Substack says it’ll legally defend writers ‘targeted by the government’

Substack plans to protect foreign writers “residing lawfully” in the US who may be targeted by the government for what they write. The company is partnering with the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) to provide legal support to impacted writers — whether they publish on Substack or not — citing recent attacks on free speech.

In their announcement, Substack and FIRE mention the international Tufts University student who was arrested by federal agents last week. Her legal team links her arrest to an opinion piece she co-wrote for the school’s newspaper last year, which criticized Tufts for failing to comply with requests to divest from companies with connections to Israel. “If true, this represents a chilling escalation in the government’s effort to target critics of American foreign policy,” Substack and FIRE write.

The initiative builds on Substack’s Defender program, which already offers legal assistance for independent journalists and creators on the platform. The company says it has supported “dozens” of Substack writers facing claims of defamation and trademark infringement since it launched the program in the US in 2020. It has since brought Substack Defender to writers in Canada and the UK.