Throughout history, governments have used international borders as justifications and pretexts for censorship and surveillance. During the Cold War, the United States government denied visas to foreign artists, writers, and scholars whose political views the government wanted to delegitimize or suppress. This practice was resurrected during the “war on terror.” Today, the government uses its expansive authority over the border to justify the surveillance of social media, the interrogation of travelers about their political and religious views, the search of travelers’ laptops and cellphones, the imposition of limits on Americans’ right to engage with foreign speakers and to access foreign communications platforms, and the suspension of the constitutional rules that would ordinarily apply to the surveillance of Americans’ emails and telephone calls. At the same time, technologies have reshaped what the border means, and how ideas and information travel across borders. Foreign governments have exercised their authority to reach through the U.S. border to try to influence Americans and suppress their own ex-patriots in new ways. On our third season, “Views on First: Speech & the Border,” hosts and Knight Institute attorneys Xiangnong (George) Wang, Anna Diakun, Ramya Krishnan, and Alex Abdo work through these challenges with the help of legal scholars, experts, and real people living at the intersection of speech and the border.

Preview: Speech & the Border

We’ve all been hearing a lot about “the border”—in news headlines, candidates’ speeches, and political debates. On our third season of “Views on First: Speech & the Border,” we examine the frontiers of censorship and surveillance. Each episode, you'll hear from a Knight Institute lawyer involved in cases aimed at protecting vital First Amendment rights at the border and beyond.

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Preview

Episode One: What are we so afraid of?

From the war on anarchism to President Trump’s extreme vetting policies, the U.S. government’s practice of using the border as a justification to exclude ideas considered “dangerous” is as American as apple pie. In the first episode of “Views on First: Speech & the Border,” host George Wang invites lawyer and historian Julia Rose Kraut to explore the history of ideological exclusion and the government’s authority to bar individuals from the country on the basis of their speech, beliefs, and associations. Illustrating how these policies continue to bear on noncitizens today, immigration activist Ravi Ragbir shares his ongoing fight with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s attempt to target him for deportation based on his activism and organizing.

Speech and the Border in a Second Trump Administration, by George Wang

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Episode One

Episode Two: The Digital Surveillance Dragnet

Dating back to the Obama administration, the U.S. government has been using its authority over the border to justify the surveillance of visitors’ and immigrants’ social media accounts. Host Anna Diakun explores the chilling effect this digital surveillance has on the speech and associations of millions of people around the world. Guest Faiza Patel, Senior Director of the Liberty and National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses not only the legal concerns raised by the government’s social media surveillance program but also the lack of evidence that it serves any national security purpose. Journalist and 404 Media co-founder Joseph Cox shares his findings about the array of surveillance technologies purchased by the government, and explains just how much we don’t know about how the government uses the information it obtains to make immigration and other law enforcement decisions.

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Episode Two

Episode Three: Singled Out & Searched

Citizen or not—anyone can be searched at the border. Border agents may search messages, photos, and other intimate data on your personal phone, tablet, or other devices. Host Ramya Krishnan hears from documentary filmmaker Akram Shibly about his experience being detained and having his phone searched—twice—by officials at the U.S.-Canadian border. Knight Institute attorney Stephanie Krent addresses the constitutionality of such searches and why warrants should be required.

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Episode Three

Episode Four: Spyware—The Authoritarians’ Favorite Tool

It's not new for repressive governments to go after journalists. What is new is the ease with which they can do so—by turning journalists’ own phones against them. Host Alex Abdo explores the pernicious commercial spyware industry, and how repressive governments around the world use spyware to target journalists and activists. John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, speaks about the technical capacities of commercial spyware products to infect a device without the user’s knowledge. Salvadoran news site El Faro co-founder Carlos Dada and digital content editor Nelson Rauda Zablah recount their experiences being targeted with spyware (likely by their own government), and seeking legal recourse with the help of the Knight Institute.

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Episode Four

Episode Five: The Free Speech Costs of Banning TikTok

From the first Trump administration to the Biden administration, the fight to ban TikTok has cut across conventional partisan and ideological lines. In this episode, host Ramya Krishnan explores the ban as an affront to our First Amendment right to receive information and ideas from abroad. Georgetown Law professor and tech regulation expert Anupam Chander highlights the government’s glaring lack of evidence that TikTok poses a national security threat. Signal Foundation President Meredith Whittaker explains why concerns about data collection and foreign disinformation aren’t limited to TikTok and why we need solutions that rein in the rapacious surveillance practices of U.S. platforms, too.

Transcript: “Speech & the Border” Episode Five

Season Credits

Co-Producers: Ann Marie Awad and Kushal Dev
Hosts and Writers: George Wang, Anna Diakun, Ramya Krishnan, and Alex Abdo
Executive Producer: Candace White
Interviewing, writing, and creative direction: Carrie DeCell
Music: Grayton Newman and Epidemic Sound
Engineer: Patrice Mondragon
Fact-Checkers: Kushal Dev, Roni Gal-Oz, and Teddy Wyche
Art: Nash Weerasekera

Special thanks to Hangar Studios