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NCA Supports Free Speech Globally

 
At the 103rd annual convention of the National Communication Association in Dallas, Texas, the association highlighted the many ways NCA members are practicing solidarity in the age of globalization, in large part by sharing their expertise as communication teachers, scholars, and practitioners with a wide range of international community partners.

While NCA continues to celebrate creative partnerships that can fuel international collaborations, the association believes also that showing solidarity means highlighting flagrant violations of human rights in rogue regimes and elsewhere around the globe.

For example, in December 2017, Jolovan Wham, a veteran Singaporean activist, was jailed on the charge of violating Singapore’s Public Order Act, under which even one person can be considered an “illegal assembly.” Wham was practicing the cherished right of free speech when arrested. Wham’s case is particularly pertinent for NCA, as he is a collaborator with NCA member Dr. Mohan Dutta, from the National University of Singapore, who is doing cutting-edge work on health communication and community empowerment in developing nations. Wham’s arrest is thus a direct threat to one of our members.

Likewise, in the aftermath of a coup attempt in 2017, Turkey’s government has continued to target scholars, teachers, reporters, and activists deemed unfriendly to President Erdogan’s regime, leaving thousands of our colleagues unemployed, and some of them arrested.

And in the United States, President Donald J. Trump has continued his assault on free and responsible journalism, hence making clear to dictators everywhere that at least some Americans no longer support the free and responsible public deliberation that fuels democracy.

Thus, in nation-states around the globe, NCA notes that free speech is under attack, scholars are facing reprisals for doing critical work, and activists confront existential threats for exercising their right to assemble, petition, and advocate.

The National Communication Association therefore reiterates its unwavering support for free speech, both in the United States and around the world, and calls upon its members to use the links provided below to engage in the international struggle for free and responsible communication.
  
NCA Support for Free Speech
Sources of Information Regarding Specific Cases

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