Same as it ever was…

Brett Max Kaufman and I wrote this piece about the NSA's "vocabulary of misdirection" a long time ago but maybe someone at Open AI should read it. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Please look at Baby Globe. Happy birthday, @wikipedia.org, the last best thing in the internet.

In this CDT Tech Talk, @riana.bsky.social and I talk about Grok and the challenges inherent in preventing the generation of NCII by generative AI systems. The Grok case is undoubtedly extreme, but it highlights some thorny speech issues that we need to grapple with.

It's important that lawmakers are demanding answers here. Every user of social media (including our clients in the cases we've filed) deserves to know whether companies are stepping up to protect them or selling them out to a repressive government.

“‘The fact that Amazon is reconsidering their relationship with Flock should be a very large and glaring sign that schools should also perhaps reconsider that relationship,’ said Kristin Woelfel, policy counsel for equity in civic technology at the nonprofit CDT.”

“Each little dot: a person.”

Read @aliyabhatia.bsky.social on the need for multilingual evaluations of AI models. As these systems become further integrated into existing services and content moderation practices, how they work (or don't work!) in languages other than English becomes even more critical.

So BEFORE anyone asks, it's STILL the Streisand Effect. It's not the Talarico Effect or the Colbert Effect or the Brendan Carr Effect. It's the Streisand Effect.

As an attorney with occasional experience with the Equal Time rule, I can explain what's going on here and how the FCC's Brandon Carr is leveraging his position to force late night and daytime talk show hosts to exclude Democratic candidates. First I need to explain the Equal Time rule itself. 1/

Let me just make a few little adjustments to that title… “How a scientist with a PhD in Geology and 25 years of experience is helping lead California’s earthquake work” Way to devalue my experience.

I’m in New York this weekend to see Hilary Harnischfeger’s show, Songs for Clouds, at uffner & liu. There are still beautiful things. Check it out! uffnerliu.com/artists/28-h...

The ACLU (including my team) has filed multiple actions to block subpoenas sent by DHS to identify people speaking out against its abuses. Today's NYT story shows that those cases are the tip of the iceberg: DHS has sent HUNDREDS of subpoenas to tech companies. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

👋 EFF's team of activists, lawyers, and technologists regularly take on multiple threats to digital rights and privacy. We've noticed, we're not distracted, and we'll be fighting back.

Will India truly forge a 'third way' at the #AIImpactSummit next week in Delhi or further entrench Big Tech actors' roles in the Global South at the expense of local alternatives? Great read by @ambakak.bsky.social and Astha Kapoor: restofworld.org/2026/india-a...

That's right. www.thefire.org/news/fire-su...

100% this. And I can’t imagine a better messenger.

Dinking around in the St. Clair v. xAI docket, I found that xAI is indeed raising Section 230 as a defense to liability for Grok's bikini pics, as previewed in its opposition to a PI. ("Does 230 apply to gen AI outputs?" is a Q courts haven't answered yet.) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This is so cool, folks.

NEW: ProPublica went inside the detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of what comes next.

the bushes were people 😂

When I wrote Section 230 I did so knowing it would be critical for protecting free speech online. 30 years later and it’s one of the last things standing in the way of Republican censorship of the internet. Here’s to many more years of defending this vital safeguard of free speech.

Hey, remember that time I said that pointing out that AI is giving bad data to ICE is missing the point because ICE doesn't actually care if the data is good? Check out how right I am.

Thank you, Victor. I spent a few weeks on this. As usual, it’s always a negotiation with length. So a few other bon mots: 1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...

The DOJ’s renewed push for Minnesota’s Medicaid, SNAP & voter roll data isn’t isolated — it builds on a year of federal efforts to consolidate highly sensitive state data. CDT’s Elizabeth Laird, Quinn Anex-Ries & Maddy Dwyer unpack why this moment is so alarming.

It kinda went under the radar (or, worse, was celebrated) last week when @gavinnewsom.bsky.social announced he was investigating TikTok's moderation practices based on a random complaint on X. It was bad when DeSantis & Abbott wanted to do that to Twitter. It's bad when Newsom does it with TikTok.

I keep seeing pundits describe how the Administration is “deescalating” and “taking the tone down” yet this week they’ve claimed dramatically expanded authority for arrests and argued they can enter your home without a warrant

Meanwhile X itself notoriously changed its terms, with no user consent, to scrape that EXACT SAME user data to train Grok. X can can scrape your posts to make deepfake porn, but it's censorship if anyone tries to *document* X's behavior using DSA research rights. 5/ www.forbes.com/sites/antoni...

I haven't read the leaked 183-page Commission Decision against X, but I am reading the House Judiciary Committee's X posts about it and the worst stuff they could find is... preposterously weak. judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su... x.com/JudiciaryGOP...

NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...

How *should* age verification technologies balance risks to rights and important child safety goals? Here's what we think: #AgeVerifyFTC

FTC Commissioner Meador notes that AI and ML can help online services estimate users' ages using their patterns of use. We've argued that that's experimental at best, and will restrict *many* users from accessing online services and their rights at worst #AgeVerifyFTC: cdt.org/insights/age...

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The Good-Pretti Act of 2026 Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code is amended as follows: strike the phrase “of any State or Territory” and replace it with “of the United States or of any State or Territory.” Passing this should be a prerequisite for any DHS funding compromise.

I am. But there are three things at play here regarding ICE collecting private data. Quick rundown on the issue, why you should be paying attention, and what I'm doing about it:

People all over the country are sharing information about ICE activities. Anonymity is a safety tool. DHS has been trying to get information on anonymous accounts without sufficient process and really only because they don't like that they are a tool of accountability.

Lot of conservative dudes out there telling on themselves by being astounded by a level of ”logistics” that the average mom has to manage every fucking day

One thing that irks me: people keep calling the folks on the streets in Minneapolis protestors. They are not generally there to protest, they are there to observe and document. This is the product of organizing and mutual aid. It is telling that these acts of citizenship are seen as protest!

All you need to do is look at this baby to know he is beloved. Look at his hat, his warm coat, his backpack. This child is cherished - and that love is what they weaponized against him and his family.

The TikTok deal has improved the privacy of exactly no one and has done nothing to improve national security. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

Come work with @nullset.bsky.social!

Read this!

It's happening. OpenAI is piloting ads in ChatGPT. openai.com/index/our-ap... In introducing ads to ChatGPT, OpenAI is starting down a risky path. (1/5)

Flash bangs are dangerous! Just because they aren't "designed" to kill anyone doesn't mean it's ok throw them at cars full of children, protesters, or anyone, really. www.scientificamerican.com/article/less...

It absolutely matters.

This is very cool.

If the Eagles lose this game Vic Fangio should get to fistfight Kevin Patullo and Nick Sirianni

If you're a pundit, you cannot evaluate the *effectiveness* of local organizing from your couch or office. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

another thing worth repeating about the Grok "situation" theres an essentially infinite amount of consensually made adult content online to fit every possible preference, kink and desire making deepfake porn of others without their consent is about twisted power and control, not being horny

"On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns." —Becca Good www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...