Nadine Farid Johnson
nadinefj.bsky.social
Nadine Farid Johnson
@nadinefj.bsky.social
Policy Director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University | Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Center for International Policy. Opinions mine.
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Knight Institute Opposes Government’s Proposal to Preempt State #AI Regulations. According to news reports, the House of Representatives and White House are considering preempting state laws on the use of AI. See policy director @nadinefj.bsky.social's statement: knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
November 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Looking forward to reading this:
Smith-Drelich on the Right of Free Movement
Noah Smith-Drelich, Chicago-Kent College of Law, has posted The Forgotten Fundamental Right to Free Movement, which appears in the Northwestern University Law Review:There is a powerful fundamental right hiding in plain sight: the fundamental right to free movement. This right goes beyond the consistently acknowledged—though infrequently applied—fundamental right to interstate travel. The true scope of the Constitution's protection of movement through substantive due process safeguards local, interstate, and international travel. Though overlooked today, the fundamental right to free movement has deep roots in history and tradition, and in the decisions of numerous state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court.  This Article is the first to examine freedom of movement using the history and tradition test for unenumerated fundamental rights. This Article begins by tracing the right to free movement from the Magna Carta, through Blackstone's Commentaries, colonial America, early state constitutions, and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. As this analysis shows, repressive governments have routinely sought to limit movement across and within boundaries. But the English and U.S. legal traditions are marked by repeated affirmations of the right—there is strong and persistent historical support for a fundamental right to free movement.  This Article then turns to judicial discussions of movement rights, both historical and contemporary. Drawing on several previously unconnected lines of decision, this examination surfaces a vibrant picture of the fundamental right to free movement recognized by the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.  --Dan Ernst 
dlvr.it
November 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Major new @knightcolumbia.org initiative will address the role of the legal profession in the defense of democratic values and institutions. Excited to have the chance to work with Prof Madhav Khosla on this. knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...
New Knight Institute Initiative Will Explore the Role of the Legal Profession in an Age of Authoritarianism
knightcolumbia.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Virginia has elected Ghazala Hashmi as the state’s next lieutenant governor, making her the first Muslim woman ever elected to statewide office in the United States. 19thnews.org/2025/11/virg...
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
The Abrego Garcia Affair will symbolize certain malevolent and mendacious aspects of our current moment.
October 28, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
“These kinds of visa revocations are censorship, plain and simple. Mere ‘mockery’ can’t be grounds for adverse government action—whether revocation of broadcast licenses or revocation of visas," says @carriedecell.bsky.social. Full statement here: knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
Knight Institute Says Visa Revocations Over Charlie Kirk Criticism Are Unconstitutional
knightcolumbia.org
October 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Immigrants have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics since 2000. nfap.com/research/new...
October 9, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
the Trump admin just deported an award-winning journalist known for his reporting on ICE and got Apple to block ICE-spotter apps — all while churning out highly-produced social media content from violent ICE raids in Chicago. it’s their media or no media. www.techpolicy.press/amidst-viole...
Amidst Violent Immigration Raids, DHS Turns to Big Tech to Silence Dissent | TechPolicy.Press
Free Press advocacy director Jenna Ruddock says the Trump administration is targeting anyone monitoring its expanding immigration enforcement operations.
www.techpolicy.press
October 4, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Student journalist Lucas Griffith faces trial today for covering a protest against the deportation of Ayman Soliman, who himself fled persecution for his journalism in Egypt.

Lucas did nothing wrong. This is a big deal and would be national news in normal times.
On trial for journalism in Kentucky.
Two months after their arrests while covering a protest, a pair of local reporters face criminal charges.
www.cjr.org
October 2, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Journalists are being attacked, detained, & harmed while carrying out their work. It's unlawful targeting, but accountability is rare. Congress can & should do more to protect the press in these situations. More from me & @katygb.bsky.social:

knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
Knight Institute Condemns ICE Intimidation and Arrests of Journalists
knightcolumbia.org
September 30, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
"I don’t understand how being rich can make someone such a whore...you might as well do commercials for Lockheed Martin or Zyklon B"
David Cross folks.
September 30, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Absolutely incredible news. Long, long overdue. This was a global movement--but at its foundation, was a testament to the inimitable courage and fortitude of Ala'a and his family.
September 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
It says something about Trump’s all-out war on free speech that the New York Times couldn’t find a more credible person than “presidential historian” Craig Shirley to defend it. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/u...
September 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
In this post I explain why the suspension of Kimmel’s show looks like a blatant 1A violation, as all NINE members of SCOTUS last year made clear.... but also why courts may not be able to do much about it (and yet Kimmel should still sue!) blog.dividedargument.com/p/did-brenda...
Did Brendan Carr Violate the First Amendment? And Can Anything Be Done?
the constitutional law of jawboning
blog.dividedargument.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Authoritarianism is like measles: Ignore it and it will go away. I have this guidance straight from Secretary Kennedy. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
A Beautiful Day for Saying Nothing
That chill in the air isn’t Jimmy Kimmel’s show being suspended. It’s just autumn!
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Trump is launching a full blown attack on free speech while his harem of billionaires buys up every media platform. This is no coincidence. It’s a coordinated attack on your fundamental right to speak freely without worrying if you’ll lose your job or worse.
ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air for Charlie Kirk Comments After F.C.C. Pressure
www.nytimes.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
FCC Chairman Carr’s successful targeting of Jimmy Kimmel is part of a longstanding pattern of jawboning. Back in February, @knightcolumbia.org submitted a statement to the House Committee on the Judiciary outlining just a few of Carr’s acts of censorship (1/):
September 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
By the head of the Federal Communications Commission, in 2022:
September 18, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
July 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
This is extortion and censorship. Brendan Carr is turning into a mob boss: “the easy way or the hard way,” really?

What about the American way? The constitutional way?

Shame on ABC for capitulating and on Nexstar for greedily aiding and abetting this farce.
September 17, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Instances of Paragon's Graphite spyware being used to target journalists in Europe remain unexplained. Placing this technology in the hands of an emboldened ICE is a highly concerning move that compounds threats to civil liberties.
Knight Institute Urges Congress to Limit ICE’s Access to Spyware Technologies Following Renewal of Paragon Contract.

See our full statement from @knightcolumbia.org policy director @nadinefj.bsky.social below.
knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
September 3, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Nadine Farid Johnson
We studied how Elon Musk shifts Grok’s politics to mirror his own. Sometimes it works, like when Grok changed overnight from saying disinformation was the worst threat to humanity to claiming it was birth rate decline instead. Other times, Grok is harder to influence: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/t...
How Elon Musk Is Remaking Grok in His Image
www.nytimes.com
September 2, 2025 at 3:12 PM