Coalition for Independent Tech

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research has filed a lawsuit with the @knightcolumbia@mastodon.online and @protectdemocracy@threads.net challenging a US State Department policy to revoke or deny visas of non-citizen researchers because of their work studying the societal impacts of technology. (1/4)

Independent tech research depends on shared infrastructure – tools, practices, strategies, and solidarity that can be sustained beyond institutions and funding cycles. Collective knowledge enables these shared infrastructures.

Recently, we hosted an edit-a-thon as a collective exercise in building and reflecting on a tools and resources hub. The focus was on how knowledge is shaped collaboratively, what’s useful, what’s missing, and how resources can travel responsibly across contexts. (1/3)

We’re happy to share that the Coalition for Independent Technology Research has been awarded a grant from Siegel Family Endowment as part of their investments in work to reimagine how people learn, work, and innovate for a more inclusive tech future.

Check out the diverse cohort of organizations who we’re proud to be joining:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/siegel-family-endowment-invests-15-4-million-in-grants-aimed-to-redefine-how-people-learn-work-and-innovate-for-a-more-inclusive-tech-future-302632567.html?tc=eml_cleartime (1/2)

What is digital authoritarianism?

A new book chapter by Coalition member Allison Wun-hui Koh, Anita Gohdes, and Maurice Schumann maps how governments use digital tools to manufacture support, suppress opposition, and preempt future dissent.

A sharp look at evolving tech-enabled repression. ⬇️

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111298559/html#contents

The State of Independent Technology Research Report – An Evidence for Collective Action ✊🏼

Despite mounting challenges, our survey with independent technology researchers across six continents and several disciplines reveals powerful evidence that researchers recognize the value of mutual support and collective action. (1/2)

Across sectors, public interest technology researchers are facing growing risks – surveillance, censorship, legal uncertainty, and inequitable funding. The conditions are often unequal across regions.

These stories don’t just evidence the crisis – they are calls for solidarity, mutual support, and structural change.

Read the full report: https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/

Tech companies and other powerful actors create and exploit artificial divisions within the research community: STEM versus non-STEM researchers, academics versus journalists, university-affiliated versus independent, senior scholars versus emerging voices.

These divisions are manufactured. What unites researchers is more powerful than what divides them: the right to conduct research that serves the public interest.

Read the full report! https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/

Join us for the launch of the RAIDAR Research Hub, a collaborative platform connecting researchers working on information disorder across Asia!

Brandi Geurkink (CITR) will speak on “Challenges to Funding Independent Internet Research” with Gbenga Sesan (Paradigm Initiative), moderated by Micheline Rama (The Asia Foundation).

9 Oct 2025, 7 PM Bangkok / 12 PM UTC
Register: https://asiafoundation.zoom.us/meeting/register/e1V8dpFbShSHs8FYDPK5tQ#/registration (1/2)

Our new report – the State of Independent Technology Research: Power In Numbers – maps the threats that public interest tech researchers are navigating across 6 continents. Yet, despite systematic attacks, Coalition members are building systems of protection and care that reflect the power of collective solidarity:

- Filing amicus briefs
- Building legal support systems
- Creating peer-to-peer support networks
- Facilitating information sharing

Read: https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/

A systematic shutdown of access to platform data has created what researchers call a “data desert.”

Twitter’s free API powered 17K+ studies. CrowdTangle offered rare insight into content virality on Facebook. Today, that infrastructure has disappeared.

How are you navigating the “data desert”?

Read more in our latest report, "The State of Independent Technology Research: Power In Numbers":
https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/

The State of Independent Technology Research report maps the funding landscape for public-interest tech research – drawing on experiences from Coalition members across six continents.

How are you navigating funding gaps in your work? 💭

Read the full report!
https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/

Recent headlines, like reports on Meta and its stance on research related to youth harm, remind us why independent technology research is essential. Without it, risks are downplayed, critical inquiry is suppressed, and the public remains in the dark.

Corporate research alone is insufficient to safeguard public interest. Independent technology research is not optional - it’s critical infrastructure for transparency, safety, and trust in a digital age.

Read: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/09/meta-children-safety-privacy-virtual-reality/