First Amendment

How the powerful are using lawsuit threats to silence media and 'Murder the Truth'

3:19am April 09, 2025

by Michel Martin

President Trump is no fan of the free press. But he's not the only powerful person in the U.S. using the courts to silence unfavorable coverage, a New York Times editor and author tells NPR.

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National

'Citizenship won't save you': Free speech advocates say student arrests should worry all

5:00am April 08, 2025

by Leila Fadel

The Trump administration has targeted students — both those with visas and those with permanent legal status — who protested the war in Gaza. Free speech advocates warn that these are test cases.

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National

Freedom of speech is shifting under the Trump administration. We're exploring how

5:00am April 07, 2025

by Leila Fadel

Many Americans worry freedom of speech is fading, while others feel empowered to say what they want. NPR's Morning Edition explores this dynamic in a new series, The State of the First Amendment.

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Trump signs executive order to pause TikTok ban, provide immunity to tech firms

8:22pm January 20, 2025

The order follows TikTok going dark for about 14 hours after the Supreme Court upheld a law prohibiting the service from operating in the U.S. unless it breaks away from its parent company in China.

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TikTok is back online in the U.S., following Trump's promise to pause the ban

2:56pm January 19, 2025

The president-elect said he will issue an executive order Monday to delay the ban while he brokers a sale. The app has returned on web and mobile, but is not available in Apple and Google's stores.

TikTok is offline in the U.S. after Supreme Court upholds ban

10:55pm January 18, 2025

The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

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Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, threatening app's existence in the U.S.

10:10am January 17, 2025

The decision resolves a long-running legal dispute between the Department of Justice and TikTok. But experts say President-elect Donald Trump will now have considerable sway over the platform's future in the U.S.

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Trump asks the Supreme Court to delay the start of the TikTok ban

6:48pm December 27, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.

TikTok sued the Biden administration in response to a new law that bans the video app in the U.S. unless it is sold in the next 12 months.

Legal experts say a TikTok ban without specific evidence violates the First Amendment

6:59pm May 14, 2024

by Bobby Allyn

The Justice Department is expected to argue that its clamp down on TikTok is about national security, but Constitutional lawyers say there is no way around grappling with the free speech implications.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of Texas and Florida social media laws

10:37pm February 26, 2024

by Carrie Johnson

These cases raise a critical question for the First Amendment and the future of social media: whether states can force the platforms to carry content they find hateful or objectionable.

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