This last yr, states have intro’d 500+ anti-democratic proposals: bills that limit local voting rights, bills that criminalize protest & free speech by progressive movements, banning what’s taught in schools. It’s all rooted in racialized disinfo to strip ppl of their rights.
BREAKING: we just filed an amicus brief supporting
@BrianKarem
after his White House press pass was revoked. this is just the latest, after
@Milbank
&
@Acosta
, all part of the president's scheme to target journos he dislikes.
#pressfreedom
#firstamendment
No one is surprised Facebook knew it was amplifying disinformation and incitement. But I am very excited to have this much internal evidence upon which we may consider proper regulatory steps to correct course. I’ll be live tweeting my thoughts here about
@60Minutes
1/
So district courts & now appellate courts are saying the
@WhiteHouse
cannot revoke journalists' press passes when
@realDonaldTrump
dislikes their coverage. Kudos to
@BoutrousTed
@BrianKarem
for this powerful win for press freedom & the First Amendment.
The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, & the right to petition the government for redress. It prohibits gov’t restrictions on speech based on the viewpoint of that speech. Twitter is not the government. This is not a First Amendment violation.
BREAKING:
@PENamerica
just won a big victory in our First Amendment lawsuit against
@realDonaldTrump
for his unconstitutional efforts to retaliate against the media, using gov't power to stifle reporters & coverage he dislikes. Now: discovery phase!
OANN spreads COVID disinfo, election conspiracies, and hate. I’m really pleased to see this news and so honored to have worked with 15+ civil rights groups in urging
@DIRECTV
to take this step. Walking the walk to limit disinfo.
Officials arrested State Rep. Park Cannon a bit ago as she knocked on the door where the governor was signing a voter suppression bill into law. The bill was rushed thru GA, predicated on disinfo, & continues Jim Crow era tactics of oppression.
“Why are you arresting her?” This Facebook Live video from
@TWareStevens
shows the moment authorities detained state Rep. Park Cannon as
@GovKemp
was behind those doors signing elections restrictions into law.
#gapol
Actually satire is protected speech and courts have reaffirmed that the First Amendment protects satire, parody, humor. Happy to provide more legal 101s coming from a real lawyer, yours truly.
When I was fighting for journalists' First Amendment rights after Trump kicked them out of White House briefings, people thought there were better things for me to defend. I told people this was the beginning of authoritarianism & it would bleed into other aspects of society. 1/
Police did not use tear gas when white, conservative, gun toting protesters stormed Michigan’s state Capitol. But they are doing that now in the face of Black-led protests mourning the murder of George Floyd. “Public safety” is only as neutral as our institutions.
Breaking: Police are using tear gas and stun grenades as major protests continue in Minneapolis in response to the killing of George Floyd. Reports indicate that protesters are picking up the tear gas grenades and throwing them back at police.
Our self-proclaimed “free speech” advocate
@elonmusk
has removed 5 journalists from
@Twitter
, perhaps his most Trumpian act. These reporters are watchdogs, their reporting critical. Musk is setting a dangerous precedent removing speech he dislikes or speech critical of him.
Replacing Musk is an obvious demand tech, civil society, academics & users are calling for. We don’t *just* need a new CEO. We need to prioritize human rights and reverse the damage Musk has done to policy, govnerance, safety globally. I explain on
@CNN
:
Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.
Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.
We just settled our landmark First Amendment lawsuit against Donald Trump for his retaliation against the media & targeting speech he disliked. Leaders cannot censor a free press & we
@PENamerica
felt we must defend that principle when we filed in 2018. 1/
Protest is a protected First Amendment activity. Arson is not. But one-off instances of violence are not occurring around the US right now. When media coverage preferences violence — absent data abt how rare that violence is — it skews people’s perception of what’s happening.
The whistleblower estimates 60,000 Facebook employees could have accessed the docs she came forward with. But they didn’t. This is why we need strong tech worker & whistleblower legal protections. The stakes are too high to wait for another Frances Haugen. 5/
Do I need to host a training on "What is the First Amendment"? I'll do one if this tweet gets 20 RTs? I'll lay out the basics around what the First Amendment is, what free speech online means, and I'll talk about social media bans of accounts & whether that's "censorship."
I led a coalition of 15+ civil rights groups, anchored by
@freepress
, urging
@DIRECTV
to drop OANN from its channels. The company listened in January. And now more carriers have followed the same path to limit hate & disinfo from being forced content for viewers. This is huge.
