Espionage Act of 1917

E10089

The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.

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AI-generated illustration of Espionage Act of 1917

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of the Espionage Act of 1917 (The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.)

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (59)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute ⓘ
amendedBy Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
areaOfLaw constitutional law ⓘ
criminal law ⓘ
military law ⓘ
chamberInvolved United States House of Representatives ⓘ
United States Senate ⓘ
codifiedIn Title 18 of the United States Code ⓘ
controversy alleged conflict with First Amendment free speech protections ⓘ
use against journalists and publishers ⓘ
use against political dissenters ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
dateEnacted 1917-06-15 ⓘ
enactedIn World War I ⓘ
hasBeenAmended true ⓘ
historicalUse prosecution of anti-war activists during World War I ⓘ
prosecution of leakers of classified information ⓘ
prosecution of whistleblowers ⓘ
inspiredBy concerns about disloyalty during World War I ⓘ
concerns about wartime sabotage ⓘ
jurisdiction United States federal government ⓘ
legalDoctrineInfluenced clear and present danger test ⓘ
maximumPenalty death in certain cases ⓘ
passedBy United States Congress ⓘ
penaltyIncludes fines ⓘ
imprisonment ⓘ
presidentAtEnactment Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
primaryCodificationSection 18 U.S.C. § 793 ⓘ
18 U.S.C. § 794 ⓘ
18 U.S.C. § 798 ⓘ
prohibits conveying false reports to interfere with the military ⓘ
interference with military operations ⓘ
interference with military recruitment ⓘ
support for U.S. enemies in wartime ⓘ
unauthorized communication of national defense information ⓘ
unauthorized retention of national defense information ⓘ
publicLawNumber 40-24 ⓘ
relatedLegislation Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
Smith Act ⓘ
USA PATRIOT Act ⓘ
sectionFocus Section 3 on interference with the draft ⓘ
signedBy Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
statutesAtLargeCitation 40 Stat. 217 ⓘ
stillInForce true ⓘ
subjectMatter classified information ⓘ
espionage ⓘ
military operations ⓘ
national security ⓘ
wartime censorship ⓘ
usedInCase Abrams v. United States ⓘ
Debs v. United States ⓘ
Frohwerk v. United States ⓘ
New York Times Co. v. United States ⓘ
Schenck v. United States ⓘ
United States v. Chelsea Manning ⓘ
United States v. Daniel Ellsberg ⓘ
United States v. Edward Snowden ⓘ
United States v. Julian Assange ⓘ
yearIntroduced 1917 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (34)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lever Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917 → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Lever Act → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Lever Act → relatedTo → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
Espionage Act of 1917 → amendedBy → Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
Edward Snowden → chargedUnder → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Woodrow Wilson administration → notablePolicy → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Schenck v. United States → statuteInvolved → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Frohwerk v. United States → statuteInterpreted → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Smith Act → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Abrams v. United States → legalIssue → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Abrams v. United States → statuteApplied → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
United States v. Edward Snowden → legalBasis → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Sedition Act of 1918 → partOf → United States Espionage and Sedition Acts ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
Sedition Act of 1918 → amends → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Sedition Act of 1918 → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Debs v. United States → legalSubject → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Debs v. United States → relatedLegislation → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
United States v. Julian Assange → legalBasis → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
United States national security law → keyStatute → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Charles T. Schenck → chargedUnder → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
First Red Scare → legalBasis → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Frohwerk → legalIssue → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Frohwerk → chargedUnder → Espionage Act ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
The First Amendment did not bar prosecution of the defendant's antiwar publications under the circumstances of the case → basedOn → Espionage Act of 1917 prosecutions ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
65th United States Congress → enacted → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Act of Congress of December 13, 1920 → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Mollie Steimer → legalBasisForProsecution → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg → prosecutedUnder → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
subject linked to: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Samuel Lipman → convictedUnder → Espionage Act of 1917 as amended by the Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917
Wilson administration → legislation → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
court-martial at Fort Meade → legalBasis → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Classified Information Procedures Act → relatedTo → Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ
Thomas Drake → charge → Espionage Act violations ⓘ
linked to: Espionage Act of 1917