How the pandemic has allowed governments to step up efforts to police their citizens’ thoughts

PEN International and the International Cities of Refuge Network work closely to provide safety and security to writers, journalists, and editors facing threat. PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee meets on regular occasions with ICORN’s executives, writers, artists, and journalists to discuss themes of mutual interest.

At its last meeting, held virtually, Salil Tripathi, PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee Chair, spoke of significant developments during his term, which ends September 2021.

Excerpts from his speech:

The theme of our meeting this year is Digital Dystopia. We had thought the internet was going to liberate us. Instead, we are speaking to fewer people, mainly to those we agree with. Some mute voices they don’t like and block those who they find to be hostile. And worldwide, the cult of intolerance increases, with the powerful seeking to silence, by cancelling those they disagree with, including getting them expelled and removed from social media. US President Donald Trump says reprehensible things, but should it be left to an oversight board, appointed by a corporation nobody elected, to decide if his views should be heard in public? Who gets to decide? Are companies our saviours or new censors?

I had a minor kerfuffle last year, when Twitter removed me from its…

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