Litigation
The Institute defends the freedoms of speech and of the press through strategic litigation designed to have a meaningful impact on the law, on public policy, and on public opinion. We litigate cases that have the potential to establish important new legal principles concerning the system of free expression, to influence the practices of powerful actors in that system, and to raise public awareness about contemporary structural threats to that system. We focus especially on complex and challenging cases that relate to new technology, including new communications platforms, and we favor cases that afford us the opportunity to draw on insights generated by our research program.
Our litigation prioritizes cases in our three focus areas, Free Speech & Social Media, Transparency & Democracy, and Privacy & Surveillance.
Featured
The Foundation for Global Political Exchange v. Department of the Treasury
A case challenging OFAC’s suppression of the exchange of political ideas
LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Press Statement
Knight Institute Reacts to Supreme Court Argument in Murthy v. Missouri
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments in a case alleging that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by pressuring—or “jawboning”—the social media companies into removing apparent misinformation relating to public health and the 2020 U.S. elections. The Knight...
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Press Statement
Knight Institute Comments on Supreme Court Ruling on Public Officials and Social Media Blocking
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court today adopted a new rule for determining when public officials who use personal social media accounts may be liable when they block people or delete comments. The decision came in Lindke v. Freed, a case...
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Deep Dive
In a victory for free speech, lawsuit challenging mail digitization in jails will move forward
Case brought by incarcerated people and their loved ones in San Mateo, California
By Jennifer Jones
Our Docket
Showing 1–10 of 62
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Amicus Brief
Moody v. NetChoice & NetChoice v. Paxton
Supreme Court cases challenging Florida and Texas laws regulating social media platforms
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Lawsuit
The Texas Tribune v. Caldwell County
A case challenging the exclusion of the press and public from bail hearings in Caldwell County, Texas.
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Lawsuit
Doc Society v. Blinken
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
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Lawsuit
National Association of Immigration Judges v. Neal
A lawsuit challenging a government policy silencing immigration judges
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Amicus Brief
Murthy v. Missouri
A Supreme Court case challenging the Biden administration’s alleged efforts to censor disinformation online
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Lawsuit
The Foundation for Global Political Exchange v. Department of the Treasury
A case challenging OFAC’s suppression of the exchange of political ideas
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Amicus Brief
X Corp. v. Center for Countering Digital Hate
A lawsuit claiming that public-interest research violated a platform’s terms of service
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Lawsuit
Coalition for Independent Technology Research v. Abbott
A case challenging the application of Texas’s TikTok ban to public university faculty
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Amicus Brief
Lindke v. Freed
One of two Supreme Court cases addressing the application of the First Amendment to government officials’ social media accounts