Since our last Independent Technology Researchers’ Summit in June 2024, the global landscape for independent technology researchers has undergone a significant shift. From government and corporate pressure, to lack of platform transparency and access to data, to funding crises, a rise in lawfare to discourage public interest research, and emerging technologies like AI changing the … Continue reading Independent Technology Researchers’ Summit 2025 – Less than 2 Weeks to Go!
A Win for Democracy, Transparency, and Research: Standing alongside DRI and GFF
By CITR Team
This week, the Coalition for Independent Technology Research proudly stood in solidarity with our members and peers at Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte, GFF) in Germany as they brought a critical case against X to the Berlin Regional Court. DRI and GFF challenged X’s refusal to provide DRI … Continue reading A Win for Democracy, Transparency, and Research: Standing alongside DRI and GFF
A Case For Ethical and Transparent Research Experiments in the Public Interest
By Sarah Gilbert, Michael Zimmer, Nathan Matias, Ethan Zuckerman
On April 26, moderators of r/ChangeMyView, a community on Reddit dedicated to understanding the perspectives of others, revealed that academic researchers from the University of Zürich conducted a large-scale, unauthorized AI experiment on their community. The researchers had used AI bots to secretly impersonate people for experiments in persuasion. Crucially, this experiment was carried out … Continue reading A Case For Ethical and Transparent Research Experiments in the Public Interest
Mapping the Challenges in Independent Technology Research
By CITR Team
The Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR) is embarking on a new research project called the State of Independent Tech Research Report, to map and examine challenges faced by independent technology researchers globally. Independent technology researchers play a vital role in helping the public navigate technological change. However, they face numerous barriers in conducting and … Continue reading Mapping the Challenges in Independent Technology Research