Israel Balderas
@israelbalderas.bsky.social
First Amendment defender, without qualifiers.
Pinned
Discomfort isn’t a failure of thinking. Sometimes it’s the beginning of it.
Reposted by Israel Balderas
If ICE can threaten arrest for filming, then journalists, watchdogs, and protesters can all be silenced the same way. You don’t have freedom of the press if recording police is treated as terrorism. #holdfast
www.cato.org/blog/dhs-pol...
www.cato.org/blog/dhs-pol...
The Government Unconstitutionally Labels ICE Observers as Domestic Terrorists
A free country must have an absolute wall of protection for those who record government actions.
www.cato.org
December 24, 2025 at 8:08 PM
If ICE can threaten arrest for filming, then journalists, watchdogs, and protesters can all be silenced the same way. You don’t have freedom of the press if recording police is treated as terrorism. #holdfast
www.cato.org/blog/dhs-pol...
www.cato.org/blog/dhs-pol...
Reposted by Israel Balderas
The criticism of 60 Minutes by Miller and the like ignores the key point.
This administration is so awful, even media owned and controlled by people friendly to it still are actively reporting on its flagrant crimes.
That speaks volumes, and I dont think this point should be lost in the shuffle.
This administration is so awful, even media owned and controlled by people friendly to it still are actively reporting on its flagrant crimes.
That speaks volumes, and I dont think this point should be lost in the shuffle.
December 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The criticism of 60 Minutes by Miller and the like ignores the key point.
This administration is so awful, even media owned and controlled by people friendly to it still are actively reporting on its flagrant crimes.
That speaks volumes, and I dont think this point should be lost in the shuffle.
This administration is so awful, even media owned and controlled by people friendly to it still are actively reporting on its flagrant crimes.
That speaks volumes, and I dont think this point should be lost in the shuffle.
Reposted by Israel Balderas
FCC Commissioner Gomez on 60 Minutes Censorship: www.fcc.gov/document/gom...
www.fcc.gov
December 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
FCC Commissioner Gomez on 60 Minutes Censorship: www.fcc.gov/document/gom...
AI isn’t just another challenge for higher education. It’s a stress test, revealing what our classrooms were already struggling to teach. Policing AI won’t fix that. Rethinking what learning is for might.
Teaching What It Means to Be Human in the Age of AI
YouTube video by Israel Balderas
youtu.be
December 24, 2025 at 2:46 AM
AI isn’t just another challenge for higher education. It’s a stress test, revealing what our classrooms were already struggling to teach. Policing AI won’t fix that. Rethinking what learning is for might.
Reposted by Israel Balderas
Friends at @60minutes.bsky.social: Don’t quit. They’ll just replace you with willing stooges and continue killing the legacy.
If you are willing to quit, I recommend staying and fighting until they fire you.
Fight for journalism. Fight for democracy. Fight for CBS/60 Minutes legacy.
If you are willing to quit, I recommend staying and fighting until they fire you.
Fight for journalism. Fight for democracy. Fight for CBS/60 Minutes legacy.
December 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Friends at @60minutes.bsky.social: Don’t quit. They’ll just replace you with willing stooges and continue killing the legacy.
If you are willing to quit, I recommend staying and fighting until they fire you.
Fight for journalism. Fight for democracy. Fight for CBS/60 Minutes legacy.
If you are willing to quit, I recommend staying and fighting until they fire you.
Fight for journalism. Fight for democracy. Fight for CBS/60 Minutes legacy.
December 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Israel Balderas
Bari Weiss gives Donald Trump a "kill switch" over 60 Minutes at #BrokenCBS.
RIP 60 Minutes. September 24, 1968 - December 21, 2025.
CBS News delays 60 Minutes segment featuring investigation into El Salvador’s Cecot megaprison
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...
RIP 60 Minutes. September 24, 1968 - December 21, 2025.
CBS News delays 60 Minutes segment featuring investigation into El Salvador’s Cecot megaprison
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...
CBS News delays 60 Minutes segment featuring investigation into El Salvador’s Cecot megaprison
Backlash after broadcaster announces the program, due to air on Sunday night, ‘needs additional reporting’
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Bari Weiss gives Donald Trump a "kill switch" over 60 Minutes at #BrokenCBS.
RIP 60 Minutes. September 24, 1968 - December 21, 2025.
CBS News delays 60 Minutes segment featuring investigation into El Salvador’s Cecot megaprison
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...
RIP 60 Minutes. September 24, 1968 - December 21, 2025.
CBS News delays 60 Minutes segment featuring investigation into El Salvador’s Cecot megaprison
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...
Reposted by Israel Balderas
Censoring a story about the outsourced regime gulag is not consistent with freedom of speech. But it is consistent with the belief that “free speech” is when conservatives can say what they want and when you can say what they want.
December 22, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Censoring a story about the outsourced regime gulag is not consistent with freedom of speech. But it is consistent with the belief that “free speech” is when conservatives can say what they want and when you can say what they want.
