What does the erosion of the press amid a rapid increase in citizen journalism mean for American democracy?
The rise of the newsfluencer under Donald Trump
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CATEGORY: United States
The week in free expression: 22 August – 29 August 2025
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
The week in free expression: 16 – 22 August 2025
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
What to expect from Trump and Putin’s special relationship
Trump’s administration is making clear it wants to do business with Russia. Will this rapprochement bring lasting peace or ultimately increase Putin’s aggression?
The rise of the American dissident
A panel at Index’s latest magazine launch discussed the Trump administration’s attacks on state-funded media, the legal establishment and academia
The week in free expression: 26 July – 1 August 2025
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
Shadow of Gaza conflict hangs over education
Schools and universities in the war zone have been destroyed. Attempts to write about it have been silenced
The week in free expression: 19 – 25 July 2025
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
Has President Trump launched the age of the American dissident?
A new era of authoritarianism has dawned in the “land of liberty”. What can US political activists learn from those who defied Soviet repression?
Contents – Land of the Free? Trump’s war on speech at home and abroad
Contents
Smears about the media made by US President Donald Trump have obscured a wider problem with press freedom in the United States: namely widespread and low-level animosity that feeds into the everyday working lives of the nation’s journalists, bloggers and media professionals. This study examines documented reports from across the country in the six months leading up to the presidential inauguration and the months after. It clearly shows that threats to US press freedom go well beyond the Oval Office.
“Animosity toward the press comes in many forms. Journalists are targeted in several ways: from social media trolling to harassment by law enforcement to over-the-top public criticism by those in the highest office. The negative atmosphere for journalists is damaging for the public and their right to information,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO at Index on Censorship, which documented the cases using an approach undertaken by the organization to monitor press freedom in Europe over the past three years. Learn more.