The other day, I had a conversation with Jameel Jaffer, a warrior for free expression. Jaffer said something that I still cannot shake from my mind. The first amendment, he explained, is meant to protect people from explicit government action to silence you. When the state tells a newspaper it can’t publish something, or tries to throw a peaceful protester in prison, or attempts to ban a work of art, the law is clear, and lawyers like Jaffer have legs to stand on in defending rights and demanding redress.
But, Jaffer continued, there is the problem of “jawboning.” What happens when the government isn’t explicitly acting to prohibit or punish your speech, but rather is wielding its considerable influence to pressure private actors to self-censor? What happens when the government’s authority to approve or block mergers, for example, is wielded to encourage news organizations to marginalize some voices and elevate others? What happens when, as has been the case in India, the government’s large spend on advertising inspires news outlets to promote a Hindu nationalist worldview?
The law is less clear and firm on this point.
And what, I asked Jaffer, when the situation grows subtler still? What happens when it’s not even “Nice merger proposal you have there, be a shame if…”, but rather a generalized atmosphere of knowing what the regime wants, knowing it will do anything to get it, and leaders of organizations then seek to please without even needing to be told or asked? What happens in the ambient jawboning that is upon us now? When no one needs to make Tony Soprano threats, but everything is clear?
That is the situation we’re in, and, Jaffer explained, it’s a situation against which the first amendment offers little to no protection. When censorship is simply in the air, constitutional law cannot do very much for us.
His words both terrified and emboldened me. They made me remember, again, what we are trying to build here at The Ink. We are trying to be more fearless each day even as so many around us grow more fearful. We are trying to speak louder and reach wider even as others cower and capitulate.
But we need your help. Because it takes resources — writers, editors, producers, lawyers, and others — to do the work of fearless, independent truth-telling.
I know from the stats that readers like you engage heavily with the interviews and essays we put out. We love that. But, frankly, we need more of you to step up and subscribe to make what we do sustainable, and to fortify us for the work ahead.
Jaffer is right: The big organizations are vulnerable. The government doesn’t even need to pick up the phone to threaten them anymore. They know the rules.
But I don’t know their rules. And if I did, I wouldn’t play by them. We will keep bringing you hard truths, and reflections that make you feel less alone and more sane, and ideas for action where you are. But we need you to stand up for this work.
I’m just a writer standing in front of a reader, saying: Become a supporting subscriber today. Keep us free, keep us independent, keep us fearless, keep us going.