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Posts by Alex Abdo

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Where Are All the Campus Protests? Two years ago, students occupied buildings and colonized the quad. Now the same places are strangely silent.

So this piece that @rosehorowitch.bsky.social (and I knew her when she wrote for @yaledailynews.bsky.social) is problematic. She suggests that student protests on Gaza got out of control bringing the clamp-down on university protests. 1/ www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

3 weeks ago 86 32 2 5

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research has filed a lawsuit with the @knightcolumbia.org and @protectdemocracy.org challenging a US State Department policy to revoke or deny visas of non-citizen researchers because of their work studying the societal impacts of technology. (1/4)

1 month ago 30 16 1 4
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Technology Researchers Challenge Trump Policy Threatening Deportation for Work on Social Media Platforms and Online Harms

🚨NEWS: @knightcolumbia.org & @protectdemocracy.org just filed a lawsuit on behalf of @thecoalition.bsky.social challenging the Trump administration's policy targeting social media researchers and trust & safety workers for visa revocation and deportation. More: knightcolumbia.org/content/tech...

1 month ago 35 21 1 3
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Petition for Writ of Mandamus

We filed an emergency petition asking the Eleventh Circuit to request a stay to stop Judge Cannon from potentially granting motions by President Trump and his co-defendants seeking the permanent suppression & destruction of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report. knightcolumbia.org/documents/z8...

2 months ago 14 9 1 0
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New Knight Institute Initiative to Focus on “Reconstructing Free Expression” After Trump

Very excited about this new @knightcolumbia.org project, both because it gives us the chance to look beyond the current democratic crisis and because so many super people have already agreed to participate. knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...

2 months ago 216 70 11 15
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Just filed: @knightcolumbia.org brief asking the Eleventh Circuit to reverse Judge Cannon and release Jack Smith’s Mar-Lago report. knightcolumbia.org/documents/v4...

2 months ago 436 119 4 6

"The ability of everyday citizens to hold government agents to account, by observing them and advocating for change, is what has distinguished the American experiment with democracy from authoritarian regimes around the world," says litigation director @alexabdo.bsky.social in @nbcnews.com.

2 months ago 39 15 3 1

As someone who edits a lot of essays (including the one by Yoel that this book incorrectly quotes) - a good cite check process should have caught this. If I’d published a piece where an error of this magnitude somehow slipped past the checker, I would feel obligated to issue a correction.

3 months ago 20 4 0 0

Excellent op-ed on the Supreme Court's terrible decision in the TikTok case.

4 months ago 8 1 0 1

JUST FILED: Our opposition—on behalf of the National Association of Immigration Judges—to the government's motion asking the Supreme Court to put on hold our challenge to a sweeping prior restraint on the speech of the nation's immigration judges.

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

4 months ago 11 5 0 0
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The problem is, and always has been, that playing with executive power is a dangerous game, and its consequences are hard and perhaps impossible to contain. If critics of the Trump boat strikes truly want to usher in a new era of respect for the rule of law, they must acknowledge that, in the shadow of the mounting democratic menace that Trump’s entire second administration represents, the legal process that yielded these strikes should not be seen as an aberration from the last quarter century of always-secret and often-unreviewable executive-branch legal reasoning, but the apotheosis of it.

The problem is, and always has been, that playing with executive power is a dangerous game, and its consequences are hard and perhaps impossible to contain. If critics of the Trump boat strikes truly want to usher in a new era of respect for the rule of law, they must acknowledge that, in the shadow of the mounting democratic menace that Trump’s entire second administration represents, the legal process that yielded these strikes should not be seen as an aberration from the last quarter century of always-secret and often-unreviewable executive-branch legal reasoning, but the apotheosis of it.

Well worth the time to read this piece by the ACLU's Brett Max Kaufman on the Trump administration's boat strikes.

Here's the kicker:

4 months ago 11 5 0 0
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NEW:  Fourth Circuit denies the government’s request for a rehearing in our challenge to a DOJ policy silencing immigration judges. We look forward to continuing the fight for the right of immigration judges to speak on matters of urgent public interest. 
knightcolumbia.org/documents/sn...

5 months ago 14 7 1 0
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Media including Fox News overwhelmingly reject Pentagon press policy Fox News, along with ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, said that the Pentagon policy violates their “core journalistic protections.”

Great to finally see some collective action in rejecting a (likely unconstitutional) demand made by the Trump administration.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

6 months ago 6 0 0 0
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This free speech group at Columbia is taking on Trump when the university won’t – and winning The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on it

This is a perilous moment for democracy in the United States, but I couldn’t be prouder of the Knight Institute’s work right now, and I don’t take for granted that we have the freedom and resources to do it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

6 months ago 399 110 4 4
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Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

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...

