Surveillance
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Event
Secret Surveillance
Countering spyware’s threats to freedom of the press and expression
10:00 am - 12:00 pm ET
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Press Statement
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Wikimedia Foundation’s Challenge to NSA Mass Surveillance
Wikimedia Foundation, Knight Institute, and ACLU call on Congress to limit the NSA’s surveillance of internet communications
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Event
Spyware and the Press
A discussion about the threat that malicious surveillance technology poses to press freedom around the world
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Press Statement
Knight Institute, Gun Owners’ Associations Urge Second Circuit to Block NY Gun Law’s Social Media Disclosure Requirement
Say provision violates First Amendment and invites discrimination
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Deep Dive
NYC’s nightmarish plan to prohibit physical mail in jails should be abandoned
A move to digitize this correspondence has proved in the past to dramatically undermine the expressive and privacy rights of both incarcerated and unincarcerated people
By Stephanie Krent -
Press Statement
Knight Institute Comments on Supreme Court’s Denial of Cert in NSO v. WhatsApp
Says decision clears path for lawsuits by journalists and activists
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Deep Dive
Pegasus spyware was used to hack reporters’ phones. I’m suing its creators
When you’re infected by Pegasus, spies effectively hold a clone of your phone – we’re fighting back
By Nelson Rauda Zablah -
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Press Statement
El Faro Journalists, Knight Institute Sue NSO Group Over Spyware
Use of malicious software to surveil and intimidate journalists threatens press freedom around the world, lawsuit says
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Press Statement
Periodistas de El Faro y el Knight Institute demandan a NSO Group por un programa espía
Según la demanda, el uso de programas maliciosos para vigilar e intimidar a los periodistas amenaza la libertad de prensa en todo el mundo
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Deep Dive
U.S. Courts Must Stop Shielding Government Surveillance Programs from Accountability
The NSA’s surveillance of Americans’ internet use raises serious constitutional concerns, but the government claims a lawsuit against the program would compromise “state secrets”
By Alex Abdo & Patrick C. Toomey -
Press Statement
Wikimedia Foundation, Knight Institute, and ACLU Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to NSA’s Mass Surveillance
Groups argue the government cannot invoke “state secrets” to block court oversight
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Quick Take
Why is Biden Doubling Down on Trump’s Surveillance Policy?
State Department refuses to disclose Biden administration report on social media visa vetting
By Anna Diakun -
Essays and Scholarship
Privacy, Autonomy, and the Dissolution of Markets
Pathways from platform capitalism
By Kiel Brennan-Marquez & Daniel Susser -
Deep Dive
Reclaim the First Amendment — Harvard Law Review Address
Did the First Amendment serve us well during the “war on terror,” and will it serve us well during the age of social media, surveillance, and ascendant authoritarianism?
By Jameel Jaffer -
Inside Look
Knight Institute v. Federal Bureau of Prisons: FOIA Lawsuit Seeks Records on Mail Digitization and Surveillance
The Institute’s Stephanie Krent on how prisons are creating a digital dragnet with few apparent controls
By A. Adam Glenn -
Deep Dive
The Worrying Expansion of the Social Media Surveillance-Industrial Complex
Knight Institute submits FOIA requests into scope and details of government contracts
By Sinclair Cook & Michael DelRossi -
Quick Take
North Carolina Becomes the Latest State to Digitize Mail in Prisons
Program ratchets up surveillance and raises serious First Amendment concerns
By Stephanie Krent -
Inside Look
Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA: Targeting an Intelligence Program That Monitors Americans’ International Internet Traffic
The Institute’s Alex Abdo on why the NSA’s extensive, warrantless “Upstream” surveillance threatens privacy and free speech
By A. Adam Glenn -
Deep Dive
Are Human Rights Violations Becoming More Difficult to Hide?
In the post-/911 digital era, experts reflect on what they learned from the government's response to the World Trade Center attacks, and how the world of human rights activism has changed
By A. Adam Glenn -
Deep Dive
Writing to Someone in Prison? Uncle Sam May Keep a Copy.
Knight Institute lawsuit aims to bring new surveillance program to light
By Stephanie Krent -
Inside Look
Doc Society v. Blinken: Challenging the State Department’s Social Media Registration Requirement
The Institute's Carrie DeCell details how the requirement is a social media dragnet that chills the speech and associations of millions of people around the world
By A. Adam Glenn -
Press Statement
Knight Institute Seeks Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Records Concerning Surveillance of Incarcerated People’s Mail
Says the program raises serious constitutional concerns
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Deep Dive
What Is America’s Spy Court Hiding From the Public?
Unnecessary secrecy about government surveillance is bad for the intelligence agencies, the spy court, and our democracy
By Jameel Jaffer , Theodore Olson & David Cole -
Quick Take
Biden Administration Continues to Defend Social Media Registration Requirement in Court
Indicates that it may retain Trump-era requirement
By Carrie DeCell -
Deep Dive
A New Consensus Around Transparency and National Security Surveillance
Civil libertarian arguments that were dismissed a decade ago are now broadly accepted, even at the highest levels of the intelligence community
By Jameel Jaffer & Patrick C. Toomey -
Quick Take
A Promising First Step Towards Curtailing Social Media Surveillance
Agency rejects proposed expansion of dangerous screening and vetting policy
By Xiangnong (George) Wang -
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Quick Take
Biden Administration Signals Openness to Reconsidering Social Media Surveillance of Visa Applicants
Orders a review of a dangerous Trump administration screening and vetting policy and ends discriminatory executive order that led to it
By Anna Diakun -
Analysis
Clearview AI’s First Amendment Theory Threatens Privacy—and Free Speech, Too
Drawing the line around what is protected by the First Amendment is more challenging than you might think
By Jameel Jaffer & Ramya Krishnan -
Advocacy
Statement from the Staff of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Calls for reforms to protect protest and press rights and end police violence
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Press Statement
Twitter, Reddit File in Support of Lawsuit Challenging U.S. Government’s Social Media Registration Requirement for Visa Applicants
Companies argue that policy unquestionably chills a vast quantity of speech
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Analysis
Can Governments Track the Pandemic and Still Protect Privacy?
A new European contact-tracing tool looks promising
By Carrie DeCell -
Institute Update
Leading Legal Scholars and Technologists to Contribute to “Data and Democracy” Symposium
Symposium will take place online, October 15-16, 2020
By Katy Glenn Bass