Tech researchers are suing the Trump administration over the future of online safety
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Since its earliest days back in office, the Trump administration has been going after researchers who study and try to counter hate speech, harassment, propaganda, and disinformation online.
Key facts
CITR is represented by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute and the legal nonprofit Protect Democracy — It is suing Rubio, former US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, and former US attorney general Pam Bondi and asking the court to strike down the policy as unconstitutional
This story is part of MIT Technology Review ’s “America Undone” series, examining how the foundations of US success in science and innovation are currently under threat
The case has been brought by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR), an advocacy organization for tech researchers
Summary
Now, some of those researchers are fighting back. This fight started a year ago, when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X what he called a “visa restriction policy” against “foreign officials and other persons” who were “complicit in censoring Americans.” Since then, a handful of foreign officials and researchers have been barred from travel to the US, and in theory, anyone working in fact-checking or online trust and safety more broadly could face the same restrictions. Still, the exact implications of Rubio’s announcement are unclear—purposefully so, argues Carrie DeCell, a lawyer representing the researchers. The case has been brought by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR), an advocacy organization for tech researchers.