New ACLU and Amnesty International USA Report Documents Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech on College Campuses

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Friday, September 25, 2026

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New ACLU and Amnesty International USA Report Documents Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech on College Campuses

HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi — The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) and Amnesty International USA released a new report this week documenting widespread suppression and retaliation against students, faculty, and scholars engaging in speech and advocacy in support of Palestinian rights on college and university campuses across the country.

The ACLU of Hawaiʻi (“ACLU-HI”) has long been at the forefront of this discussion since the start of the genocide against Palestinians, with the affiliate’s Board of Directors passing a resolution opposing the United States complicity in Israeli actions and the Hawai‘i State Legislature being the first in the country to call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire.

The report, Student Speech Under Attack: Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech and Dissent on Campus, examines actions taken by higher education institutions, law enforcement, and the federal government since late 2023 against individuals participating in protests, organizing, research, teaching, and other protected expression related to Israel and Palestine. The two-year investigation reviewed incidents at 80 public and private colleges and universities across 28 states and the District of Columbia.

The findings come as colleges and universities nationwide continue to grapple with how to protect free expression and academic freedom while addressing concerns about discrimination, harassment, campus safety, and disruption.

Those questions are particularly relevant in Hawaiʻi, where the University of Hawaiʻi (“UH”) has spent the past year reviewing its policies governing free expression and campus demonstrations.

Hawaii's campuses are part of the national conversation

At the University of Hawaiʻi, discussions around campus free expression have intensified in recent months. In August, UH withdrew an interim Time, Place, and Manner policy that had taken effect July 1 and returned to its previous free-expression policy while continuing consultation with students, faculty, staff, and other members of the university community.

The interim policy had generated concerns about provisions including building setbacks, noise limits, and rules governing chalking and other forms of expression. UH President Wendy Hensel stated that the university would continue working with its community to develop a policy that protects free expression while allowing teaching, learning, research, and other university operations to continue.

For students and faculty at UH Mānoa and campuses across the state, the national report underscores the importance of ensuring that rules governing protests and political expression are applied consistently and without regard to viewpoint.

“Students should not have to choose between participating in their education and exercising their constitutional rights,” said Salmah Y. Rizvi, ACLU of Hawaiʻi Executive Director. “Universities have a kuleana to protect free expression and academic freedom for everyone, including students and scholars who engage in political advocacy, organize demonstrations, criticize government policies, or express solidarity with communities experiencing human rights abuses such as genocide.”

“Hawaiʻi has a long history of protest, organizing, and civic participation. Our campuses should remain places where students can ask difficult questions, challenge institutions of power, and engage in peaceful political expression without fear of retaliation,” Wookie Kim ACLU of Hawaiʻi Legal Director said.

Report documents nationwide retaliation against students

The ACLU and Amnesty International USA report documents disciplinary actions and other responses to pro-Palestinian expression at colleges and universities, including student suspensions, faculty terminations, restrictions on student organizations, and the use of campus and law enforcement resources against protesters. The report also examines increased surveillance of students and scholars and the targeting of noncitizen members of university communities.

The report documents cases involving noncitizen students and scholars who were arrested, detained, or placed in immigration proceedings in connection with their political advocacy, including Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Dr. Badar Khan Suri.

The organizations also examined federal pressure placed on colleges and universities over campus activism, including the use of federal funding and civil rights enforcement to pressure institutions to adopt policies affecting political expression and academic freedom.

“Universities and colleges must take all possible measures to ensure that their campuses are spaces where students may exercise their rights to freedom of speech and expression without fear of unwarranted punishment or retaliation regardless of viewpoint,” said Jennifer Turner, principal human rights researcher in the ACLU's Human Rights Program.

“Universities and colleges should prepare students for open discourse in a pluralistic society,” said Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA. “Students' rights must be respected, protected, and fulfilled.”

Protecting free expression in Hawaiʻi

The ACLU of Hawaiʻi urges the state’s colleges and universities to protect students' and scholars' rights to speech, association, assembly, and academic freedom, regardless of their viewpoint.

The report recommends that university leaders and law enforcement:

• Uphold free speech protections for all students and scholars, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, and race, and ensure that campus policies on political speech and protest are viewpoint neutral.

• Refrain from adopting overly broad and vague policies against discrimination and harassment that punish or chill protected political speech.

• Resist demands from the federal government that undermine academic freedom and students’ and faculty’s civil and human rights.

• Impose strict limits on the deployment of law enforcement and use of less-lethal / crowd-control weapons, especially in the context of protests on college campuses.

• The report also calls on the federal government and Congress to end efforts to target students and faculty members for their advocacy for Palestinian rights and to oppose legislation that would punish noncitizens for exercising their First Amendment rights or restrict expression concerning the Israeli government or Palestinian rights.

As the University of Hawaiʻi continues its own campus-wide conversation about free expression, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi encourages students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members to participate in that process and to remain engaged in protecting the fundamental freedoms that make higher education possible.

Read the full report, Student Speech Under Attack: Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech and Dissent on Campus, here

Read the executive summary here.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i strives to build an equitable society. Our mission is to protect and promote the civil liberties and fundamental rights enshrined in the United States and Hawai‘i constitutions through litigation, legislation, and public education. We serve – and center the voices of – our impacted and vulnerable communities, regardless of background, status, or circumstance. As a non-partisan non-profit organization, we provide our services at no cost to the public, and we never accept government funds.