NEW from me
Well, it's official. One America News has lost its last major cable carrier, as Verizon Fios said they couldn't reach an agreement with the far-right channel and will remove it from their lineup on July 31.
I wrote for
@RollingStone
why the crushing of the
#StopCopCity
movement is symptom of dangerous US democratic backsliding. Local ATL & GA officials over-criminalizing free speech betrays decades of hard won First Amendment & civil rights victories.
Protests tomorrow in DC: there's much concern, misinfo, & oxygen w/ anticipation of the National Guard's heavy presence, possible CBP presence, Proud Boys, more. I'm here to slow us down with some prebunking tips to minimize anyone fanning the flames of more polarization. 1/
The Facebook whistleblower says the platform constantly chooses growth over safety. No one is malevolent but the incentives are misaligned for profit. 2/
Forcing Facebook from the shadows means we start with transparency into its moderation and enforcement practices to learn fully what no one outside the company knows: how it boosts the worst content with its artificial intelligence & how it uses our data.
The anti-democracy movement is gaining steam. Officials push anti-protest & voter suppression bills. Press denied access for reporting. Ppl largely unaware dealing w/ COVID & trauma while others actively believe alt-narratives. All capitalizing on our chaotic existence right now.
Now we must dig into the details of these 8 complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency charged with investigating and enforcing the law to fight financial market manipulation. This will be the story to watch for and I hope the media covers it properly. 4/
Employees have had to choose growth so they win in the marketplace of social media companies. This means the platform continues amplifying content that incites violence and hate and this affects our trust and connectivity with each other. 3/
The hellscape is real. Use of the N-word went up 500% the first 12 hrs after Musk took over. Hate has mushroomed, along w bots. Musk fired
@Twitter
safety execs, removed moderation tool access for some staff, & promotes conspiracy. The platform is bad for ad brand safety:
UPDATE: House is set to hold a secret session — first of its kind since 2008 & fourth time ever since the 1800s — to hone a surveillance bill this wk. Ironic they’ll discuss spying on Americans under cover of a closed-door session. This is concerning procedurally & substantively.
The House Speaker is likely to move a surveillance-related bill this coming wk, combining provisions from 2 diff committees that produce a Frankenstein bill likely to abandon the best protections against gov’t intervention. We need robust action — but we need privacy done right.
BREAKING: Trump to be reinstated on
@Meta
after his two-year suspension for inciting violence and violating multiple company policies. Now, Meta should bear the responsibility of whatever harms result from this decision.
Just to level set: many don’t have internet, can’t feed their families, don’t have health coverage. The Facebook crisis is special today for wonks but the issue of structural violence is the same it’s ever been. And that’s the story we need heard every 👏 damn 👏 day 👏
A surreal 4 yrs: Trump's attacks on a free press undermine democracy, often the earliest warning signs of his effort to evade accountability, coverage, truth. Proud to fight for the public's right to know what our gov't is doing & First Am. rights of
@Acosta
@BrianKarem
& more.
Jose Bello was arrested 36 hrs after reciting a poem critical of ICE. Yesterday,
@PENamerica
filed a 2nd brief defending his
#FirstAmendment
right to speak absent retaliation b/c we believe this is part of an ongoing pattern by the feds to target dissent.
Here’s the playbook: the trucker protests will come to the US. They will occupy highways. And the way they get treated, contrasted to BLM and other progressive movements, will absolutely be used to further divide the US ahead of the midterms.
Is it good Tucker Carlson is moving his show to Twitter? It’s good for Musk & his rising debts. It’s bad for the banks underwriting his debt, however, as this will radicalize viewers more. Twitter is becoming the go-to platform tolerant of & incentivizing hyper-partisan rhetoric.
.
@realDonaldTrump
& his allies have brought 2 lawsuits against authors in the last 2 wks to block publication. This a threat to the First Amendment. Just as we sued him for attacking press he dislikes, we're fighting for these books to see the light of day.
Yes!!
@vanitaguptaCR
confirmed! I’m eager to work with DOJ on correcting course on several civil rights and free expression issues. Let’s start with people’s rights to be free from manipulation, disinformation, govt abuse. This means protecting protest, voting, privacy, dignity.
My dear friend and stalwart advocate for civil rights,
@vanitaguptaCR
, has been confirmed by the US Senate to serve as Associate Attorney General. From voting rights to redistricting, she will ably defend our ideals of 1 person, 1 vote & justice for all.
