There's been lots of excellent reporting on the political influencer industry in the past few weeks, so here's an overdue thread with my reactions to the news and some loose thoughts on trends🧵

This proposes a licensing scheme, also known as a prior restraint on speech. Those don't usually do well in court because they give the government too much power over what can be said and are presumptively unconstitutional. Thank you for your time. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/t...

We have friends everywhere.

Folks, this is how you do it. @accessnow.org not only held the line on foundational principles, but this statement itself is a brave act of resistance to authoritarianism. It illuminates the pressure, coercion, and transnational repression at play - all of which thrive in the shadows.

kudos to @rightscon.org for standing firm and not sacrificing principles or vulnerable participants. Zambian officials, evidently pressed by Beijing, caved and behaved like amateurs. it’s an example of how china seeks not only geopolitical power but wants to crush critical civil society.

Scholars at Risk is offering two new tracks of fellowships for early-career researchers on academic freedom! We have one track for scholars working on the US and one for scholars on global/comparative/other countries: www.scholarsatrisk.org/the-network-...

My New One at Slate: “The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Just Issued the Worst Ruling in a Century; This evisceration of the Voting Rights Act requires us to take SCOTUS reform more seriously.” @slate.com slate.com/news-and-pol...

My team is hiring! This is an early career role on CDT's elections and democracy team, based in DC. Please share widely!! cdt.org/careers/#op-...

A must-read: www.reuters.com/investigatio...

ICYM some of yesterday's bad news: the proposed DHS FY27 budget would entirely eliminate CISA's election security program

For @51st.news, wrote about my favourite park in DC: Malcolm X! When I heard about the park closing for the summer, I was distraught! My neighbor (or Park Uncle) was skeptical - he's heard of enough of these beautification efforts in his 41 years near the park 51st.news/opinion-malc...

Great article. Let's talk about Afroman and Section 230. 🧵

Life imitates art: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvjg...

Are you a recent law graduate interested in the First Amendment? Interested in working on issues where technology policy intersects with free speech, including generative AI, social media, trust & safety, and Section 230? Come work with the FX team at CDT! cdt.org/careers/#op-...

We’re hiring — help us spread the word! @tnridout.bsky.social @mikefranz.bsky.social

😮‍💨 www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Transnational repression for the AI age: www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/c...

Exciting opening on my team for a summer student research assistant! Looking for a graduate student in a technical field or with a technical background to come work on a project looking at AI and the future of content markets.

Ending online anonymity would not be some magic cure to “fix” whatever problems plague the internet. But it would make a lot of people a lot less safe, and much less free to speak.

cats, too! (jk, Search Party is a terrible service designed to create a dragnet surveillance apparatus. please stop!)

In an internal memo in May, Meta laid out its plans to release facial recognition in its smart glasses, to the blind first, & then to the general public. “Civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

Now would be a good time to read my @motherjones.com story with @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social about Pam Bondi’s insane plan to get voter rolls from all 50 states & why it poses such a grave threat to the right to vote www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

At the #AIImpactSummit, we (@cdt.org) will be hosting two sessions on February 16th and 18th digging into a few of these questions and more under the frame of building multilingual AI tools and how to put language speakers and communities at the fore. Please join impact.indiaai.gov.in/agenda

Thread for folks following the upcoming AI summit, non-english language AI, and/or Indian tech sector + role of government:

"For the most part, a company wants your wallet, not your liberty. The same cannot be said of this administration." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/o...

A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by name—citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.

We've started! Tune in on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/glO0_Sw...

“Political Influencers and Democracy in the Digital Age,” at the NYU Democracy Project electionlawblog.org?p=153990

Opinion: The ability to remember you and your preferences is rapidly becoming a big selling point for AI chatbots and agents. That creates the potential for unprecedented privacy breaches that expose not only isolated data points, but the entire mosaic of people’s lives.

From @isabelalinzer.bsky.social @beccabranum.bsky.social @cdt.org — "Political Influencers and Democracy in the Digital Age"

Next up in our "100 ideas" series — New by @isabelalinzer.bsky.social @beccabranum.bsky.social @cdt.org — "Political Influencers and Democracy in the Digital Age" Part of @nyulaw.bsky.social Democracy Project's "100 Ideas in 100 Days" Read the full piece here: democracyproject.org/posts/politi...

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

For anyone with questions about unmasking community watch groups or the claims that taking videos of ICE agents is the *real* threat to safety in US cities, @kateruane.bsky.social clears things up: www.techpolicy.press/americans-ha...

🚨 New report alert! 🚨 Our new study for the European Parliament on transnational repression in the EU is live! Co-authored with @zecsaky.bsky.social, @emiledirks.bsky.social, and @alexdukalskis.bsky.social: a great team to work with.

Predictable: www.wired.com/story/dhs-da...

Come work at CDT!! We just posted two really awesome new jobs: Senior Policy Analyst/Counsel for Privacy & Data and Research Director cdt.org/careers/

I'm hiring a senior policy analyst/counsel for the privacy & data team at CDT! "Inquire within"

On Jan. 7, the White House announced the United States’s departure from 66 multilateral organizations and treaties. @isabelalinzer.bsky.social and @aliyabhatia.bsky.social explore how the withdrawal will hamper the United States’s ability to advance human rights and civil liberties on and offline.

New from @aliyabhatia.bsky.social and me on how the US withdrawal from international organizations puts the globally connected, open internet at risk and threatens human rights worldwide: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

In Indian election/surveillance news, a BJP-run coalition is slated to win the municipal elections in Mumbai on a platform of using advanced "Japanese AI technology" to address civic issues including tracking and deporting "Bangladeshis and Rohingya" residents www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/b...

Sean Plankey’s re-nomination to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) comes as election officials urgently need clarity about what role—if any—the agency will play in protecting elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The decisions we make now about the true value of sovereignty will determine whether countries retain meaningful autonomy or become clients of foreign imperialism. A citizen is not a customer and sovereignty is not a service ↘️ giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

I wrote about Iran's protests for @theatlantic.com: how AI manipulation and the suspicion of it is being weaponised to dismiss real footage of protests. This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.

I really recommend this from @saskiabr.bsky.social. And while you're at it, subscribe to Democracy without Exception! Always good, grounded discussion that does the much-needed work of analyzing the US in a global context democracywithoutexception.substack.com/p/dont-count...

And sometimes they just say it out loud: business and profit > human life

DOJ has been demanding voter registration data from states. Texas sent theirs at the end of December. This is part of a major mess of privacy, (dis)enfranchisement, and elections trust issues www.texastribune.org/2026/01/09/t...

Just going to leave this here in case anyone's interested: "Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right—and that includes police and other government officials carrying out their duties." www.aclu.org/issues/free-...

New: My look at CISA's seven biggest challenges in 2026, from infrastructure protection and CIRCIA to election security and morale. Experts said workforce cuts would hamper critical activities across the board. CISA said it's "sharpened its mission." www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/cisa-7-...

There's an internet blackout in Iran designed to silence protest and quell dissent. Again. And it shows us the potential consequences of the US government's withdrawal from international spaces - particularly the Freedom Online Coalition. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/w...

Initial thoughts on US withdrawal from 66 IOs: 1. It's Bad, and indeed it's The Great Unravelling that @oonahathaway.bsky.social described. 2. Must remember that at least some of these orgs/treaties have withdrawal protocols that take time, a memo isn't magic www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...