Transparency & Democracy
Ensuring access to information necessary for self-government
The First Amendment embraces the public’s right to access the information needed to hold the powerful accountable and participate fully in the process of self-government.
Our aim in defending and promoting transparency is not simply to compel the disclosure of information that the public is entitled to know, but to broaden public access to information through changes in government policy and the law.
Featured
Essays and Scholarship
A Safe Harbor for Platform Research
Knight Institute policy paper proposes legal protection for certain research and newsgathering projects focused on platforms
By Alex Abdo , Ramya Krishnan , Stephanie Krent , Evan Welber Falcón & Andrew Keane WoodsLATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Press Statement
Knight Institute Comments on Order Requiring Government to Justify Withholding of Affidavit Used in Mar-a-Lago Search
WEST PALM BEACH, FL—A federal judge, Bruce E. Reinhart, today ordered the Department of Justice to propose and defend specific redactions to the warrant affidavit that was used to justify a search by the FBI last week of former President...
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Deep Dive : Press Freedom
The Espionage Act Has Been Abused — But Not in Trump’s Case
Reforms to the law are long overdue, but they have nothing to do with the Mar-a-Lago search
By Jameel Jaffer -
Press Statement
Knight Institute Comments on Espionage Act Reform Legislation
Says measure would protect press freedom but also calls on Congress to expand protections for whistleblowers
LITIGATION & ADVOCACY
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Lawsuit
ACLU v. CIA & Knight Institute v. DOD
Three FOIA lawsuits seeking records related to the government censorship system of "prepublication review"
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Advocacy Project
Knight Institute, Scholars Advise SEC That Proposed Climate Rules Do Not Raise First Amendment Concerns
Leading First Amendment scholars sign onto Knight Institute letter addressing constitutionality of new rules
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Lawsuit
National Association of Immigration Judges v. Neal
A lawsuit challenging a government policy silencing immigration judges
RESEARCH
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Essays and Scholarship
The CLOUD Act and the Accused
Privacy asymmetries limit access to evidence of innocence and are worsening in the global data economy. But the proper reading of a key statute could help reverse the inequity.
By Rebecca Wexler -
Essays and Scholarship
How the Biden Administration and Congress Can Fix Prepublication Review: A Roadmap for Reform
Prepublication review is a sweeping and broken system in need of repair
By Jameel Jaffer , Alex Abdo , Meenakshi Krishnan & Ramya Krishnan -
Essays and Scholarship
The Democratic Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
A case for focusing on forward-looking policy considerations rather than a rights framework in regulating “AI systems”
By Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar & Aziz Z. Huq
Events
Online
Lies and Counterspeech
To what extent can speech—disclosures, warning labels, fact checks, apologies, and/or counterspeech generally—defang the lie?
To what extent can speech—disclosures, warning labels, fact checks, apologies, and/or counterspeech generally—defang the lie?
Government Lies
Is it possible to prevent the government’s lies or limit their harms?