#ForDemocracy
I didn't know until I was a target of online abuse how immobilizing & silencing it is. At
@PENamerica
, we are trying to change the conversation by supporting targets of abuse & demanding better platform tools to fight for a safer internet. Join us:
This is his modus operandi & it's unconstitutional. We sued
@realDonaldTrump
for targeting journalists whose coverage he dislikes, including our PEN members
@BrianKarem
@Acosta
@milbank
. He isn't draining any swamp, he's try to silence dissent like other authoritarian leaders do.
This is not vox populi. This is the voice of Musk followers & bots. Terrifying for a CEO to base enforcement action, allowing the
#1
promoter of lies / conspiracy back on Twitter, using a social platform tool instead of deep, diverse counsel with human rights & disinfo experts.
Tomorrow
@BarackObama
is delivering a speech at Stanford about disinformation and how we consume information in the digital era. Here’s what we know about what I call the chaos era and its effect on democracies around the world. A 🧵:
Prosecutors must be committed to the rule of law, beginning most immediately with affirming First Am. rights of journalists like Sahouri to do their jobs w/o fear of retaliation. A conviction in her case would diminish legal protections for journalists.
.
@Sifill_LDF
you are part of the group I look to for inspiration as a female civil rights lawyer of color. This photo is everything. Let us not relinquish our sense of judgment, power, or hope after yesterday.
So
@WhiteHouse
keeps trying to limit press access: briefings cancelled, media barred from events, crackdowns during impeachment trial. We sued Trump for violating the 1st Am. & we’re fighting for
@PENamerica
member
@BrianKarem
👇🏽
The anti-protest policy trend is anti-democratic, & more bills keeping coming from legislators to increase penalties targeting racial justice causes & those challenging critical infrastructure sites. Read my thoughts in this piece by
@AlexCKaufman
.
SCOTUS rightly rules for
@ACLU
finding a public high school cheerleader’s First Amendment rights were violated after she was suspended from the team for her off campus expression on Snapchat. Congrats
@aclupa
and the rest of the legal team!!
The First Amendment protects people from government imposing restrictions on freedom of religion, press, speech, assembly, & the right to petition govt.
#ama
as a free speech & civil rights lawyer. Plz, this is getting so old to see ppl cite
#FreeSpeech
values incorrectly.
Thrilled to announce (finally!) I’m joining
@freepress
as Senior Counsel and Director, Digital Justice & Civil Rights. Digital threats to democracy loom large. I can’t wait to dig in!!
BREAKING: Tennessee GOP leader threatens to introduce a new bill criminalizing rioters. Bad news is this is an unconstitutional effort to criminalize First Amendment protected speech by protesters. And Tennessee legislators have tried previously to introduce these bad bills 1/
Huge win for protest rights. Go team
@NAACP_LDF
@Sifill_LDF
. This legal victory sends the right message that unconstitutional laws will only cost states money, because we are going to continue fighting these bad bills that strip people of their rights.
#BREAKING
: A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction in our case against Florida's anti-protest law,
#HB1
, thereby blocking a key provision of the law from being enforced while the litigation continues.
Read the full decision here:
Media manipulation always thrives more in crisis: lies, malinfo, fake accounts, generative content—all leverage concern, emotion, need for accurate info. Twitter can’t handle info abt Israel right now bc Musk gutted the mechanisms & teams to clamp down on violative content.
“The situation is so bad on X right now that even seasoned OSINT researchers are being duped by fake accounts, including one that shared a false claim about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu being hospitalized over the weekend.”
This is good.
@PENamerica
sued the president because we have seen him use govt powers to target “critical” media in violation of the First Amendment. Often it’s an attempt to shut down or denigrate reporters asking tough q’s
@Yamiche
@Acosta
@BrianKarem
to name a few.
We have just submitted this letter to
@PressSec
seeking equal access for
@Playboy
White House Correspondent
@BrianKarem
and similarly-situated reporters to press briefings in light of the content-based preferential access she has given to OAN.
“The slow normalization of extremist figures who become part of the fabric of our discourse are moving our discourse further & further to the right…their tactics are becoming embedded into our institutions,” I told
@BrandyZadrozny
@NBCNews
Disinformation around these protests is NEXT LEVEL. So, we
@PENamerica
put a short tip sheet together for protesters & the public. Three ways to verify images, videos, sources, & news sites so you don't get duped by misleading info. There's a lot of it.
See my pinned tweet. GOP intros bad bills to solve “problems” (ie rile up their base). But these bills narrow free speech rights, like this bill attacking academic freedom, freedom to access info, more. All rooted in bigotry in attempt to chill progressive & BIPOC voices.
Our free press can’t even report on the racial justice protests without attack. I’m tired of the inequity. And I’m tired of calling for accountability from our government when the First Amendment so clearly isn’t upheld equally.
While we've focused on insurrection & impeachment, 6 states have passed or introduced new anti-protest bills under guise of protecting speech. 6 in just in the last wk. These bills will be used to criminalize progressive movements led/engaged in by BIPOC. We need more bandwidth.
States have legislated away our right to protest. A bad court ruling prompts public outcry only to be met w/ govt criminalizing protected First Am. speech. States have also obliterated the right to vote, which come November should’ve been priority
#1
. It’s a shitstorm, y’all.
AT&T should not be funding OANN, nor should DIRECTV bundle the site for its customers, feeding homes w/ disinfo. Ppl can go find OANN if they so choose but companies purporting to support equity/justice must cut the cord. 16 civil rights orgs have come together to say: do it now.
I guess hate is for sale. Promoted tweets from Amazon, Snap, Uber & the even US govt appeared on user pages of at least 2 white nationalists, Andrew Anglin & Patrick Casey, both reinstated by Musk.
#StopToxicTwitter
@elonmusk
@Twitter
City of Atl has turned its back on civil & human rights after police killed a protester. It denied the value of speech & dissent in protest, denied the victim’s mother chance to claim his body, denied the public details, denied why we must always get into good trouble.
The South River Forest has been many things: Indigenous land, a prison farm, a dumping ground—and the keystone of an ambitious proposal to incorporate nature into Atlanta’s growth. Then came the plans for "Cop City." Inside the battle for the forest:
I felt that it set a dangerous tone when our president refused to allow speech he dislikes. Trump's pattern has been to silence & politicize newsgathering when it unearths negative aspects about his admin. And when he has a personal dislike of a reporter, he shuts them down. 2/
I am on a Twitter advertiser town hall right now. Listening to Elon Musk discuss how Twitter can be more amazing & on the side of truth. He is focusing on monetization & subscription as the solution to failures in
@Twitter
moderation. Fascinating. Also, I believe, wrong.
The Hamilton County chapter of Moms for Liberty's first newsletter, which was posted on Facebook last night, quoted Adolf Hitler. Here's what you need to know. 🧵
Wow, a new and innovative lawsuit is going after disinformation from Gateway Pundit after the site targeted two Georgia election workers. This is huge. Can't wait to support the case.
@protctdemocracy
@jonsteinman
Fox evaded trial. Just as they have evaded accountability for decades and for the harm they caused in 2020 for knowingly promoting the Big Lie to make money.
@FoxNews
#dominionlawsuit
A 🧵about protest rights under attack and the larger, systemic anti-democratic trends here in the US that will 100% chill expression and engagement in 2022.
LA journalists have been attacked repeatedly for covering local protests. This is symptomatic of larger national patterns where police target media to delegitimize progressive movements.
It violates the First Amendment and undermines civic engagement. Written by
@Joelcpj
.
TN just passed a state privacy law, becoming the 8th state to have passed some kind of privacy law. And yet we desperately need a federal floor for consumer privacy & civil rights avenues for suit. Great roundup from
@PrivacyPros
:
I support
@BrianKarem
—
@PENamerica
member &
@WhiteHouse
reporter for
@Playboy
— w/ his appeal to hold the prez accountable for unconstitutionally revoking his press pass. The rule of law won at the district court level; let’s fight for a 2nd victory for the First Amendment.
We have just filed our brief in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of
@Playboy
White House Correspondent
@BrianKarem
, defending the district court’s injunction ordering
@realDonaldTrump
and
@PressSec
to restore Karem’s White House press credentials. Link here:
NEW research from yours truly,
@freepress
&
@changeterms
. We analyzed
@meta
@tiktok_us
@Twitter
@YouTube
policies & application of those policies to assess how prepared social media companies are to fight hate, extremism, lies re: the upcoming elections. A 🧵 on our findings. 1/
You can learn more about our
@PENamerica
lawsuit with
@protctdemocracy
@DWTLaw
we filed in 2018 against
@POTUS
for his ongoing retaliation against reporters he dislikes, in violation of the First Amendment 3/
In just the last week, Trump threatened to withhold funds from schools teaching about slavery or historical truth, has applauded police shooting reporters, & DOJ introduced "anarchist jurisdictions" to withhold funds where people exercise their First Amendment rights. 6/
First Amendment WIN! MN state patrol 1) can’t arrest, threaten to arrest, use physical force/chemical agents against journos & 2) banned from ordering journos to stop photographing/recording/observing a protest, issuing dispersals, seizing gear. 👏
@ACLUMN
Is it surprising the richest man in the world, with a history of silencing critics, promotes bigotry & sympathy for Nazis? No. Is it horrifying that he can buy one of the biggest global platforms to amplify those views? Yes. Ad brands should divest.
