Democracy is in retreat globally. In the United States, we often believe it can’t happen here — even while it’s happening here. I wrote this @freepress.bsky.social guide on the red flags of authoritarianism so we can spot and fight back. We have power. Let’s use it:

"Trump peddles disinfo on & offline to boost his own image, attack his adversaries & control public discourse. For someone like him, unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture people's attention & distort reality." - Free Press' @attorneynora.bsky.social via @afp.com

"It's worth noting that many on Twitter are trying to explain the rules to Musk, but that of course gets lost in the chaos." - Free Press' @attorneynora.bsky.social via NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/election-interference-claims-disinformation.html

⬇️ ICYMI: Watch yesterday's @knightcolumbia.org panel on #pressfreedom under Trump featuring @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, and @sonjawest.bsky.social at the link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNpK...

"Trump peddles disinfo on & offline to boost his own image, attack his adversaries & control public discourse. For someone like him, unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture people's attention & distort reality." Thnx @anujchopra.bsky.social @afp.com www.barrons.com/news/ai-pres...

Looking forward to this today. Join us!

People don’t seem to like billionaires controlling their lives and democracy. Good. We have to sustain collective and coordinated resistance to the authoritarian-billionaire doom loop.

Zohran won!!!

Trump's Big Lie infected the entire right flank, MAGA, Musk, platforms. Today's election saw leaders & platform execs coming out again -- 5 years on -- to repeat unfounded lies about election fraud. Thnx @stevenleemyers.bsky.social @nytimes.com for ft yours truly: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/u...

📍TOMORROW: A panel of legal experts and journalists discuss how to protect #pressfreedom and support journalists under Trump. Feat. @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, and @sonjawest.bsky.social. RSVP.

Can we get a damn data privacy/digital civil rights bill passed? Congress has held over 50 hearings about big tech, social media harms, data extraction, surveillance, and NO bills have passed.

Can we get a damn data privacy/digital civil rights bill passed? Congress has held over 50 hearings about big tech, social media harms, data extraction, surveillance, and NO bills have passed.

I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice. This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.

What happened with the Epstein files? Do GOP know more?

What happened with the Epstein files? Do GOP know more?

"The Trump administration hides its atrocities behind its atrocities, its obscenities behind its obscenities, its corruptions behind its corruptions. The ones this week distract us from the ones last week." @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/48CM3SF

Washington Post capitulated. LA Times capitulated. ABC capitulated. CBS capitulated. CNN capitulated. Support independent, pro democracy media like @status.news, @thebulwark.com, @crooked.com, @boltsmag.org, @the-downballot.com, @contrariannews.org and, of course, @democracydocket.com.

This was a really great discussion. Things are quite bad for reporters, protesters and the First Amendment. But newsrooms and civil society can develop defensive tools and plans to fight attacks on expression. Watch for more ⬇️

This was a really great discussion. Things are quite bad for reporters, protesters and the First Amendment. But newsrooms and civil society can develop defensive tools and plans to fight attacks on expression. Watch for more ⬇️

The govt — and even some of the public — want to make this an issue of immigration status. We can have that discussion about the legal routes to citizenship& being in the U.S. I find it far more troubling rational and empathetic people I know are not standing up for people battered by cops & ICE.

Good clip from the BBC debunking DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s lies. She claimed the video of ICE body slamming a 15 year old girl was stale video featuring Chicago PD, falsely suggesting that the innocent teen was a criminal.

It’s never ok for law enforcement to treat ppl as they’ve been treating immigrants & citizens. Nothing to do w/ their status or the law. The law is just the floor ICE has sunk below. It is an ethics Q why outsized groups of masked men intimidate ppl & violate property/privacy/bodies/constitution.

Trump's ballroom donors include: -Google, whose CEO thanked Trump for "resolution" of an antitrust case -Palantir, which has lucrative contracts with ICE -Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, who would profit from Trump's regulatory rollbacks for private equity Pay-to-play.

I interviewed Indivisible's @ezralevin.bsky.social & @antonioarellano.com about the media's spotty coverage of Saturday's massive #NoKings rallies. “No Kings did not end on Saturday," Antonio says. "It is the continuation of a movement that has been building all summer, & we are not stopping now.”

Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. By @nicolefoy.bsky.social

“We found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again," says Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University.

Democracy is a practice. Get involved. Stay vocal. Form habits of engagement. Bring friends. Run for something. Do more than one thing once a year. We need you.

