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
LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
-
-
Press Statement
Knight Institute Comments on DOJ’s Revised Regulations Limiting the Seizure of Journalists’ Records
Says policy has deficiencies but is a foundation for further reform
LITIGATION & ADVOCACY
-
Lawsuit
National Association of Immigration Judges v. Neal
A lawsuit challenging a government policy silencing immigration judges
-
FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. ODNI
A FOIA lawsuit for the immediate release of the U.S. intelligence report on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi
-
FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. CDC
A FOIA lawsuit seeking policies restricting CDC employees' speech
RESEARCH
-
Essays and Scholarship
Fake News, Lies, and Other Familiar Problems
A guide to thinking about the best way to navigate the contemporary crises of the American public sphere
By Sam Lebovic -
Essays and Scholarship
Presuming Trustworthiness
How the Supreme Court has abandoned once-positive assumptions about press speech, even while embracing the trustworthiness of other speakers, and what it might mean for democracy
By RonNell Andersen Jones & Sonja R. West -
Essays and Scholarship
Weaponized from the Beginning
A century-old specter of propaganda and lies distorting the public sphere is raised as intermediary institutions that manage unregulated speech are undermined
By John Fabian Witt
Events
Online
Book Talk: Voices in the Code
A conversation with David G. Robinson, Deborah Raji, Arvind Narayanan, and J. Nathan Matias about how algorithms shape key moments in our lives
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?
