On Wednesday May 13th, Coalition members and supporters gathered at the federal court in Washington DC. This hearing was for a lawsuit filed in March by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR) in partnership with the Knight Institute and Protect Democracy challenging a U.S. State Department policy that allows the deportation or denial of visas for noncitizen researchers studying online harms and the societal impacts of digital technologies.
The hearing was held before Judge James Boasberg to review the case and hear arguments surrounding our request for a preliminary injunction to stop the government from enforcing this policy. This hearing also marked an important moment to recognize the bravery of Coalition members who have been involved in the case, including those who submitted declarations in support of the preliminary injunction motion.
This policy has created a chilling effect across researchers within the Coalition, as well as the broader public interest tech research ecosystem. Researchers have dropped out of conferences and opted out of travel to meet with colleagues, shifted research topics entirely to avoid negative attention, and in some cases, even stepped back from affiliating with the Coalition out of fear for their safety. The policy is affecting researchers in how they live and labor, with thefear of being detained or deported from the US because of their work helping people navigate social media and AI safely.
“Researchers who help everyday people understand the impacts of Big Tech are scared that they and their families will be targeted for detention and deportation under this policy… At a time when AI is rapidly changing our lives and economy and people are already worried about their freedom and safety online, we need independent researchers more than ever. This policy is meant to censor researchers into silence and keep the public in the dark, and that’s exactly what it’s doing” – Brandi Geurkink.
The Coalition awaits the Judge’s decision on the preliminary injunction request. In the meantime, you can watch press remarks from CITR v. Rubio, review the motion from Knight First Amendment Institute, or read Brandi’s op-ed on Inquirer.com