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
Zuckerman v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
A case arguing that Section 230 protects tools that empower people to control what they see on social media.
LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Press Statement
Knight Institute, First Amendment Scholars File Amicus Brief in Case Challenging SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
Say requiring public companies to make climate-related disclosures does not violate First Amendment
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Press Statement
Federal Court Says National Institutes of Health Censored Critics on Social Media in Violation of First Amendment
Knight Institute, PETA, and Animal Legal Defense Fund say decision is victory for free speech online
Our Docket
Showing 1–10 of 67
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Amicus Brief
Armendariz v. City of Colorado Springs
A case challenging searches and seizures of electronic devices and social media accounts by the Colorado Springs police after a 2021 housing rights march.
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Amicus Brief
Iowa v. Securities Exchange Commission
Litigation challenging the SEC’s climate disclosure rule
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Amicus Brief
TikTok v. Garland
A petition before the D.C. Circuit challenging the federal TikTok ban
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Amicus Brief
Lindke v. Freed
A Sixth circuit case addressing the application of the First Amendment to government officials’ social media accounts
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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
A.B.O. Comix v. San Mateo County
A lawsuit challenging the digitization and destruction of mail in San Mateo County’s jails
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Amicus Brief
Alario v. Knudsen
A Ninth Circuit appeal addressing a challenge to Montana’s TikTok ban.
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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. 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