Reposted by Israel Balderas
So, will CBS News killing a story for patently obvious political reasons the Sunday before Christmas still be a topic of discussion when media law & ethics class when we start up again in 3 weeks? Or will it have faded and been superseded by new and even worse horrors?
December 22, 2025 at 12:01 PM
So, will CBS News killing a story for patently obvious political reasons the Sunday before Christmas still be a topic of discussion when media law & ethics class when we start up again in 3 weeks? Or will it have faded and been superseded by new and even worse horrors?
It’s tempting to take actions like President Trump’s flag-burning executive order at face value, as a culture war provocation, a red-meat gesture, or an attempt to re-litigate an old Supreme Court case. But that framing misses what’s actually happening.
israelbalderas.substack.com/p/when-disag...
israelbalderas.substack.com/p/when-disag...
When Disagreement Becomes Dangerous
How Trump’s flag-burning order tests the First Amendment’s tolerance for difference
israelbalderas.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:27 AM
It’s tempting to take actions like President Trump’s flag-burning executive order at face value, as a culture war provocation, a red-meat gesture, or an attempt to re-litigate an old Supreme Court case. But that framing misses what’s actually happening.
israelbalderas.substack.com/p/when-disag...
israelbalderas.substack.com/p/when-disag...
For some Americans, the flag is sacred. That matters, especially, when people want to burn it in protest. But a free society isn’t defined by what everyone agrees on. It’s defined by whether we’re brave enough to protect dissenting voices, even when they offends us.
youtu.be/viLa5l4lvQA?...
youtu.be/viLa5l4lvQA?...
The American Flag Isn't Under Attack. Dissent is
YouTube video by Israel Balderas
youtu.be
December 21, 2025 at 5:57 AM
For some Americans, the flag is sacred. That matters, especially, when people want to burn it in protest. But a free society isn’t defined by what everyone agrees on. It’s defined by whether we’re brave enough to protect dissenting voices, even when they offends us.
youtu.be/viLa5l4lvQA?...
youtu.be/viLa5l4lvQA?...
Grief shrinks when it’s carried together. Even silence can be an act of love.
December 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Grief shrinks when it’s carried together. Even silence can be an act of love.
INDEPENDENT (adj.): not controlled by someone else.
That word use to mean the FCC wasn’t supposed to be an instrument of presidential power. That’s the whole point of having political guardrails. The word used to sit on the FCC’s own “about” page. Then, FCC Chair Brendan Carr admitted something...
That word use to mean the FCC wasn’t supposed to be an instrument of presidential power. That’s the whole point of having political guardrails. The word used to sit on the FCC’s own “about” page. Then, FCC Chair Brendan Carr admitted something...
December 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
INDEPENDENT (adj.): not controlled by someone else.
That word use to mean the FCC wasn’t supposed to be an instrument of presidential power. That’s the whole point of having political guardrails. The word used to sit on the FCC’s own “about” page. Then, FCC Chair Brendan Carr admitted something...
That word use to mean the FCC wasn’t supposed to be an instrument of presidential power. That’s the whole point of having political guardrails. The word used to sit on the FCC’s own “about” page. Then, FCC Chair Brendan Carr admitted something...
Reposted by Israel Balderas
Hi Senator, excuse me for jumping in, but... while I agree with you that this is really damaging, I couldn't help but notice YOU VOTED FOR THE FREAKING BILL THAT GAVE TRUMP THIS POWER (which some of us warned you not to do).
www.senate.gov/legislative/...
www.senate.gov/legislative/...
December 19, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Hi Senator, excuse me for jumping in, but... while I agree with you that this is really damaging, I couldn't help but notice YOU VOTED FOR THE FREAKING BILL THAT GAVE TRUMP THIS POWER (which some of us warned you not to do).
www.senate.gov/legislative/...
www.senate.gov/legislative/...
In the NY Times Opinion Podcast, EJ Dionne quotes Rahm Emanuel raising the anxious question of our moment: do you want your kids to be raised by parents or algorithms? If you’re Team Human, please be real: how will you make that happens? It didn’t happen with the Internet, the iPad & social media
December 19, 2025 at 12:37 PM
In the NY Times Opinion Podcast, EJ Dionne quotes Rahm Emanuel raising the anxious question of our moment: do you want your kids to be raised by parents or algorithms? If you’re Team Human, please be real: how will you make that happens? It didn’t happen with the Internet, the iPad & social media
Reposted by Israel Balderas
The Hunger Games was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not a handbook.
Trump announces an "unprecedented four-day athletic event" with "one young man and one young woman from each state and territory"
December 18, 2025 at 7:28 PM
The Hunger Games was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not a handbook.
As a former TV journalist now teaching media law I’m nervous about what media consolidation + AI will do to local newsrooms: fewer jobs & fewer voices. Its why I too joined Democracy Forward’s FCC filing asking the agency to look @ past deals. Did local journalism suffer? www.fcc.gov/ecfs/documen...
My joint comment in FCC 22-459: www.fcc.gov/ecfs/documen...
We ask for an actual analysis of merger benefits before changes to the media ownership rules occur.
Since Carr is now promising to hold stations accountable to their public interest obligations, he can now put his $ where his mouth is.
