Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 21h

is there a grievance mechanism here?

Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 1d

Sens Ted Cruz and Eric Schmitt are holding their hearing on the Biden Censorship Regime of 2018. Watch live here as they try to figure out: who was president in 2020?

Witnesses: Alex Berenson, Sean Davis of the Federalist,
Eugene Volokh, Gene Kimmelman

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QRu...

LIVE: Ted Cruz Leads Senate Hearing About 'How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans'

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

www.youtube.com

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

i thought USC liked Trojan horses but 🤷‍♂️ - I'm a UC guy.

In forceful speeches, University of Southern California department chairs, professors, researchers and others who attended the virtual meeting called the compact “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” and “a Trojan horse.”

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

i can say with confidence that this is how most faculty senate meetings discussing the 'compact' would go down. it's terrible and seen for what it is - trump's effort to end university autonomy in favor of rw dominance.

faculty get it. the question is whether administrators do.

USC faculty members denounce Trump compact that would shift university to the right

The USC Academic Senate held a special meeting to discuss the Trump administration's education compact, which was presented to the school last week.

www.latimes.com

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Dean Jackson @dwj88.bsky.social · 2d

A secret meeting with X. A senior State Dept. advisor just out of college. The VP's speech in Munich. Pressure on European regulators.

What do they share? They're all part of an agenda to turn the transatlantic alliance into a far right international:

www.techpolicy.press/trumps-state...

Trump’s State Department Wants to Use Tech Policy to Remake Europe In Its Image | TechPolicy.Press

Tech policy is a key part of the Trump administration's dramatic project to replace the US's traditional European alliances, Dean Jackson writes.

www.techpolicy.press

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 2d

though i disagree with his last point ("I look forward to seeing more discussion of the Compact in the months ahead") eugene has a good post on the 1st am implications

The Proposed "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" and the First Amendment

[1.] There's a lot going on in the Trump Administration's proposed "Compact," and there's a lot that we might want…

reason.com

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 2d

What is ACLS?

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS expands the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 2d

this statement by the American Council of Learned Societies, one of the key orgs in higher ed, is exactly right.

reject the 'compact'. no ifs, no studies.

read and share and, for your opeds, steal.

I cannot post the entire alt text but it begins: On October 1, the White House proposed to nine leading American universities that they agree to a list of demands in exchange for receiving preferential access to research funding. The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” undermines the long-standing independence of American academia. It works against the best interests of colleges and universities and of every one of us who has benefited from the knowledge they produce. We call for its immediate rejection by all institutions of higher education.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

and not only 'what would you call it?' - what would you want *your* government to do about it? sit idly by? strike economic deals? or shun it and speak out against it?

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

you're looking at a foreign country. the government rounds up people on the basis of skin color or other characteristic, puts them in 'detention' facilities, separates families, deports them without process, confiscates their property, denies them access to counsel. what would you call it?

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6d

i reported for the UN Human Rights Council on how government demands on access providers, like the ones trump is pursuing, constitute a serious human rights violation. see docs.un.org/A/HRC/35/22

The government actions described below often fail to meet the standards of human
rights law. Moreover, a lack of transparency pervades government interferences with the
digital access industry. Failures of transparency include vague laws providing excessive
discretion to authorities, legal restrictions on third party disclosures concerning government
access to user data and specific gag orders. The lack of transparency undermines the rule of
law as well as public understanding across this sector.5

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6d

every word of erwin's oped is 🎯 - a must read. and good for @governor.ca.gov in taking such immediate action. gift link --> www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6d

the trump admin is taking aim at every point of access to information and protection. app stores, media outlets, platforms, AI tools, everything.

404 Media @404media.co · 6d

New: Apple just removed ICEBlock, the app for reporting sightings of ICE, from its App Store after DOJ pressure. ICEBlock's developer tells 404 Media "we are determined to fight this."

"Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move."

www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’

Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...

www.404media.co

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404 Media @404media.co · 6d

New: Apple just removed ICEBlock, the app for reporting sightings of ICE, from its App Store after DOJ pressure. ICEBlock's developer tells 404 Media "we are determined to fight this."

"Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move."

www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’

Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...

www.404media.co

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 7d

true. i was especially focused on the 'untie the hands' part of this, in the mode of 'the gloves are off'.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 7d

the bush administration's position was that the geneva conventions were 'quaint', a position that ultimately led to waterboarding & other forms of torture. hegseth revives the inhumanity that military leaders/lawyers, among others, firmly rejected.

Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 7d

Hegseth announced the administration's intention to commit war crimes: "We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 7d

i would argue that this is far worse for the health of american media, access to reliable information, subjection to propaganda, fundamental rights to privacy.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 7d

will those who expressed concern about the implications (real or not) of china's ownership interest in tiktok step up to note how pronounced surveillance and propaganda would be under the ellisons? it'd just substitute one problem for another.

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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 7d

Hegseth announced the administration's intention to commit war crimes: "We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 8d

"We call for the immediate end of the use of AI systems by DHS until the government can ensure the systems it deploys are free of discrimination, and until diverse perspectives are meaningfully included in the development and use of AI systems."

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 8d

Tsion Gurmu, Hinako Sugiyama, and Sobechukwu Uwajeh call on the US Department of Homeland Security to cease deploying AI systems until it can ensure they are free of discrimination and until diverse perspectives are meaningfully included in their development.

Where AI Meets Racism at the Border | TechPolicy.Press

Migrants are impacted by the use of AI even before they arrive at the border, write Tsion Gurmu, Hinako Sugiyama, and Sobechukwu Uwajeh.

buff.ly

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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 8d

Tsion Gurmu, Hinako Sugiyama, and Sobechukwu Uwajeh call on the US Department of Homeland Security to cease deploying AI systems until it can ensure they are free of discrimination and until diverse perspectives are meaningfully included in their development.

Where AI Meets Racism at the Border | TechPolicy.Press

Migrants are impacted by the use of AI even before they arrive at the border, write Tsion Gurmu, Hinako Sugiyama, and Sobechukwu Uwajeh.

buff.ly

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 8d

Very proud of my colleagues right now--especially @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social and @alexabdo.bsky.social. But we could not have got this far without the superb trial lawyers at Sher Tremonte. Grateful to them for all of the time and energy they put into this case. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

www.nytimes.com

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 9d

"ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence... To us, masks are associated with cowardly
desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we
have never tolerated an armed masked secret police."

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 9d

Omg. I’ve never seen anything like this in a judicial opinion:

Case 1:25-cv-10685-WGY Document 261
Filed 09/30/25
Page 1 of 161
Post card dated June 19, 2025
(On file in Chambers)
1 9/S UNE 2025
TRUMP HAS PARDONS
AND TANKS..
WHAT DO
You
HAVE?
Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, Alone, I have nothing but my
sense of duty.
Together, We the People of the
United States -- you and me --have our magnificent Constitution.
Here's how that works out in a
specific case --
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS -- HARVARD FACULTY CHAPTER, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AT NEW
YORK UNIVERSITY, RUTGERS AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS-AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, and
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiffs,
)
CIVIL ACTION NO.
25-10685-WGY
v.
MARCO RUBIO, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, and the DEPARTMENT OF STATE, KRISTI NOEM, in her official
[1]

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 9d

Omg. I’ve never seen anything like this in a judicial opinion:

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 9d

Very nice appreciation in @nytimes.com, by their China veteran Chris Buckley, of the wonderful Jerome Cohen, who has died at age 95.

Countless people in China and around the world have been helped by his scholarship, his legal projects, and his personal generosity.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/w...

Jerome Cohen, Lawyer Who Plumbed Chinese Legal System, Dies at 95

www.nytimes.com

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Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 10d

Moldova defeated foreign influence campaigns and chose Europe #democracy

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Moldova’s pro-European party on course to retain majority in key election

PAS leads with 46% of vote in ballot that will decide whether country steers closer to EU or Russia

www.theguardian.com

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 10d

"Here I am, this middle-aged black man, I'm in my best suit. I actually argued the case at the Supreme Court that we were trying to implement. I've got all these degrees and awards. And I'm still required to laugh at my own humiliation."

Bryan Stevenson with @katiecouric.bsky.social

The Exhausting Reality of Being a Black Lawyer - Bryan Stevenson's Truth

YouTube video by Katie Couric

www.youtube.com

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 10d

for every one of these captured on video, there are how many that don't get recorded? this is systematic violence, intimidation, & persecution.

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 10d

More information here:
abcnews.go.com/US/79-year-u...

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 11d

79. American citizen.

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