6 months ago 463 92 2 3
92nd St. Y schedule for tomorrow night:

Thomas Friedman in Conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross: Israel, The Middle East, and the Future of Diplomacy at 6pm ET

Shadowbanned & Shut Down: Censorship in the Digital Public Square
Mike Masnick, Lee Rowland, and Alex Abdo with Thane Rosenbaum at 7pm ET

Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation with Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey: Revenge of the Tipping Point at 7:30pm ET

An Evening with Kate McKinnon and Penn Badgley: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science — Secrets of the Purple Pearl at 8pm ET

92nd St. Y schedule for tomorrow night: Thomas Friedman in Conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross: Israel, The Middle East, and the Future of Diplomacy at 6pm ET Shadowbanned & Shut Down: Censorship in the Digital Public Square Mike Masnick, Lee Rowland, and Alex Abdo with Thane Rosenbaum at 7pm ET Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation with Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey: Revenge of the Tipping Point at 7:30pm ET An Evening with Kate McKinnon and Penn Badgley: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science — Secrets of the Purple Pearl at 8pm ET

Tomorrow night, for folks not planning to watch the Yankees/Red Sox game, the 92nd St Y has four different talks. Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell, Kate McKinnon/Penn Badgley... or *me* with Lee Rowland & @alexabdo.bsky.social! (Ours is streaming only, not in person).

6 months ago 44 6 4 0
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Legal experts say pulling Jimmy Kimmel from air may amount to illegal 'jawboning' Free speech scholars say ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show indefinitely represents "jawboning," when government officials pressure private companies to suppress speech.

Took a look at Kimmel's ouster in light of the longstanding Republican attacks on social media over jawboning, which, the Supreme Court has found, requires a direct causal line.

The Kimmel case "is as direct a line as you could dream up," @alexabdo.bsky.social told me

www.npr.org/2025/09/18/n...

7 months ago 55 18 3 1

Condemning another absolutely disgraceful act of gun violence. My thoughts & prayers are w/ Charlie Kirk & his family in this terrible moment & we are all grateful for first responders who immediately jumped into action.

We must categorically reject all violence in our society.

7 months ago 2763 419 245 21
Quoting from Justice Roberts in a recent decision

Quoting from Justice Roberts in a recent decision

Chief Justice Roberts (2007): “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

Justice Kavanaugh (2025): ethnicity “can be a 'relevant factor' when considered along with other salient factors” in immigration stops.

7 months ago 824 325 21 24
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What the Columbia Settlement Really Means

The Columbia settlement is an “astonishing transfer of autonomy and authority to . . . an administration whose disdain for the values of the academy is demonstrated anew every day.” New @knightcolumbia.org analysis of the Columbia settlement, just published. knightcolumbia.org/blog/what-th...

8 months ago 491 226 13 21
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Knight Institute Calls for Urgent “Course Correction” on Response to Student Protests at Columbia University

On our site, you can also see some of the statements we've issued relating to Columbia's handling of student protests. Here's one, for example:

knightcolumbia.org/blog/knight-...

8 months ago 2 0 1 0

bsky.app/profile/alex...

8 months ago 2 0 1 0

Fall 2026 ... sorry!

8 months ago 2 0 1 0
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| Knight First Amendment Institute

Recent law grads — we're now hiring for legal fellows to begin in Fall 2025. Our First Amendment rights are under daily assault. I hope you'll consider applying to work with us at @knightcolumbia.org to push back.

knightcolumbia.org/page/legal-f...

8 months ago 61 45 5 1
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JUST IN: the Ninth Circuit has revived the @elfaroenglish.bsky.social case against NSO Group. Congrats to my @knightcolumbia.org colleague @carriedecell.bsky.social, who argued the appeal, and to our co-counsel at Selendy Gay. Statement coming shortly. knightcolumbia.org/documents/1x...

9 months ago 11 5 1 1

Enjoyed this conversation with @cristianfarias.com about our upcoming trial — starting July 7 — in our suit challenging the Trump administration's policy of deporting students and scholars based on their pro-Palestinian expression.

9 months ago 3 1 0 0
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This amicus brief by @ccrjustice.org and Palestine Legal rightly points out that Title VI does not—and could not constitutionally—require universities to suppress criticism of Israel's policies.

static1.squarespace.com/static/54874...

11 months ago 68 10 0 0
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Facing lawsuit, USDA says it will restore climate change-related webpages The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to restore webpages related to climate change after it was sued earlier this year over the deletions.

In response to a lawsuit filed by @knightcolumbia.org and @earthjustice.org, the USDA is restoring climate-related webpages that it had purged.

Great news for the farmers and advocates we represent.

apnews.com/article/usda...

11 months ago 71 17 3 0
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Careers at ACLU Join our team! We’re looking for committed, passionate people for open roles at the ACLU.

We're hiring! If you're eager to work at the ACLU on issues where civil liberties and national security meet, we're hiring for an attorney position.

And help us spread the word!

www.aclu.org/careers/appl...

11 months ago 15 6 0 0
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American Association of University Professors v. Rubio

We're based at Columbia, but we're a separate c3. You can see our docket here: knightcolumbia.org/litigation/

Including cases like this one, challenging the Trump administration's deportation of students on the basis of speech:

knightcolumbia.org/cases/aaup-v...

11 months ago 2 0 1 1