Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

The Knight First Amendment Institute was established in 2016 by Columbia University and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to defend the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age. Our Litigation, Research, and Public Education efforts are currently focused on these three areas: 1. Free Speech and Social Media (Safeguarding the vitality and integrity of public discourse online) Conversations that once took place in parks, sidewalks, and public squares now take place largely online, and often on privately owned social media platforms. As a society, we are just beginning to grapple with the question of how the First Amendment and free speech principles should apply in these digital spaces. Our work in this area seeks to illuminate the forces that are shaping public discourse online, and to ensure the inclusivity and integrity of digital spaces that are increasingly important to our democracy. 2. Privacy and Surveillance (Protecting the privacy vital to free thought and expression) Our laws restricting surveillance and data collection are struggling to keep pace with new technology that can track and reveal our expressive lives in ever more detail, and with new business models that rely on the aggregation and exploitation of this information. Our work in this area is meant to illuminate the scope and impact of surveillance by government and private corporations, promote stronger legal protections for privacy, and enrich public understanding of the interplay between privacy and the freedoms of inquiry, speech, and association. 3. Transparency and Democracy (Ensuring access to information necessary for self-government) The First Amendment embraces the public's right to access the information needed to hold the powerful accountable and participate fully in the process of self-government. Our aim in defending and promoting transparency is not simply to compel the disclosure of information that the public is entitled to know, but to broaden public access to information through changes in government policy and the law.