Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 39, No. 112.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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        Date: 2025-08-20 04:59:16+00:00
        From: Tromble, Rebekah <rtromble@email.gwu.edu>
        Subject: New CITR report on The State of Independent Technology Research

Dear Colleagues,

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR) today released its
inaugural report “The State of Independent Technology Research 2025: Power
in Numbers,” <https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/>
showing how the collapse of support for public-interest research is a
threat to not only the researchers behind the work, but people’s deeper
understanding of the technology shaping their everyday lives. The report
<https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/> serves as both an
accountability check on the tech industry and a call to arms for
researchers.

 From shrinking funding and institutional censorship to legal threats,
harassment and surveillance, the report
<https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/> is a glaring signal
that the public infrastructure needed to study technology’s impact is under
attack. This comes at a time when trillion-dollar technology companies have
outsized influence on how we learn, work, communicate and govern. While
their power grows, the resources to study their impact and hold them
accountable have dissipated.

The report <https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/> surveyed
independent researchers behind some of the most important tech
accountability stories—from harms to children’s mental health, to
algorithmic bias, to AI’s risks to labor and civil rights—and found they
are often underfunded, lacking infrastructure, and exposed to risk. The
report <https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/> draws on
dozens of interviews, surveys, and case studies from across six continents
to document an unprecedented crisis facing independent technology research.

Key Findings <https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/>: These
statistics signal the systematic erosion of independent oversight over the
most powerful technologies in human history.

    -    Barriers to Information: Researchers report barriers to accessing the
    data essential for studying how technology affects society. 60% face
    barriers accessing the data essential for studying how technology affects
    society
    -    Funding Collapse: Philanthropy and public funding are insufficient in
    comparison to industry-dominated research agendas and funding, leaving
    critical areas unstudied. 85% of researchers identify funding as their
    most significant challenge, with many forced to choose between research
    independence and financial survival
    -    Retaliation and Risk: Researchers face personal and professional
    retribution including harassment and legal threats, both from the
    technology industry and political actors. Nearly 70% of respondents
    report safety or security threats once unimaginable in our field.

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research is not idly standing by.
Coalition members are building collective power to defend the right to
research and free information. Through coordinated advocacy, mutual aid,
cross-border solidarity and public education, Coalition members work
together to ensure that public interest technology researchers are
protected, supported, and free to ask the hard questions, so that knowledge
about technology’s impacts isn’t controlled by corporations, but belongs to
the public.

Read the full report here
<https://independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-2025/>. And please help us
circulate these important findings.

Rebekah
---
Dr. Rebekah Tromble
Director of Global Partnerships, Institute for Information, the Internet,
and Democracy, Northeastern University |
Professor of Political Science and Computer Science, Northeastern
University |



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