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
Coalition for Independent Technology Research v. Rubio
A challenge to an immigration policy targeting tech researchers and online safety workers
LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Press Statement
Legal Organizations Across Ideologies Urge Appeals Court to Uphold Block on President Trump’s Unconstitutional Attacks on Harvard
Last year, a federal court blocked the Trump administration’s efforts at a hostile ideological takeover of Harvard University
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Press Statement
Public Needs Greater Transparency Into How Generative AI Systems Are Built
Knight Institute urges Ninth Circuit to reject xAI’s bid to block California law requiring disclosures about generative AI training data
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Press Statement
Federal Court Suspends Trump Immigration Policy Targeting Technology Researchers
Court finds policy likely violates the First Amendment by targeting protected research and advocacy based on viewpoint
Our Docket
Showing 41–50 of 97
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Lawsuit
Zuckerman v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
A case arguing that Section 230 protects tools that empower people to control what they see on social media.
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Lawsuit
Doc Society v. Rubio
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
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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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Amicus Brief
Moody v. NetChoice & NetChoice v. Paxton
Supreme Court cases challenging Florida and Texas laws regulating social media platforms
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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
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
O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier
A Ninth Circuit case addressing the application of the First Amendment to government officials’ social media accounts
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FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. CIA
A FOIA lawsuit seeking records on the government’s use of “spyware”
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Amicus Brief
United States v. Sultanov
An Eastern District of New York case addressing the constitutionality of warrantless cellphone searches at the border