About

En español

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a nonpartisan news website and database providing reliable and contextualized information on the number of press freedom violations in the United States — from journalists facing charges to reporters assaulted or stopped at the U.S. border and asked to hand over their electronics. As a centralized repository for research, the data we gather informs journalism, legal action and is the backbone of advocacy efforts for major press freedom groups.

Since its launch in 2017, the Tracker has created a historical context of how First Amendment threats look in the U.S. Our goal is to gather and disseminate information about the state of press freedom in our democracy so that an accurate record is created and the public is informed. Constant vigilance and honest accounting of the country’s track record on press freedom is an essential part of our democracy.

The Tracker is based on a coalition that shares knowledge about threats to press freedom across the country. Freedom of the Press Foundation is the editorial lead and manages the day-to-day operations of the site. The Committee to Protect Journalists chairs an advisory board that includes the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders and Index on Censorship.

Our group of more than three dozen partners also includes professional societies, news organizations and free expression advocates. This work would not be possible without their contributions.

The Tracker is an open source database with a downloadable API. All other original content is licensed under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution International License.

Updated April 2024

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker website is supported by the web team and other staff at Freedom of the Press Foundation.