We ask for an actual analysis of merger benefits before changes to the media ownership rules occur.
Since Carr is now promising to hold stations accountable to their public interest obligations, he can now put his $ where his mouth is.
www.fcc.gov
December 19, 2025 at 3:13 AM
As a former TV journalist now teaching media law I’m nervous about what media consolidation + AI will do to local newsrooms: fewer jobs & fewer voices. Its why I too joined Democracy Forward’s FCC filing asking the agency to look @ past deals. Did local journalism suffer? www.fcc.gov/ecfs/documen...
If the FCC is “not independent,” then it’s not a neutral regulator; it’s a presidential instrument. Pair that with Trump openly musing about “properly licensing” networks every time he doesn’t like what he sees on TV, and you can see the architecture of political pressure forming in real time.
Why a single word disappearing from the FCC’s website matters for press freedom - Poynter
FCC Chair Brendan Carr says the agency is not ‘independent,’ sharpening concerns about political pressure on the media
www.poynter.org
December 18, 2025 at 4:57 PM
If the FCC is “not independent,” then it’s not a neutral regulator; it’s a presidential instrument. Pair that with Trump openly musing about “properly licensing” networks every time he doesn’t like what he sees on TV, and you can see the architecture of political pressure forming in real time.
Post-liberal constitutionalism. Thank you Adrian Vermeule.
WTF WSJ! It is not ambiguous and with this you are firing a bullet through the Constitutional Overton window.
Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
Exclusive | Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear
Trump’s former lawyer presented him with his forthcoming book that concludes the Constitution is ambiguous on the question.
www.wsj.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Post-liberal constitutionalism. Thank you Adrian Vermeule.
Reposted by Israel Balderas
Its nice to see all the greatest hits on §230 reform back in the playlist.
Kinda like a Guardian's of the Galaxy soundtrack, except now Thanos is trying to kill online free speech.
hageman.house.gov/media/press-...
Kinda like a Guardian's of the Galaxy soundtrack, except now Thanos is trying to kill online free speech.
hageman.house.gov/media/press-...
Congresswoman Hageman Introduces the Sunset to Reform Section 230 Act to Curb Big Tech Censorship
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced the Sunset to Reform Section 230 Act to force Congress to reform the broad authorities it has granted to Big Tech.
hageman.house.gov
December 18, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Its nice to see all the greatest hits on §230 reform back in the playlist.
Kinda like a Guardian's of the Galaxy soundtrack, except now Thanos is trying to kill online free speech.
hageman.house.gov/media/press-...
Kinda like a Guardian's of the Galaxy soundtrack, except now Thanos is trying to kill online free speech.
hageman.house.gov/media/press-...
FCC Chair Brendan Carr went before Congress to explain how an independent agency does its job. But after being held accountable by elected leaders, he strips “independent” from the FCC’s own website language. Serving a president is one thing; reshaping the structure & norms of governance is another.
FCC deletes reference to agency independence during US Senate hearing
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday deleted a longstanding reference to the agency's independence just minutes after a Democratic senator questioned the agency's Republican head on the ...
www.reuters.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
FCC Chair Brendan Carr went before Congress to explain how an independent agency does its job. But after being held accountable by elected leaders, he strips “independent” from the FCC’s own website language. Serving a president is one thing; reshaping the structure & norms of governance is another.
First Amendment lens: the biggest threat isn’t always bans but it’s the quiet “chilling” of speech. And that’s what’s happening with AI management systems being deployed at work. They can do that by turning expression into a risk metric.
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
AI Is Becoming the Boss’s Boss. Are You Ready for That?
As GPT-5.2 starts "reasoning across your meetings, emails, and docs," the future of work is being rewritten by systems built without meaningful oversight.
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
First Amendment lens: the biggest threat isn’t always bans but it’s the quiet “chilling” of speech. And that’s what’s happening with AI management systems being deployed at work. They can do that by turning expression into a risk metric.
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
AI policy and AI deployment just collided: Trump’s executive order on Friday & Microsoft baking GPT-5.2 into daily work tools happened on the same week. The connection matters more than it sounds.
December 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
AI policy and AI deployment just collided: Trump’s executive order on Friday & Microsoft baking GPT-5.2 into daily work tools happened on the same week. The connection matters more than it sounds.
Discomfort isn’t a failure of thinking. Sometimes it’s the beginning of it.
December 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Discomfort isn’t a failure of thinking. Sometimes it’s the beginning of it.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination early on in the semester was a moment of moral clarity & moral confusion. It exposed how easily we’ve blurred the line between speech and violence. For my students, it also forced an uncomfortable reckoning & not over the first amendment
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
What College Students Are Actually Learning About Free Speech - and Why the Data Misreads the Moment
A generation isn’t rejecting free speech. It’s navigating a culture that has redefined harm itself and the polls we cite keep missing the point.
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Charlie Kirk’s assassination early on in the semester was a moment of moral clarity & moral confusion. It exposed how easily we’ve blurred the line between speech and violence. For my students, it also forced an uncomfortable reckoning & not over the first amendment
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...
open.substack.com/pub/israelba...