Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self-Censor

A PEN America Report

Photo courtesy of PEN American Center. All rights reserved.

In October 2013, PEN partnered with independent researchers at the FDR Group to conduct a survey of over 520 American writers to better understand the specific ways in which awareness of far-reaching surveillance programs influences writers’ thinking, research, and writing. The results of this survey—the beginning of a broader investigation into the harms of surveillance—substantiate PEN’s concerns: writers are not only overwhelmingly worried about government surveillance, but are engaging in self-censorship as a result.

This article originally appeared on PEN American Center’s website and reappears here with permission of PEN American Center.