#AMA abt your right to protest & this weekend's rallies. Last time we held these protests, a journalist in ATL was targeted, arrested & later deported for filming police. I worked on that case since June. I'm worried things are only worse today for free speech. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

On call for democracy and free speech all weekend. What are your questions? ⬇️

#AMA abt your right to protest & this weekend's rallies. Last time we held these protests, a journalist in ATL was targeted, arrested & later deported for filming police. I worked on that case since June. I'm worried things are only worse today for free speech. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

Next week, join me w/ this amazing set of practitioners and experts about Rights under Attack -- how DHS and the federal govt is wielding power & the military to chill our speech, target the media & silence dissent: www.exposedbycmd.org/2025/10/17/r...

This weekend, many thousands will be protesting. That's a protected First Amendment activity. DM me if you have questions about your rights, if you see people's rights being violated, or if you're a reporter needing support. #NoKings

📌 11/5 EVENT: A panel of legal experts and journalists discuss how to protect #pressfreedom and support journalists under Trump. Feat. @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, & @sonjawest.bsky.social. RSVP.

A court hearing is now underway to decide whether a federal judge should block President Donald Trump from deploying 200 members of the Texas National Guard alongside 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to the Chicago area. https://to.wttw.com/4h4acno

Law enforcement needs to rein in ICE's anti-press abuses and investigate ICE attacks on independent journalists in Chicagoland. A coalition of Chicago and national press freedom orgs explained why in a letter to the Broadview Police Department and Illinois State Police today.

"Earlier this week, a Boston judge ruled that the Trump administration has engaged in a campaign to censor students' speech — namely, students voicing support for Palestinian freedom and rights." - @attorneynora.bsky.social via Democracy Now! WATCH: www.democracynow.org/2025/10/3/ma...

Georgia depends on GFAF!

I'm on the board of the GA First Amendment Fdn, a tremendous space for defending open gov't, press freedom & the First Am. It's been a generative place in these contentious times. Oct 28, we're hosting our annual awards honoring some 1st Am. heavyweights. Join us! membership.gfaf.org/event-6288981

JUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Spoke with @scottbudman.bsky.social @nbcbayarea.com about Apple capitulating to DOJ pressuring they take the ICEBlock app down. They did. What’s next for a govt that has tech in its pocket & a quest for silencing speech it dislikes? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Mario was simply doing his job as a reporter when police targeted him. He was detained 108+ days, muzzled by the admin. Today, the US govt is deporting him to El Salvador, which he fled for safety reasons. This chilling practice seeks to silence dissent & truth. www.democracynow.org/2025/10/3/ma...

Amidst a violent crackdown, the Trump administration has set its sights on anyone monitoring its expanding immigration enforcement operations—and it’s turning to major tech companies to help, writes Free Press advocacy director Jenna Ruddock.

This is classic authoritarian behavior: using official power to cut off information access. Doing so thru the Apple App Store is simply a modern day avenue; of course DOJ won’t stop here. Likely gearing up to cut off messenger apps too. Thnx @mmasnick.bsky.social: www.techdirt.com/2025/10/03/d...

Mario was simply doing his job as a reporter when police targeted him. He was detained 108+ days, muzzled by the admin. Today, the US govt is deporting him to El Salvador, which he fled for safety reasons. This chilling practice seeks to silence dissent & truth. www.democracynow.org/2025/10/3/ma...

“This case is chilling for us all,” said Free Press’ senior counsel Benavidez. “And that’s the point — the administration will stop at nothing, not even the First Amendment, to bully people into silence.” cpj.org/2025/10/jour...

Student journalist Lucas Griffith faces trial today for covering a protest against the deportation of Ayman Soliman, who himself fled persecution for his journalism in Egypt. Lucas did nothing wrong. This is a big deal and would be national news in normal times.

“Mario Guevara’s deportation is a troubling sign of the deteriorating freedom of the press under the Trump administration,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Make no mistake, this is not a simple immigration case." cpj.org/2025/10/jour...

“This case is chilling for us all,” said Free Press’ senior counsel Benavidez. “And that’s the point — the administration will stop at nothing, not even the First Amendment, to bully people into silence.” cpj.org/2025/10/jour...

I will be live tomorrow morning w/ @democracynow.org talking about the state of free speech, press freedom & Mario Guevara, whose freedom we @freepress.bsky.social have been fighting for. Please tune in, 8am eastern. www.democracynow.org

Writers inspire us to be better. Right now, that is the very thing our government needs. This letter of more than 100 writers is a tremendous showing for freedom, reporting, and justice in the U.S. Honored to have been involved. @penamerica.bsky.social @pressfreedom.bsky.social