David H. Kaye | Lightnews

David Kaye

@davidakaye.bsky.social

17K followers 990 following 310 posts

californian. human rights, free expression, tech, international law. uc irvine. fulbright. article 19. prior: UN special rapporteur, GNI chair.

edu coalition (dm for details)

go bears!

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David Kaye is an American politician who served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression between August 2014 and July 2020, succeeded by Irene Khan. .. more

Law 28%

Political science 21%

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 10d

prepare for today's blizzard of distraction!

while the trump administration engages in the most comprehensive attack on free speech in american history, jim jordan's house judiciary committee launches "part 2" of its head-fake on european regulation.

short 🧵

Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation: Part II

judiciary.house.gov

Reposted by David H. Kaye, Pádua Fernandes

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 5h

Aleksei Navalny was most likely poisoned by a toxin found in a South American frog, five European countries said Saturday, making the most concrete Western accusation yet that Russia’s leading opposition figure was murdered by his government in a prison two years ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/w...

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 5h

www.amazon.com/Privacy-Powe... My and @abenewman.bsky.social Of Privacy and Power is on Kindle for cheap right now. It's an academic rather than a popular/trade book, but if you ever wanted to know all about EU-US fights over privacy and surveillance, that's what you'll get from it!

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6h

🫣

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6h

he can’t be serious right?

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 6h

the idea that ‘working politicians’ shouldn’t try to change pubic opinion is perhaps the most purely ridiculous things i’ve heard a pundit say in a very long time (ie since yesterday)

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 9h

a tracker of lawlessness

Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 9h

Here's a link to our updated tracker on the killings. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks

The Trump administration has killed scores of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 9h

Here's a link to our updated tracker on the killings. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks

The Trump administration has killed scores of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by David H. Kaye, Ilya Somin, Robert C. Richards , and 4 more David H. Kaye, Ilya Somin, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Michael D. McDonald, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 11h

🚨 President Trump’s Claim of an “Irrefutable” Argument Supporting His Right to Unilaterally Impose Voter ID and Election Rules May Be Based on Insane Claim that Marriott Hotel Manager Found Secret Text in the Shadows of a Microfilm Copy of the U.S. Constitution electionlawblog.org?p=154326

President Trump's Claim of an "Irrefutable" Argument Supporting His Right to Unilaterally Impose Voter ID and Election Rules May Be Based on Insane Claim that Marriott Hotel Manager Found Secret Text ...

Yesterday I noted the latest set of unhinged social media posts from President Trump in which he declared that voter id requirements and other election changes would be imposed in the midterms via exe...

electionlawblog.org

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

post an image you can hear

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

your december show at largo was outstanding! thanks for doing what you do.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

i'm sorry, but there is absolutely no way to trust companies that have thrown their lot in with this administration. americans have a long tradition of anonymous political speech. short of illegal activity, what guardrails are companies applying?

please read this important reporting as a warning.

Sheera Frenkel @sheeraf.bsky.social · 1d

New story up on the Homeland Security Department’s new tactic: flood social media companies with subpoenas to unmask anonymous accounts that criticize ICE or monitor the movements of ICE agents.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts

www.nytimes.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this was the closing song on the pitt this week, written by the insanely talented @andrewbirdmusic.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGnA...

Andrew Bird - Need Someone (as heard on MAX Original The Pitt)

YouTube video by Andrew Bird

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio , and 9 more Anne Applebaum, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, David H. Kaye, Eric Goldman, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Scott A. Imberman, Kate Starbird, Greg Linden, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Sheera Frenkel @sheeraf.bsky.social · 1d

Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts

www.nytimes.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

the UN IPCC & many others have published evidence of the impact of climate disinformation (basically proven by trump's stmt yesterday). i was curious: how do the EU's rules on platform risk assessment/mitigation apply here? just posted this draft paper on the subject papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

abstract of paper: Leading international mechanisms and researchers have identified climate disinformation as a threat to the public’s ability to understand the risks posed by climate change and the development of policy to address it. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), among many others, have specified the ways in which such disinformation operates, much of it introduced to the public through online platforms. This paper addresses the extent to which the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) obligates in-scope platforms and search engines to address climate disinformation as a systemic risk under DSA Articles 34 and 35. It concludes that the amplification of climate disinformation is a proper subject for systemic risk assessment. Still, since disinformation generally constitutes lawful expression, two key questions arise: Does the risk assessment framework, as applied to climate disinformation, implicate the right to freedom of expression? If so, how are mitigation measures to be justified according to the required human rights tests of legality, necessity and proportionality, and legitimacy? The first two sections of this paper provide an overview of climate disinformation and the main risk assessment provisions of the DSA. The third section assesses what should be expected of companies in the context of climate disinformation in light of the human right guarantees for freedom of expression.

