NEW YORK—The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the American Civil Liberties Union today filed an amicus brief in support of foreign policy expert Dr. Sue Mi Terry in a criminal case pending in federal court. Dr. Terry has been charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for failing to register as an agent of the Republic of Korea. The groups argue that reading FARA broadly could chill a wide range of speech on issues of public concern and enable the government to selectively target speakers for viewpoint-based reasons in violation of the First Amendment. They call on the court to narrowly interpret the law to avoid these potential constitutional problems.

“While the government has a legitimate interest in informing Americans about foreign attempts to influence domestic public discourse, interpreting FARA broadly does nothing to further that interest and raises serious First Amendment concerns,” said Xiangnong (George) Wang, staff attorney at the Knight Institute. “The court should interpret the law narrowly to avoid chilling protected speech.”

Today’s brief argues that FARA’s sweeping terms could be read to apply to speakers that have only a minimal connection with foreign individuals or entities. It explains that interpreting FARA this broadly would impose serious burdens on speech protected by the First Amendment, especially because the law is backed by criminal sanctions. The brief notes that the law makes no distinction between an “agent” who acts as a mouthpiece of a foreign adversary and a journalist who works with a media organization like the British newspaper The Guardian. As a result, FARA’s burdens would fall especially heavily on media organizations, journalists, and nonprofits.  

“Over the last decade, the government has increasingly invoked FARA to stigmatize, stifle, and suppress viewpoints it doesn’t like,” said Aamra Ahmad, senior counsel at the ACLU’s National Security Program. “The court should take this opportunity to ensure FARA is read narrowly to protect news outlets, nonprofits, and individuals’ free speech rights.”

Read today’s amicus brief here.

Read more about the case here.

Lawyers on the case include Wang, Katie Fallow, and Allie Schiele for the Knight First Amendment Institute, and Aamra Ahmad, Patrick Toomey, Hina Shamsi, and Scarlet Kim for the American Civil Liberties Union.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected]