Operation Metro Surge pulled back the curtain on a sprawling DHS surveillance apparatus. I spoke to Irna Landrum from Kairos Fellowship and Alejandra Montoya-Boyer from the Center for Civil Rights and Technology at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights on calls for reform.

The DSA Human Rights Alliance has published a set of principles calling for more inclusive enforcement of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Read the full principles, available in English, German, and Spanish: www.eff.org/issues/princ... @eff.org

New Quinnipiac poll: 63% of voters disapprove of ICE 60% want ICE out of Minneapolis 58% want Kristi Noem removed from office

Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.

A ProPublica report on plans to use AI to write regulations at the US Department of Transportation should be a warning signal for public interest advocates and litigators, writes Jordan Ascher, policy counsel at Governing for Impact. It’s time to prepare for a flood of machine-generated rules.

“I think this really represents a tipping point. This is global condemnation of carelessly developed technology that could be generating child sexual abuse material and non-consensual, sexual imagery at scale.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

If we care about polarization, public discourse, and trust, understanding who’s actually making the content is as important as what they’re seeing.

I’m going to share some posts from amazing Wpost reporters who lost their jobs today. I’m regularly jealous of Nitasha’s reporting and know from my days at BuzzFeed that she is a wonderful and generous colleague.

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Solidarity with those who lost their jobs today because a capricious, greedy billionaire abandoned whatever loosely held values once led him to purchase one of the nation's great newspapers. History will only remember Bezos one way- not as an innovator, but as a base oligarch out of central casting.

“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

As cases involving AI summaries move forward, courts are grappling with how to assess fair use, says Robert Diab. At stake are key questions about how to treat copying by AI systems, how much summaries can resemble protected works, and whether they serve as substitutes that harm content creators.

"European security officials believe two Russian space vehicles have intercepted the communications of at least a dozen key satellites over the continent."

Your smartwatch, Ring doorbell, and Alexa monitor your most intimate moments, with data just a warrant away from the authorities. In @techpolicypress.bsky.social's episode, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson talks about his upcoming NYU Press book, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You."

really excellent assessment of House GOP claims about EU fine of X, showing just how seriously hollow the claims of censorship are. jordan & musk & friends overreach when they put out such patently tendentious reports, which could be boiled down to: don't you ever touch american platforms!

Floored by this story. A man wrote a pollite email to a federal prosecutor objecting to the deportation of an Afghan seeking asylum. DHS responded with an administrative warrant to get the man's info from Google, then visited his home to intimidate him.

A February 3 raid on the offices of X by the Paris prosecutor's office followed a year-long investigation that began in January 2025 and was expanded to include allegations related to the Grok ‘undressing’ controversy earlier this year. We’re tracking details here:

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The House Judiciary GOP has made several claims about the EU's decision to fine Elon Musk's X €120 million under the Digital Services Act, arguing it reveals the censorious intent of the European Commission. Do the Republican's claims hold up? Not so much, say Dean Jackson and Berin Szóka.

Excellent piece describing this administration's hunger for a one-stop shop with all of our personal data. DOGE, guided by Elon Musk, supercharged this effort by eliminating the traditional boundaries between data held and managed by separate government agencies.

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...

“You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated.” Always read @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link)

On January 22, South Korea introduced its AI Basic Act, which it claimed to be “the world’s first comprehensive body of laws to regulate artificial intelligence.” It’s a a risky affair for a relatively small market and a “middle power” country such as South Korea, writes Charles Mok.

"A new report from the Public Service Alliance finds state privacy laws offer public servants few ways to protect their private data, even as threats against them are on the rise."

New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok. The chatbot still produces sexualized images — even when told the subjects don’t consent. even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation. even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse. www.reuters.com/business/des...

"The French offices of the social network X, owned by Elon Musk, were raided on Tuesday, February 3, the Paris prosecutor's office announced." www.lemonde.fr/pixels/artic...

With the focus on the extensive energy demands for AI, we're missing a critical question: where will the materials come from?At our recent IAS colloquium, researchers noted how industry secrecy obscures the true material costs. We need transparency about whose lands + lives fuel these technologies.

In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms.

29° in NYC and it feels like Spring to me.

Everything is normal!

"The groundhog was ranked as the most accurate weather-predicting groundhog in 2025 with an 85% accuracy rate, according to [NOAA]. On Monday, Feb. 2, Staten Island Chuck, who lives in the Staten Island Zoo in New York City, saw his shadow and predicted there would be more winter."

What does success look like for digital antitrust? CADE Commissioner Victor Fernandes tells Tech Policy Press fellows Laís Martins & Megan Kirkwood it's not just economic metrics—fairness & competitive process matter too in the digital age. www.techpolicy.press/examining-br...

Fiona Kelliher reports on how a wave of new US anti-cyberscam bills is taking aim at “pig-butchering” scam syndicates, even as AI-driven fraud, China tensions, and limited regulation of tech and crypto platforms complicate the fight.

My attempt to take Dario Amodei's new manifesto literally and seriously: as a call for more liberal democracy written by a prime example of the ways it can be overwhelmed nymag.com/intelligence...

Quantum sensing technologies test existing privacy frameworks severely because they bypass the physical boundaries—walls, distance, the opacity of the human body—on which existing doctrine depends, write Zahra Takhshid, Mark Gyure & Vivek Krishnamurthy. The issue deserves more scrutiny, they say:

The latest Department of Homeland Security AI use case inventory, released last week, details over 200 applications across DHS component agencies, including CBP and ICE. DHS is rapidly deploying these tools in US cities, while engaging in violence and defying court orders.

Meta’s second major trial of 2026 over alleged harms to children begins today. The "jury trial in Santa Fe pits the New Mexico attorney general’s office against the social media giant. The state alleges that the company knowingly enabled predators to use Facebook and Instagram to exploit children."

WaPo reports xAI deliberately loosened Grok's guardrails to boost popularity, sparking internal alarm. Employees had to pledge to work with "profane content." Even more disturbing, employees were listening to lurid audio conversations Tesla drivers had with Grok. Musk prioritized growth over safety.

In the last 48 hours, Musk's reactions to the Epstein release show exactly why he bought Twitter. He's used the platform to call coverage of his emails with Epstein as "lies," elevated his fans who have defended him, and gotten positive reinforcement from his AI chatbot.

In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms.

Did not have "Trump DOJ publishes CSAM to internet" on my bingo card of wild news this weekend. Terrible for the victims.

President Trump said the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close for two years for renovations starting on July 4; "a move he said would turn the venerated national cultural institution into a 'new and spectacular Entertainment Complex.'" www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

If you are worried how data will be used against ICE protesters. Or how smart homes reveal your secrets. Or smart cars or medical devices will become evidence in court. Listen to this conversation. There are risks, rewards, and even solutions…

I took a close look at the latest Department of Homeland Security AI use case inventory, which details over 200 applications across DHS component agencies, including CBP and ICE. DHS is rapidly deploying these tools in US cities, while increasingly engaging in violence and defying court orders.

"Google breached its own policies that barred use of artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance in 2024 by helping an Israeli military contractor analyze drone video footage, a former Google employee alleged in a confidential federal whistleblower complaint reviewed by The Washington Post."

“US law enforcement has never experienced a scandal as big, as far-reaching, destructive, and as far-lasting as the wave of corruption and criminality that has overtaken CBP and the Border Patrol since 2005." - @vermontgmg.bsky.social

In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms.

Thank you to @justinhendrix.bsky.social and @techpolicypress.bsky.social for a great interview about “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” @nyupress.bsky.social Worth a listen. www.techpolicy.press/how-to-apply...

I took a close look at the latest Department of Homeland Security AI use case inventory, which details over 200 applications across DHS component agencies, including CBP and ICE. DHS is rapidly deploying these tools in US cities, while increasingly engaging in violence and defying court orders.