Reposted by Diane Marie Amann

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this is so good and just a well-articulated statement of how inequality matters for domestic and global security. @aoc.bsky.social is really an extraordinary politician.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

AOC: "Extreme level of wealth inequality leads to social instability and drives authoritarianism, right-wing populism, and really dangerous domestic internal politics. That is a direct outcome of the failure of democracies over decades to deliver."

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this is honestly the weirdest picture they could have picked to introduce me to a german audience, like i'm hillary clinton watching the killing of bin laden

Reposted by Jennifer A. Richeson, David H. Kaye, David R. Miller , and 3 more Jennifer A. Richeson, David H. Kaye, David R. Miller, Michael J. Hicks, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 1d

I’m just going to leave this here

A screenshot of a Senate Finance Committee press release from October 24, 2024 that reads:

Wyden, Raskin Call for Department of Justice to Appoint a Special Counsel to Investigate Jared Kushner for Acting as an Unregistered Foreign Agent

Kushner Acted as a “Shadow Diplomat” and Political Adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Who Directed Billions in Saudi Funds to Kushner-Owned Affinity Partners

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 7 more Joe R. Feagin, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce, Juan Cole, McKenzie Wark, Robert B. Reich, Flávio Comim, Patrick O. Waeber, Mark Priestley, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Reposted by David H. Kaye

West is West @west-is-west.bsky.social · 1d

100%

And I've seen drib n drabs mentions from a few Dem leaders / thinkers here and there.

But what's needed is a party-wide systemic architectural effort, a Marshall Plan/Project 2028, to create a slate-in-waiting of powerful 'good govt' reforms on a fed / Constitution level.

Ain't seen that : \

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Don Dechert @dondechert.bsky.social · 1d

Correct. The US is going to be contending with its slagged reputation for probably a decade, at least. Plus, if you look at that recent snippet of mRNA vaccine developers thinking the US is too unstable, there's also needing to maintain outwardly that no future GOP president will comw to power. Hard

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

but even rot can be removed & rebuilt. but we need a freaking plan & a political opposition willing to sell it.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

until dems provide and SELL their vision, we are going to continue down this path of second-ratedness (but with nukes).

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this is something i think most americans aren't talking about. trump's destructionism isn't temporary. it's a roots-and-branches approach. how will we rebuild? how will we protect against the further rise of fascism now that it's been let loose? how will we prove reliability?

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

It's also that they need to know what we will do to rebuild in ways that the fascists can't instantly tear down again. We are not reliable partners unless we can do that.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

It's also that they need to know what we will do to rebuild in ways that the fascists can't instantly tear down again. We are not reliable partners unless we can do that.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this is gavin's problem. he is almost entirely reactive. and it's true for most of the others. give us a vision of a new american leadership, one that breaks trumpism but also breaks away from the cautious moderately-left-of-centrism of clintonism & obama/biden/harris.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

this is wishful thinking. there's no magical snap-back, certainly not if dem leaders (which seems the case right now) lack the vision to imagine & promote a new way of thinking about america's role in the world & hold the criminals accountable at home.

Politico @politico.com · 1d

Newsom’s message to world leaders in Munich: It’s time to start thinking about the next president.

“Donald Trump is temporary,” Newsom said in a panel about climate change at #MSC2026. “He’ll be gone in three years.”

Newsom to world leaders: 'Donald Trump is temporary'

In Munich, the likely presidential contender continued to position California — and himself — as an alternative to Trumpism

www.politico.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

meta has a 'human rights policy' (about.fb.com/wp-content/u...). i wonder what their impact assessment looked like, given the massive privacy issues at stake here.

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

Meta's plan for launching glasses that people can use to secretly identify strangers on the street is to do it "during a dynamic political environment" when people who care about why that's bad are "focused on other concerns."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Politico @politico.com · 1d

Newsom to world leaders: 'Donald Trump is temporary'

In Munich, the likely presidential contender continued to position California — and himself — as an alternative to Trumpism

www.politico.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

i wouldn't have picked that picture of me, 🫢, but 🤷‍♂️. for those with access here's the link (also not my headline):

Kampf um die Meinungsfreiheit: Warum Linke und Rechte den Begriff unterschiedlich auslegen

Zensur in Europa - was ist dran an den Vorwürfen von J. D. Vance? David Kaye über den großen Kulturkampf unserer Tage.

www.sueddeutsche.de

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

one yr ago, jd vance lectured europeans in the worst, most bad-faith presentation ever given at the munich security conference. all his phoniness is obvious now in trump admin repression.

i spoke to @ronensteinke.bsky.social at Suddeutsche Zeitung about all this & free speech in europe/germany.

interview text (in german) from suddeutsche zeitung, one of germany's leading news outlets

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