We defend and promote free expression in the technology age. The internet and other electronic mediums function as a modern public square, and the movement of speech online should not diminish foundational rights to freedom of speech, expression, association, and inquiry.
We regularly work to support the right of people to engage in important critique and speak anonymously on the internet. Our work has included Hey v. Twitter (amicus brief in support of anonymous online speech), In Re Ex Parte Application of Dr. Fredric Eshelman (anonymous online speech), In re DMCA § 512(h) Subpoena to Twitter, Inc. (anonymous online speech), X Corp. (data-driven criticism of corporation) v. CCDH, Taylor Swift Attempts to Silence Critic, ACLU Fires Back, and Twitter Subpoenas Chill Free Speech.
We make sure people have access to online information, including work to stop improper internet filtering in schools and libraries.
We work to ensure that intellectual property protections are not improperly used to undermine privacy, free expression and inquiry, access to information, and other fundamental rights. Our work has included defending a parody that was supporting LGBTQ rights, challenging patents on breast cancer genes that restricted access to genetic testing, medical care, and cancer research, and supporting security researchers identifying privacy and security threats with RFID technology.
We work to protect free speech online from unconstitutional state laws, while ensuring that privacy can be protected. We filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit explaining the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act’s constitutional defects, but urged the court to rule narrowly and recognize that a different consumer privacy law could pass constitutional muster. The brief canvases the many harms that can flow from private actors’ collection, aggregation, use, and sharing of people’s sensitive information, and the vital role consumer privacy laws could play in preventing or remediating those harms. It then discusses avenues that legislators can take to protect consumer privacy without infringing free speech.