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
-
Press Statement
Knight Institute Urges Appeals Court to Uphold Ruling Invalidating Trump Policy of Deporting Pro-Palestinian Protesters
Says policy should be permanently blocked to protect students and faculty whose speech has been chilled
-
Press Statement
Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction Against Perplexity’s AI Agents
Ruling limits the reach of federal and state computer crime laws and helps protect independent journalism and research, Knight Institute says
-
Our Docket
Showing 41–50 of 97
-
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.
-
Lawsuit
Doc Society v. Rubio
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
-
Amicus Brief
X Corp. v. Center for Countering Digital Hate
A lawsuit claiming that public-interest research violated a platform’s terms of service
-
Amicus Brief
Moody v. NetChoice & NetChoice v. Paxton
Supreme Court cases challenging Florida and Texas laws regulating social media platforms
-
Amicus Brief
Murthy v. Missouri
A Supreme Court case challenging the Biden administration’s alleged efforts to censor disinformation online
-
-
Lawsuit
Coalition for Independent Technology Research v. Abbott
A case challenging the application of Texas’s TikTok ban to public university faculty
-
Amicus Brief
O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier
A Ninth Circuit case addressing the application of the First Amendment to government officials’ social media accounts
-
FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. CIA
A FOIA lawsuit seeking records on the government’s use of “spyware”
-
Amicus Brief
United States v. Sultanov
An Eastern District of New York case addressing the constitutionality of warrantless cellphone searches at the border