#StopToxicTwitter
Twitter has, in a short 6 months of Musk at the helm, failed to become a free speech bastion. He uses his platform, personal & global, to urge voters to vote for GOP. To reinstate neo-Nazi accounts. Now DeSantis announcing a prez run here. This isn’t accountability nor discourse.
Everyone: DON'T share social content simply bc you think it's relevant. Was that image manipulated? Is that reporter's profile real or an imposter account? Did you read an article ALL THE WAY thru? Be judicious in likes & shares. Any engagement can boost content for others 4/
This would, indeed, be the news we need. It would be a public service for
@CNN
to put front & center news coverage about critical elements of our lives often overlooked — voting, speech, equity, civil rights.
I just released research yesterday
@freepress
analyzing how
@Meta
@Twitter
@tiktok_us
@YouTube
are prepared for the midterms. In writing & practice, they’re not even implementing basic protections against hate, lies, conspiracy. Here’s how we graded them on written policies:
I care deeply abt free speech & First Amendment rights for all. GA’s SB 171 is a troubling bill which will criminalize free speech & increase penalties for ppl who engage in protest. Here is testimony I would’ve given @ today’s hearing if allowed. 🧵 on GA’s anti-protest bill:
Since then, there have been escalating attacks on science, on reporters covering matters of public concern, threats against protesters who disagree w/ the president, efforts to consolidate power & use mechanisms of gov't to exact reprisals based on Trump's whims. 5/
BREAKING! Good news that SCOTUS has halted the unconstitutional TX law which would allow gov’t to regulate/dictate the content & manner in which social media companies moderate speech.
We fought this in 2018, suing Trump for his retaliation of the press. Namely when reporters like
@Acosta
@BrianKarem
asked questions he disliked, he revoked their press passes & WH credentials. Under Trump 2.0, I know we’d see a ratcheting up of attacks on free speech.
No shocks. Donald Trump, should he be re-elected would like to jail certain reporters.
How long will we tolerate politicians who want to burn it all down just to rule over the rubble?
@nhannahjones
Bans on voting, bans on protest, bans on teaching about race and slavery. It’s not a viewpoint neutral attack. It’s an anti democratic push fueled by disinformation seeking to undermine specific voices for progress and equity.
Continuing to weigh on me that the GOP is literally undoing decades of work to fight for, defend, and make public the fight for civil rights in the US. Civil rights touches every aspect of our lives and now Congress has no unique avenue to grapple with such issues.
The institutional erasure of diversity, expression, civil rights by the House of Representatives, now GOP controlled, is big league stuff y’all. This is a moment to look back at, as we tell the story of the rise of populist fascism.
Frankly, as a civil rights lawyer committed to believing in what's possible, I have to keep going. So I have trainings & tip sheets & checklists from
@PENamerica
to fight the disinformation that can lead to voter depression. And you can
#AMA
about this election season. 9/
boston judge finds that you can record police DOING THEIR JOB and not be arrested. seems obvious but it took 2 different lawsuits to get this on the record. you can record cops even secretly. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.
#policebrutality
#freespeech
#firstamendment
I am concerned, of course, that other institutions like our courts will soon fail to provide any accountability or be able to invalidate Trump's dictatorial tactics. As this administration has stacked the courts w/ conservative judges, facts & justice have become politicized. 7/
36 natl elections around the globe in 2022 & it’s not enough for social media to mount anti disinfo efforts 1-2 months b4 elections. Grateful
@BostonGlobe
for publishing my piece w
@FBoversight
@kcoyer
on 3 steps tech must take:
When Black & brown people are killed by police with little or no accountability, why would we feel that our voices matter? Unfortunately, this election hinges on a shared sense of hope that we may recover from this authoritarian wave. Against everything, I tell myself we can. 8/
Reporters: readers may not be in the habit of critical reading. They may skim headlines & not likely be fact-checking info. The headline & lede of your story might be all people read. You must do the heavy lifting of mtg readers where they are with info they can use. 5/