Public Statement on Research Freedom and Government Retaliation Against Independent Institutions

The Sustainable Media Center issues this Public Statement on Research Freedom and Government Retaliation Against Independent Institutions

NY, NY, UNITED STATES, January 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Sustainable Media Center issues this statement in response to actions by the Trump administration targeting independent research organizations working to document and address online harm, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). These actions include visa sanctions against GDI staff and public threats of investigation tied to their research findings.

These actions represent a serious escalation in the use of state power against lawful, evidence-based research organizations. They were not based on criminal conduct. They were tied to the publication of research examining social media harms, online hate, and antisemitism—work that has challenged powerful technology companies and the political interests aligned with them.

The Sustainable Media Center views this as an unacceptable threat to independent inquiry.

CCDH and GDI are part of a growing ecosystem of public-interest institutions dedicated to measuring and explaining how digital systems affect children, public health, and democratic life. Their work relies on data collection, analysis, and public reporting. Like the work of the Sustainable Media Center, it depends on the freedom to publish findings without intimidation or retaliation.

In response to the government's actions, CCDH stated:
"America is a great nation built on laws, with checks and balances to ensure power can never attain the unfettered primacy that leads to tyranny. We will not be bullied away from our work of fighting to keep children safe from social media's harm and stopping antisemitism online."

The Global Disinformation Index issued the following statement:
"The visa sanctions announced today are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship. The administration is using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with. These actions are immoral, unlawful, and un-American. GDI exists so that the public can understand and evaluate the information they find online. We fight speech with more speech."

The Sustainable Media Center agrees with this assessment.

When governments respond to research with coercion rather than engagement, they undermine the foundations of evidence-based policymaking. When immigration, regulatory, or enforcement powers are used to pressure research organizations because their findings are politically inconvenient, the boundary between lawful governance and retaliation collapses.

This moment is not about any one individual. It is about whether organizations dedicated to public-interest research can operate without fear that state power will be used to suppress their work.

The Sustainable Media Center affirms the following principles:

- Independent research and evidence-based analysis are protected forms of speech.
- Government retaliation against lawful research organizations is incompatible with democratic norms.
- Immigration and regulatory authority must not be weaponized against organizations whose research produces politically inconvenient findings.
- Studying and documenting digital harm is a legitimate and necessary public function.

The Sustainable Media Center calls on the administration to immediately cease retaliatory actions against independent research institutions, rescind visa sanctions and threats of investigation tied to published research, and reaffirm a clear commitment to free inquiry, due process, and evidence-based public debate.

Protecting the public requires protecting those who study harm. Suppressing research does not make harm disappear. It makes it harder to confront.

The Sustainable Media Center

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