As I write here, it's totally incoherent to immunize the president from prosecution on the theory that he can be held accountable through the political process — and then to suppress the information that might allow Congress and the public to actually hold him accountable.

Seems like a good morning to re-up @randomwalker.bsky.social @sayash.bsky.social 's recent piece for us: knightcolumbia.org/blog/do-ai-r...

AI as social technology - I gave the Astor Lecture at Oxford's Blavatnik School last week. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSE6...

Three things said about AI and social science: it's a topic to study, a thing to critique, a tool to use. My new Daedalus essay argues these aren't three conversations; they're one. A 🧵 on "Field Theory: AI as Social Science Question, Object, and Tool." www.amacad.org/publication/...

New from @randomwalker.bsky.social and @sayash.bsky.social: Responding to AI risks requires building broad resilience to harms through normal policymaking, rather than allowing the executive branch to exert extraordinary power over AI access and development. knightcolumbia.org/blog/do-ai-r...

Does rampant individualism make public media virtually impossible? New from me in @knightcolumbia.org "Reconstructing Free Expression" series, with thanks to @katygb.bsky.social, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social. knightcolumbia.org/blog/is-indi...

Writing for Columbia's Knight First Amendment Institute, political scientist Henry Farrell and statistician Cosma Rohilla Shalizi have produced the *definitive* account of how AI psychosis has infected our political classes: knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a... 24/

Episode 2 of "Lawyering Without Law" is out now. @katygb.bsky.social and Madhav Khosla speak with @hls.harvard.edu's @lessig.bsky.social about institutional corruption, economic dependence, and what happens when courts, Congress, law firms, and corporations drift from their founding purpose.

@alondra.bsky.social's work has been foundational to how I think about AI and democracy - her thread below ties a lot of things together, all worth reading! A key quote: "The Declaration of 1776 did not describe the country that existed. It named what was being demanded of the future."

this truly is the thing that makes the united states exceptional, and right wingers hate it so much they want to destroy it

This fall @knightcolumbia.org will host a workshop on the role of the legal profession in resisting authoritarianism. Authors will present draft essays to be published as part of our "Lawyering Without Law" project. The participants are an incredible group: knightcolumbia.org/blog/knight-...

By sheer coincidence of timing, my and @cshalizi.bsky.social new @knightcolumbia.org piece on how bad ideas about AI helped fuel the DOGE madness knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...

Excited about our newest @knightcolumbia.org essay from @himself.bsky.social and Cosma Shalizi, AI as Social Technology. Read Henry's 🧵 below for an overview - this piece offers a new way of thinking about AI's place in the longer Industrial Revolution, and how it will interact with bureaucracies.

This podcast series is part of @knightcolumbia.org's project on lawyering in an age of authoritarianism. If you're a lawyer, want to be a lawyer, or care about the rule of law, please listen to it and send it to all of your friends. It's really good. knightcolumbia.org/content/lawy...

This was a very interesting convo with @kimlanelaw.bsky.social on @knightcolumbia.org 's new podcast about the challenges of being a lawyer when law is being used for authoritarian ends, and what lawyers and law SCHOOLS should be doing about it. Recommended! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

We've launched a new @knightcolumbia.org podcast about lawyering and authoritarianism, and how law can function both as a safeguard for democratic governance and as a tool of its erosion. First episode is out 👇 and more to come, exploring the legal profession's duty to the rule of law itself.

🚨NEWS: @knightcolumbia.org & @protectdemocracy.org just filed a lawsuit on behalf of @thecoalition.bsky.social challenging the Trump administration's policy targeting social media researchers and trust & safety workers for visa revocation and deportation. More: knightcolumbia.org/content/tech...

We @knightcolumbia.org have started to post short essays from some of the scholars and advocates participating in our "Reconstructing Free Expression" project. I'm going to post the essays in this thread, as we publish them. They're really good! knightcolumbia.org/research/rec...

For our Reconstructing Free Expression series, @akapczynski.bsky.social proposes a People’s College offering govt-funded 2-year degrees to all U.S. adults, with institutions required to agree to standards that would make #highered more democratically accountable. knightcolumbia.org/blog/the-peo...

In a new contribution to our Reconstructing Free Expression series, @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social writes about how courts and Congress can curtail the government’s use of social media to surveil people’s First Amendment-protected activities. knightcolumbia.org/blog/ending-...

Just published the first post for our Reconstructing Free Expression initiative, by @jamalgreene.bsky.social: Free Expression in the Shadow State, proposing the creation of alternative "shadow" govt institutions as mechanisms to express & fight for public values: knightcolumbia.org/blog/free-ex...

This is the single most effective pro-vaccine piece I've ever read. Especially if you are also active on other, bigger social media platforms, share the gift link below. You might save a life. (I am already extremely pro-vaccine and I suspect most others on this platform are too.)

