FIRE clients on a white background, with Jeff Gray in the center holding a sign that reads "The First Amendment is not a crime"

Free Speech Makes Free People

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression's mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty.

Recording police in public: What you need to know

FIRE commentary and analysis from around the web

News cameraman films police on the streets

Recording police in public: What you need to know

Know Your Rights

Every federal appeals court to address the issue has recognized a First Amendment right to record government officials like police officers engaged in their duties in public spaces through filming, photographing, and audio recording, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.

Learn More

Escaping Iran
Recent protests in Iran have drawn renewed attention to dissent under the country's authoritarian government...
Trump administration Secretary of State Marco Rubio against red-tinted background images of a courthouse, the U.S. flag, and a poster containing the image of student Rümeysa Öztürk below the words, "Kidnapped by ICE"

WATCH VIDEO: Do noncitizens have First Amendment rights in the United States?

Trump admin deports students for speaking out

FIRE Documentary

FIRE’s new series 1AX exposes the front lines of America’s free speech battles, where dissent is challenged, rights are tested, and the Constitution itself is put on trial. In this episode on free speech and immigration, FIRE interviews free speech experts on Secretary of State Marco Rubio using a McCarthy-era law to revoke student visas for noncitizens expressing pro-Palestinian views. 

Our Issues

FIRE defends and promotes the individual rights of all Americans in our courtrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.

WHAT WE DEFEND

Defending Your Rights

FIRE defends and sustains the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the essential qualities of liberty — and carries out this mission through several core services.

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Help us build a new free speech movement and promote a strong culture of free speech by supporting FIRE with a donation today. Please join us in this important work!

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