James Tager

James Tager is the Research Director for PEN America, a literary and human rights advocacy organization headquartered in New York City, where he has lead PEN America’s engagement on free expression advocacy relating to China. Tager’s research on the subject includes the PEN America reports Splintered Speech: Digital Sovereignty and the Future of the Internet (June 2021); Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing: The US Film Industry and Chinese Govt. Influence (Aug. 2020); Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls on Social Media in China (March 2018); Writing on the Wall: Disappeared Booksellers and Freedom of Expression in Hong Kong (Nov. 2016), and Darkened Screen: Constraints on Foreign Journalists in China (Sep. 2016). Tager previously worked with the International Commission of Jurists—Asia & Pacific Program, and has lived and worked in Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Tager holds a BA from Duke University and a JD from Harvard Law School.