🆕 New CDT Non-Resident Fellow (NRF) blog: “Pause, Reflect, and Redirect: Helping Youth Make Better Digital Choices” by @pamwis.bsky.social (CDT NRF), @lizsweig.bsky.social & Aahil Valliani. This approach helps youth pause, think, and make safer online choices in real time. cdt.org/insights/pau...

📢 New CDT report by Kristin Woelfel: “State Public Benefits Administrators’ Guide to Complying with Existing Privacy Protections Amidst an Evolving Immigration Landscape.” cdt.org/insights/sta...

This time last year the big Q was how much AI affected elections. But what's changed over the past year? What will the 2026 midterms look like? This week @tharper.bsky.social and I published new @cdt.org analysis about the current status of AI & elections: cdt.org/insights/cou...

New report from @cdt.org led by Varun Rao and myself. "Think Twice Before You Search: Deterrence Messaging Designs to Prevent Searches for Non-Consensual Intimate Images" cdt.org/insights/thi... #ncii #onlinegbv #ndii #deepfakes

🚨 New report by Princeton University’s Varun Nagaraj Rao and CDT’s @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social: “Think Twice Before You Search.” This report explores how search platforms can use deterrence mechanisms like warnings, filtering, & friction to reduce the demand for NDII. cdt.org/insights/thi...

The Trump Administration should abandon this reckless Executive Order and allow states to move forward in ensuring that the U.S. can lead on innovating responsible and accountable AI systems.

The Senate rejected a similar measure earlier this year on a 99-1 vote following bipartisan outcry; it looks like they decided to reject this unpopular idea again. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

The President cannot preempt state laws through an executive order, full stop. Preemption is a question for Congress, which they have considered and rejected, and should continue to reject. www.axios.com/2025/11/19/t...

“The draft AI order would direct the Justice Department to challenge state laws regulating the technology on the grounds that they interfere with interstate commerce. @travisrh.bsky.social, state director for CDT, said the approach appeared to be unconstitutional.” www.washingtonpost.c...

Last week, CDT joined 40 civil society organizations in an amicus brief in Slaughter v. Trump, supporting FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter in challenging her firing as contrary to law. cdt.org/insights/sup...

CDT released new research on what teens & parents actually want from social media safety features. CDT’s @mluria.bsky.social & @aliyabhatia.bsky.social found that many policy proposals—like strict age checks or rigid time limits—often feel intrusive, ineffective, or disconnected from family needs.

“Among licensed special education teachers, 57% said they used AI to help with IEPs or 504 plans during the 2024-2025 school year, according to a new report from CDT. That’s up 18% from just one year prior.”

“Certain data, such as genomic and biometric data, is inherently personal and immutable, said Andrew Crawford, senior policy counsel for the privacy and data at CDT:” “

New from CDT’s @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social in @techpolicypress.bsky.social: Livestreaming platforms are facing troubling cases of child sexual exploitation. While services are taking steps to respond, families & experts still lack clear info ab these measures' effectiveness.

Celebrating purpose & mission-driven work from CDT in 2025. 🎉 Three CDT policy projects were recognized at the 5th Annual Anthem Awards — earning Silver across categories spanning DEIB and Responsible Technology. cdt.org/insights/cdt...

CDT’s @nullset.bsky.social joined @publicknowledge.bsky.social & civil society partners for The People’s Oversight Hearing—a public forum filling the gap left by Congress’s lack of oversight of the FTC, FCC, and CFPB in 2025.

Podcast transcript: “A new study that came out on October 8th and it was published by CDT looked closer at these romantic connections and found that one in five high school students have had a relationship with an AI chatbot or know someone who has.”

“Verifying citizenship is a good idea, but existing solutions are more secure and accurate than SAVE, said Tim Harper, a senior policy analyst focused on elections at CDT.”

Big news. Fresh reporting from 404 Media details how the Airlines Reporting Corporation, a data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines, will ditch a program that sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government - no warrant or subpoena necessary.

New from CDT & @nnedv.bsky.social: As more people disclose experiences of sexual & domestic violence through tech platforms, companies are increasingly responsible for handling sensitive, trauma-related info. The report outlines how tech companies can respond: cdt.org/insights/rep...

Today’s Executive Order on the foster care system directs states across the country to increase their use of AI tools in child welfare. As detailed in Maddy Dwyer’s report, however, these types of uses come with significant risks that can threaten the wellbeing of children and families.

“A report from the Center for Technology and Democracy found that student and teacher use of generative AI jumped noticeably between the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.”

Horrific and illegal activities are playing out across livestreaming platforms. Research by the Center for Democracy & Technology shows that platforms use three major approaches to address the problem, writes Dhanaraj Thakur. But do they work? Platforms must provide proof of their efficacy, he says.

“Meanwhile, A coalition of privacy and digital rights organizations—including the @aclu.org, @eff.org, and CDT—issued a statement asserting that identity platforms should be designed to prevent authorities from tracking when or where users present their IDs.”

