Join us Free Press this Thursday for a briefing on the state of protest rights & press freedom in the surveillance age. With WIRED Southern Center for Human Rights Just Futures Law Tiffany W. Roberts Esq. @jruddock_:

Join us for “Data and Dissent: Protest Rights and Press Freedom Under Surveillance” this Thursday at 1PM EST. The webinar is sponsored by Free Press Action and moderated by Nora Benavidez.

Register: bit.ly/datadissent516

Join us Free Press this Thursday for a briefing on the state of protest rights & press freedom in the surveillance age. With WIRED Southern Center for Human Rights Just Futures Law Tiffany W. Roberts Esq. @jruddock_:

The Cybersecurity for Democracy team has released a new study about pro-Israel & pro-Palestinian content on TikTok in the months after 10/7. At various times, content amplification ebbed & flowed to ultimately go dark as TikTok cut amplification completely. Read more:

Gov’t hearing about the bias of NPR happening now. Solutions proposed are to force diversity of thought on NPR because it receives a small sliver of its funding from the US government. So mandated viewpoints is the answer to viewpoint discrimination concerns?

Reining in disinformation is a challenge of our time. Groups like Protect Democracy are doing innovative work thru defamation litigation to hold liable purveyors of lies. I spoke w/ Charles Bethea The New Yorker on the care we must bring to avoid possible First Amendment implications:

Our own Craig Aaron Free Press just finished testifying now on the First Amendment harms of targeting NPR’s Katherine Maher & its distraction from the critical task gov’t should take up to safeguard local news as a public good for democracy: energycommerce.house.gov/events/oversig…

Anti-mask statutes betray the First Amendment wrt anonymity. Particularly for protesters who have been targeted by police in the past, masking is a powerful tool to participate in protected activity. I anticipate a rise in charges related to state masking laws, so be on guard:

Leaving Detroit, one of my fave cities, where I was honored to be in community w/ Democracy Fund partners mapping our path forward to fight authoritarianism. Heading to Oakland now to present Kapor Center on why structural reform is essential to movement building. Amazing week.

Tonight, we’re hosting a legal training, brought to you by ACLU Georgia First Amendment Foundation Southern Center for Human Rights for those curious about their First Amendment rights to protest, press freedom protections, how to become a legal observer, more.secure.everyaction.com/lxzQc_f-Jka3vs…

Confusion & chaos are baked into our info systems. Protest disinfo is bound to thrive. Slow down, take time to question what you’re seeing. My tips below from 2022 remain evergreen:

Repressive legislation — fueled by lies lawmakers cite to legitimize their anti-speech proposals — is one of several hallmarks we’re seeing again: dailykos.com/stories/2024/5…

At Civic Hall for Knight First Amendment Institute symposium exploring the urgency & role of press freedom in democracy. We had to move our event from Columbia bc access to the campus has been largely shut down as student journalists & demonstrators face rising attacks on World Press Freedom Day:

What are the ethical imperatives for newsrooms & AI companies when they gather our data? What are news folks excited about with this new AI frontier? How does local new embrace these tools to optimize for communities? Some great talks today The Aspen Institute Ford Foundation Vivian Schiller

Join Nora Benavidez with Knight First Amendment Institute's on World Press Freedom Day as they examine what it means to safeguard and support the role of the press in the United States today.

RSVP: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-fut…

World Press Freedom Day is Friday. Amid yrs of backsliding for media presence globally & rising attacks on journalists at recent university protests, it’s essential to fight for press freedom & democracy as intertwined. Join us Friday in NYC or online:knightcolumbia.org/events/the-fut…

I wrote for Rolling Stone about the assault on free speech in Georgia & the broader anti-democracy movement to chill expression. rollingstone.com/politics/polit…