Early this year, several photographs were removed from public display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas after attracting criticism from local officials, who declared them “indecent” and a “radical perversion.” A formal criminal investigation was launched around the works, [...]
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The National Coalition Against Censorship joins six literary organizations in calling upon members of Congress to vote NO on HR 2616, ironically titled the “Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act.” This bill seeks to weaponize critical public school funding to chill speech related to gender and LGBTQ+ identities. If passed, it would prohibit public elementary and middle schools that [...]
Dear Members of the District 201 Board of Education, We are writing from the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of national nonprofit groups dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, including the rights of K-12 students, teachers, and staff. We write in advance of tonight's board meeting to condemn J. Sterling Morton High School District 201’s [Morton High, or [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) filed an amicus brief in D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools, a case about whether school administrators violated the First Amendment rights of students by requiring them to remove clothing bearing the words “Let’s Go Brandon.” This phrase is commonly understood on social media as a euphemism for the words “Fuck Joe Biden." [...]
Yesterday, the Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury returned an 11-count criminal indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for wire and bank fraud. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) strongly condemns this abuse of power by President Trump's Justice Department against an American civil rights institution. NCAC’s Executive Director Lee Rowland issued the following statement: [...]
In February, students at Quakertown High School in Pennsylvania had a walkout disrupted when plainclothes law enforcement aggressively confronted student protestors off-campus, arresting several students and one adult. School officials had initially approved the walkout, but retracted that approval the morning of, after allegedly receiving "threats of violence" the night before. Despite the administration’s concerns, students continued with their expressive [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has joined Protect the First Foundation, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the Cato Institute in filing an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff's request that the United States Supreme Court consider the case of Lowery v. Mills. The petition asks the court to resolve whether a public employer's threats to fire, [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has joined more than two dozen organizations and community leaders in urging the Rutherford County Library System Board of Directors to reject the removal of books addressing race, gender, and sexual orientation from its public library shelves. In a joint statement delivered on March 16, 2026, NCAC and co-signatories — including PEN America, [...]
On Saturday, Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr doubled down on abusing the power of the FCC to pressure broadcast networks, threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who air “misleading” content. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) condemns Carr's use of his position to punish viewpoints disfavored by the state. “These threats by FCC chair Carr are dangerous, unconstitutional, [...]
Today, Don’t Delete Art (DDA)—an initiative uniting advocacy groups and artists in the defense of artistic freedom online—launches a two-month social media collaboration with Free the Nipple—a global body-equality campaign focused on destigmatizing nipple exposure—to support and empower artists facing censorship online for depicting female-presenting nipples. Titled Don’t Delete Art x Free the Nipple (DDA x FTN), the initiative [...]
On February 23, 2026, Lee Rowland, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), delivered testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary at its spotlight hearing, “Silencing Dissent: The First Amendment Under Attack.” Her testimony documents a troubling reality: across the United States, fear of government retaliation is reshaping what artists create, what teachers teach, what students say, [...]
Two civil liberty organizations, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, are urging the University of North Texas (UNT) to admit its wrongdoing in abruptly canceling an exhibition that was on view in the university’s College of Visual Arts and Design (CVAD) Gallery. The exhibition, Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá (Not [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has joined the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Texas Press Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Institute for Free Speech, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in filing an amicus curiae brief in support of Paul Chabot’s petition [...]
Two civil liberty organizations, National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU So-Cal), are demanding the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) reschedule a planned event that was abruptly canceled in December 2025. The joint letter follows a December letter issued by the NCAC which has yet to receive an official response. The [...]
Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) raises serious concerns about the removal of books from Florida's Hillsborough County Schools under Florida’s HB 1069 and related state guidance. Removing books solely because of disagreement with their viewpoints violates the First Amendment, as does restricting access based on vague or overly broad content categories. A recent ruling by the U.S. [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship’s (NCAC) core mission is to support and defend free expression in service to democracy. Over the past week, actions and statements by members of the Trump administration have amounted to an abandonment of constitutional principles and an assault on both our First Amendment rights and our democracy itself. Armed federal agents have now shot [...]
The strength of American democracy lies in one simple principle: the right to hold power accountable. Yet that principle is now under attack. The Trump Administration’s claim that recording Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is “illegal” is both unconstitutional and profoundly dangerous to our democracy. The freedom to document government actions is not a crime—it is a cornerstone of [...]