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

Looking forward to working with a lot of smart, committed people on this. One of the things that keeps me motivated is the belief that the post-Trump period (and there will be one) may be a time when genuine rethinking/rebuilding of democratic institutions is possible. We should be ready for it.

The arrests of Lemon and Fort are intended to deter journalists from doing work we need them to do, and that the First Amendment was meant to protect. DOJ should drop these prosecutions or the courts should throw them out. knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

No Kings is hosting what is shaping up to be the largest ICE Watch training in history tonight. Join here: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

Apropos of the TikTok news last week, I have a piece coming out abt how the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban-or-sale law belongs in the First Amendment anticanon. It's not just wrong, but so wrong we should hold it up as an exceptional symbol of wrongness. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=29132 Find your local ICE Out For Good event👇 and get out there this weekend. It is really important to peacefully demonstrate how angry we are right now. Make them feel it. I believe we will.

As someone who edits a lot of essays (including the one by Yoel that this book incorrectly quotes) - a good cite check process should have caught this. If I’d published a piece where an error of this magnitude somehow slipped past the checker, I would feel obligated to issue a correction.

NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader. So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.

How can scientists make a difference when democratic norms, institutions, & rights are under threat? Weds @ 12:30 ET join me, Jon Penney, Sarah Brayne, & @katygb.bsky.social for a @knightcolumbia.org panel on science, the courts, & chilling effects. WE NEED YOU 🫵🏽 knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...

Next Wednesday 12/10, 12:30 ET: Join our @knightcolumbia.org webinar to hear @natematias.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social @sarahbrayne.bsky.social talk about using social science to study chilling effects, and how courts use this kind of evidence: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...

Dec. 10: Join me online @knightcolumbia.org to talk with social scientists and legal experts about studying chilling effects: How can we use science to detect and measure chill? We'll get into study design, existing findings, & how courts look at social science: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...

Dec. 10: Join me online @knightcolumbia.org to talk with social scientists and legal experts about studying chilling effects: How can we use science to detect and measure chill? We'll get into study design, existing findings, & how courts look at social science: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...

The joy this man has doing his patriotic duty

Monday 12:30 ET: The chilling effects of the Trump administration's policies (and jawboning) are widespread - how are they being challenged in court, and what is the state of 1A doctrine on chilling effects? An expert panel will discuss, including current cases AAUP v. Rubio and UAW v. State Dept:

Call for proposals 👇 for our @knightcolumbia.org project on the legal profession in an age of authoritarianism: What is the role of lawyers in defending democracy? What factors contribute to lawyers’ role in either resisting authoritarianism or accommodating it? knightcolumbia.org/blog/call-fo...

We @knightcolumbia.org are doing two online events on chilling effects: First on 11/17 on the state of 1A doctrine and current cases involving chilling effects claims, and 2nd on 12/10 on using social science to study the chill caused by particular laws and policies. RSVP links below & in next post:

A striking feature of Trump 2.0 is that while elites capitulated immediately, ordinary citizens are using democratic institutions--e.g. the right to trial-by-jury--to the absolute hilt in defence of democracy. Robber barons and sincecured pundits gave in; the citizenry fights back harder than ever.

Thinking about how important the First Amendment right to record is to getting strong findings of fact like this from judges. The government will lie, so having footage - esp. from multiple views/angles - is crucial. And it's why journalists and those recording are targeted by law enforcement.

We @knightcolumbia.org are doing two online events on chilling effects: First on 11/17 on the state of 1A doctrine and current cases involving chilling effects claims, and 2nd on 12/10 on using social science to study the chill caused by particular laws and policies. RSVP links below & in next post:

Come have lunch and listen to a terrific group of experts discuss the future of press freedom on Wednesday Nov. 5 at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social, RSVP details below:

Appropriate moment for an info session on chilling effects and the First Amendment - details and RSVP here: knightcolumbia.org/events/litig...

Investigative reporting is so important! Charges dropped a day after @philinvestigates.com interview with the sheriff aired.

Want to learn more about chilling effects and why they matter to the First Amendment? Join our webinar with litigators and experts on Monday, Nov. 17, including @carriedecell.bsky.social @evelyndouek.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social @stacylivingston.bsky.social: knightcolumbia.org/events/litig...

Since moving to civil society, I've noticed a huge dearth of support for researchers working in the space - although there are tons of us! Come join this D&SxACLUxCDT event where we talk about the opportunities and challenges of research to support tech policy & advocacy!

Want to learn more about chilling effects and why they matter to the First Amendment? Join our webinar with litigators and experts on Monday, Nov. 17, including @carriedecell.bsky.social @evelyndouek.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social @stacylivingston.bsky.social: knightcolumbia.org/events/litig...

I will. I will also tell them about the courage of ordinary people that I see every day. I didn’t expect the elite cowardice, but I also didn’t expect the protests small and large, the tireless work to protect neighbors, the indie media outlets more than meeting the moment. That's what gives me hope