Founded in 2001 by David Bollier, Gigi Sohn, and Laurie Racine, Public Knowledge is primarily involved in the fields of intellectual property law, competition and choice in the digital marketplace, and an open standards/end-to-end internet.

Its mission statement promises that the public interest group "promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works.

Public Knowledge is known for its nuanced thought analysis and policy proposals, such as its Section 230 principles to protect free expression online,[according to whom?]

[citation needed] Public Knowledge has led coalitions for efforts such as including broadband funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Since its launch, the PKTrains program has trained more than 20 full-time post-graduate fellows and many more student interns, externs, and others passionate about making the world a better place through good policymaking that puts people first.