Research
The Knight Institute’s research program aims to foster interdisciplinary scholarship and commentary about the First Amendment, particularly on issues relating to new technology. We host visiting fellows and scholars from multiple disciplines, and we publish essays representing a broad range of perspectives.
The Institute advances its own positions through litigation, as well as through our Policy Papers. Through our research program, we explore a broader array of questions, and we afford scholars and practitioners the opportunity to develop and present positions that are sometimes different from our own. We do this both to enrich public debate and to deepen our own understanding of the First Amendment. We aim to publish pieces that are well-argued, well-informed, and provocative.
Read more about the Institute’s research program here.
Read more about the Institute’s Visiting Research Scholars program here. Read about current and former visiting scholars and affiliates here. Read about the Research Advisory Board here.
Featured
The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times
A project aimed at identifying and protecting core press functions
Research Projects
Essay Series
Permission to Speak Freely? Managing Government Employee Speech in a Democracy
A project exploring the law and politics of public employee speech
October 2023
Essay Series
The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times
A project aimed at identifying and protecting core press functions
October 2023
Essay Series
Jawboning and the First Amendment
A research initiative studying governmental efforts to pressure social media platforms to change their content moderation policies and practices
October 2023
Report
Covering Democracy: Protests, Police, and the Press
Essay Series
Algorithmic Amplification and Society
A project studying algorithmic amplification and distortion, and exploring ways to minimize harmful amplifying or distorting effects
November 2022
Essay Series
Policy Papers
A series of papers presenting the Knight Institute’s positions and recommendations on questions regarding technology policy, privacy, and the future of free speech
January 2022
Essay Series
Lies and the Law
A series of public conversations and publications exploring what the law can and should do about the problem of lies and deception in the contemporary mass public sphere
September 2021
Essay Series
Data and Democracy
A Knight Institute and Law and Political Economy Project essay series considering how big data is changing our system of self-government
March 2021
Symposiums and Convenings
Mapping Social Media
A research project aimed at identifying the “logics” of social media
October 2020
Essay Series
Occasional Papers
An essay series tackling pressing issues at the intersection of speech, privacy, and technology
March 2020
Essay Series
The Tech Giants, Monopoly Power, and Public Discourse
An essay series addressing the tech giants' power to shape public discourse
January 2020
Essay Series
Free Speech Futures
An essay series reimagining the First Amendment in the digital age
August 2019
Essay Series
Emerging Threats
An essay series exploring new or intensifying threats to the system of free expression
March 2018
Essays and Scholarship
Algorithmic Amplification and Society
A Public Service Media Perspective on the Algorithmic Amplification of Cultural Content
An analysis of the cultural significance of music recommender systems
By Georgina Born & Fernando Diaz July 24, 2024
The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times
Innovation Policy and the Press
A survey of policy possibilities that could protect and sustain local news
By Christina Koningisor & Jacob Noti-Victor July 16, 2024
The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times
Distorting the Press
An exploration of First Amendment tools that protect publicly subsidized journalism against state capture
By Heidi Kitrosser July 16, 2024
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