CDT joins the disability community in honoring the life of Alice Wong, who passed away Friday. A fearless disability justice leader and MacArthur Fellow, Alice built unapologetic spaces for disabled people to share their stories and shape policy. Read more about her impact: www.npr.org/2025/11/...

CDT’s @isabelalinzer.bsky.social + @beccabranum.bsky.social's new report examines how creators, platforms, and policymakers are redefining political speech in the digital age. cdt.org/insights/arc...

CDT’s @isabelalinzer.bsky.social + @beccabranum.bsky.social's new report examines how creators, platforms, and policymakers are redefining political speech in the digital age. cdt.org/insights/arc...

CDT’s @isabelalinzer.bsky.social + @beccabranum.bsky.social's new report examines how creators, platforms, and policymakers are redefining political speech in the digital age. cdt.org/insights/arc...

“First things first: young people are using AI, including in school. Recent polling from the Center for Democracy & Technology shows 86% of students have used AI, including for personal and school use.” iapp.org/news/a/pare... Read the full report: cdt.org/insights/han...

Our recommendations aim to help governments, companies, and creators support a healthy, rights-respecting, and robust online speech environment. Hope you can check it out! cdt.org/insights/arc...

Political speech is indispensable and worth fighting for. At the same time, we all deserve an information ecosystem that’s transparent and empowers us to know who’s working (and paying) to win our votes and attention.

In "Architects of Online Influence," @isabelalinzer.bsky.social and I explore how political influencers shape online discourse — and how the financial and regulatory incentives surrounding them shape our democracy.

So excited to share @cdt.org's latest report, marrying my two great loves: free expression and campaign finance regulation! (Kidding - but only a little) cdt.org/insights/arc...

This sets a dangerous precedent for AI more broadly: without guardrails to avoid harmful outcomes, a huge variety of decisions impacting people’s financial stability, health & liberty will reflect histories of overt discrimination, a resurgence that will be disguised under an illusion of neutrality.

The CFPB is responsible for addressing AI’s role in credit discrimination, and this proposed rule disregards that responsibility. The agency should instead direct its efforts to ensuring creditors implement fairness testing to help them prevent discrimination when adopting AI.

Disparate impact is particularly important as AI is increasingly used in making fundamental decisions. Bias in AI’s training and design degrades its performance for certain protected groups, even without overt discriminatory intent. Disparate impact recognizes this.

AI itself doesn’t have “intent,” and people have no real transparency regarding how creditors use AI in any aspects of credit transactions. This makes it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to show that AI was used to intentionally discriminate against an applicant.

The CFPB proposed a new rule where it would no longer recognize disparate impact liability when enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This would eliminate a key protection against discrimination in access to credit, including when AI is involved. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

CDT’s @kateruane.bsky.social in @404media.co: “Providing tech services to supercharge ICE operations while blocking tools that support accountability of ICE officers is entirely backwards.”

CDT’s AI Gov Lab released a companion blog (by Amy Winecoff + @mbogen.bsky.social) to a report on AI risks for people vulnerable to eating disorders. It dives into the unresolved tensions of managing contextual AI risks:

For the second time this year, border agents set a record for warrantless device searches — over 16k phones, laptops, & tablets examined w/o judicial oversight. CDT's @jakelaperruque.bsky.social warns how AI could supercharge this invasive practice. cdt.org/insights/the...

As AI becomes more common in public benefits programs, ensuring meaningful human oversight is critical to fairness, accountability, and equity. Join CDT & Benefits Tech Advocacy Hub for this event. 📅 Dec 2 | 🕐 1–2 PM ET | 💻 Virtual cdt.org/event/human-...

And this Explainer on the convoluted legal landscape of the border search exception: cdt.org/insights/no-...

For our full CDT series on the border search exception, check out our previous posts ... This Guide on steps you can take to protect your personal information at the border: cdt.org/insights/pro...

DHS does not need probable cause suspicion to take your phone when you enter the US and fully copy it into its databases. It can then scan through it for any reason, and use AI tools to effortlessly pull up sensitive info It’s a massive & easily abused loophole for basic 4th Amendment protections

Cellebrite’s AI device scanning and analytics tool also lets users build out contact maps across various communications apps, and create detailed maps of individuals movements based on data within a phone. In a tutorial Cellebrite says it lets police be a “fly on the wall” in your life

What happens when AI tools are applied to this massive database? The prospects are alarming. For example, tools from Cellebrite (which DHS contracts with) allow users to rapidly scan through photo libraries for certain types of images, such as “Money,” “Tattoos,” “Nudity,” “Drugs,” “Screenshots”

Customs and Border Protection has for two straight quarters conducted the highest number of warrantless border searches ever. It maintains a database of tens of thousands of fully cloned electronic devices (all without a warrant), which thousands of DHS personnel can then sift through for any reason

NEW: In the latest in our @cdt.org series on the border search exception, we show how your devices can be searched, fully copied, stored with DHS for years, and have sensitive data harvested with powerful AI tools. All without a warrant. cdt.org/insights/the...

“According to a report from the Center for Democracy and Technology, approximately 68% of teachers indicate that they’re more likely to use an AI content detection tool regularly. But AI detectors have proven to be faulty. And those paying the price are students.”