Freedom of Expression Is a human right
You have the right to express your thoughts, share information, and peacefully advocate for change, which is essential for a just society where all can enjoy human rights.
While governments should prohibit hateful speech that constitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence, they frequently misuse this power and arrest individuals for speaking out, creating a culture of fear that silences dissent. The treatment of critical voices reflects a government’s human rights record.
Recently, threats to free expression have escalated as authorities target activists, journalists, civic society organizations, and those supporting refugees and migrants.
Freedom of expression is the foundation of other human rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and the right to assembly of peaceful protest.
Join Us in Taking Action to Protect Freedom of Expression
BEYOND BANNED BOOKS: THE HUMAN COSTS OF CENSORSHIP
During National Banned Books Week, while libraries highlight banned or challenged books, Amnesty International emphasizes the individuals behind the written and spoken words and other forms of artistic expression.
sign up to receive an advocacy and outreach toolkit
Toolkit Materials Include:
- Case sheets for each of the 2025 spotlight cases
- AIUSA’s 2025 Freedom of Expression is a Human Right packet of bookmarks which makes a great give away!
- Advocacy postcards for you to handwrite a short message (sample text included in the packet). These postcards include a brief advocacy message and will go to the authorities that need to hear from us.
- Freedom of Expression yellow pens
- Banned Books Week Poster “Freedom of Expression is a Human Right” (dimensions are 8.5″ by 14″) spotlighting Amnesty’s 2025 Banned Books Week cases to raise awareness and advocacy on individuals who have experienced human rights violations for their written/spoken, or other artistic form of expression.
Banned Books Week (BBW) was founded in 1982 by First Amendment activist Judith Krug, who was the director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association. The Association of American Publishers approached Krug to highlight book banning that year, and she shared the idea with the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, leading to the first celebration six weeks later.
Amnesty International is a member of the Banned Books Week Coalition and in solidarity with the American Library Association (ALA) and organizations around the world, we organize and mobilize actions to defend and protect freedom of expression at home and across the globe.
In 2013, Amnesty International was recognized by the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Round Table with the John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award for providing the following contributions to Banned Books Week:
“For an approach to Banned Books Week that focused on the logical consequences that follow when governments are allowed to censor…beyond the removal or burning of books comes the removal and physical harm to authors, journalists and others.”
Canaries in the Coal Mine Facts
2020-2024
Through this time period, more authoritarian laws and practices have been adopted across and within countries targeting freedom of expression and assembly.
Source: Amnesty’s State of the World Human Rights Report 2025
Activist Author Released!
Our Call for action worked!
On March 27, 2025, Malian author and activist Etienne Sissoko was released, after one-year of arbitrary detention, stemming solely from the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.
Etienne Sissoko is an economist and university professor who was convicted on charges of defamation, damaging the state’s reputation and distributing fake news after publishing a book criticizing the military junta’s use of propaganda.
Every single action made a difference as confirmed by the following statement made by the Malian Minister of Justice:
“I received more than 8,000 emails from Amnesty International calling for the release of a single individual. It’s harassment”.
Etienne Sissoko expresses his gratitude for advocacy support and shares some of his reflections from his experience below.
Twelve months of confinement. Twelve months of silence, solitude, prayer, and writing. These twelve months were more than just a struggle; they were a pilgrimage. An inner journey toward endurance and listening. A journey to that place within oneself where one learns not to betray what is believed to be right, even in the darkest times.
I extend my gratitude to the national and international press, to friends, colleagues, comrades, and students who maintained their vigil with dignity.
Thank you to the human rights organizations, especially Amnesty International, and to the individuals who bravely demanded justice.
Freedom of Expression
Take the Course: Speaking Out for Freedom of Expression
Check out Amnesty International’s “The State of the World’s Human Rights: April 2025”