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Posts by Rachel Levinson-Waldman

Yes - please join us this Sunday at 5 pm at the CT Ave Politics & Prose! Andrew is a great writer & brilliant thinker; this conversation will be a lot of fun.

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Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act For too long, this law has allowed the government to evade privacy protections and spy on Americans. Reform is overdue.

Congress is about to vote on renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Originally meant to monitor foreigners overseas, it’s been abused to surveil Americans. This is a chance to finally protect Americans’ privacy. bit.ly/4tASUmW

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Sending ICE to Polling Places Is Illegal Armed federal agents have absolutely no business near election sites.

New from my @brennancenter.org colleagues: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

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The Military’s Use of AI, Explained The risks to soldiers and civilians are mounting as the Pentagon races to adopt the latest commercial advances in artificial intelligence.

Congress needs to mandate testing and evaluation of AI that poses risks to the safety of military personnel, to Americans’ privacy rights and civil liberties, and to civilians’ lives. bit.ly/40rNSg4

1 month ago 52 28 0 2
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The Business of Military AI The Pentagon has been spending tens of billions of dollars to adopt new technologies at breakneck speed. Without oversight and safeguards, military applications of artificial intelligence could jeopar...

As @amostoh.bsky.social and I explain in our new report, the military has been ramping up its adoption of AI, while oversight and safeguards have failed to keep up.

But the Pentagon’s dispute with Anthropic has brought a grave threat into focus: using AI to pry into Americans’ private lives 🧵 1/

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I mostly find Young Sheldon surprisingly sweet, and we also love watching FOTB together - it’s really well done.

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Omg. This is unfortunately very relevant to my life, as I have an 11-year-old who loves Young Sheldon. 😳

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The Business of Military AI The Pentagon has been spending tens of billions of dollars to adopt new technologies at breakneck speed. Without oversight and safeguards, military applications of artificial intelligence could jeopar...

1/ As the US continues AI-enabled strikes on Iran, new @brennancenter.org research from @emileayoub.bsky.social and me examines how the military’s investments in the technology have been building to this moment.

Congress must step up and reckon with AI’s dangers to life, liberty, and democracy 🧵:

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Oh man - he’ll be missed.

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Is the FBI Investigating Environmental Activists? - Inside Climate News A recent visit by an FBI agent to a climate activist hints at a broadening Trump administration effort to target political opponents.

The Trump administration is going after political opponents under the banner of "domestic terrorism," including environmental activists. “They make pretty clear that it is ideology itself that is going to be targeted," says @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social:

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Trump's Iran Strikes Are Unconstitutional Congress must act.

Trump's "massive and ongoing operation" against Iran is a clear violation of the Constitution's separation of powers.

In our democracy, the president does not have the kingly power to plunge the nation into war without democratic debate and sanction. /1 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

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How to Think About the Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute A conversation with Kat Duffy from the Council on Foreign Relations and Amos Toh from the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Pentagon wants AI that can fight wars without limits. Anthropic says there are lines it won't cross. And this week, that standoff turned into an all-out confrontation. To unpack the news, I spoke to Kat Duffy from the Council on Foreign Relations and Amos Toh from the Brennan Center:

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Thanks to @knightcolumbia.org for giving me the opportunity to write about this as part of their larger project on reconstructing free expression - it’s such an important effort and I can’t wait to see what comes out of it.

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Last July, we warned that the administration’s policy against “woke AI” would heap pressure on the tech industry to quash dissent.

Today, it is pressuring industry to roll back safeguards aimed at preventing the mass surveillance of Americans, and lethal targeting without human oversight.

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Such a treat to have this conversation with Mary C Curtis!

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‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

This is astonishing. A must read. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

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The SAVE Act could block millions of Americans from voting. It is not common sense. If passed, it would be the first time in history Congress passed a vote suppression law. #SOTU

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The Bad Voting Bill that Refuses to Die The SAVE Act would stop millions of eligible Americans from voting.

The SAVE Act would make voting harder for millions of Americans. It’s based on the lie that noncitizens routinely vote in our elections — the truth is that noncitizen voting is already illegal and vanishingly rare. bit.ly/4qS8wBr

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Interested in Anthropic v DOD? Important thread below from expert on military use of AI 👇👇👇

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How ICE Will Spy On Protesters, And How You Can Protect Your Privacy Jake Laperruque explains how ICE’s expanding surveillance tools can track protesters through phones, faces, and vehicles.

Great piece by @jakelaperruque.bsky.social about how ICE is spying on observers and protesters and what Congress and state and local legislatures should do to stop it. www.techpolicy.press/how-ice-will...

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And this is why ICE reform needs to include halting its intensifying surveillance of people exercising their First Amendment rights. Per @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social and colleagues.

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Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision; Arrival and Departure Record (Form I-94) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review an...

CBP wants to collect social media handles from the roughly 14.5 million travelers visiting annually from countries deemed our “close allies.”

This proposal comes after the administration has openly declared its intent to use social media to screen people for speech it doesn’t like. 1/

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Let’s be clear: This isn’t just about antifa. It’s about criminalizing speech the administration doesn’t like. Today's trial in Texas is a test case. If these charges stick, the precedent will outlast this administration. 9/fin

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Antifa members indicted in Texas ICE facility riot, attempted murder of officer The Justice Department indicted nine Antifa members and charged seven more in a Texas ICE facility attack that left a police officer wounded.

This framework is now driving indictments. In November, AG Pam Bondi told Fox News: "Expect similar cases to come as we dismantle antifa." That's not law enforcement. It’s political targeting. And it's outrageous and un-American. 8/ www.foxnews.com/us/antifa-me...

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Trump’s Version of “Domestic Terrorism” vs. the First Amendment The administration has given itself permission to prosecute people and organizations for their political views.

The range of suspect "ideologies" is breathtakingly broad. It includes "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity" and "extremism on migration, race, and gender.” The practical effect would be to criminalize dissent. 7/ www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

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How NSPM-7 Seeks to Use "Domestic Terrorism" to Target Nonprofits and Activists | ACLU What President Donald Trump’s latest memorandum targeting civil society does, does not, and cannot do.

These designations have no basis in fact or in law. Antifa is not a group or an organization; it’s a decentralized movement. And the president has no legal or constitutional authority to designate a group as a domestic terrorist organization. 6/ www.aclu.org/news/nationa...

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Trump’s Orders Targeting Anti-Fascism Aim to Criminalize Opposition Purporting to go after “domestic terrorism,” the president presents an imagined left-wing conspiracy and authorizes punishments for even tenuous connections to speech the administration doesn’t like.

The Trump administration laid the groundwork for these domestic terrorism prosecutions in two orders last fall, designating “antifa” as a “domestic terrorism organization” and listing a range of vague “ideologies” purportedly motivating terrorism. 5/ www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

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The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an Anarchist Zine Daniel Sanchez is facing federal charges for what free speech advocates say is a clear attack on the First Amendment.

Some of the people charged weren't even at the demonstration. And some of them are being punished literally for having a box of magazines. Publishing and sharing speech is at the heart of the First Amendment – even speech that feels radical to some. 4/ theintercept.com/2025/11/23/p...

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But prosecutors are calling the incident an “antifa attack” on the fed govt. And DOJ is stretching a statute criminalizing "material support” for terrorism—typically used against people aiding foreign terrorist groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda—to apply it to U.S. citizens protesting on American soil. 3/

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The public facts of the case: Activists gathered at the Prairieland, TX ICE facility. Some set off fireworks or spray-painted cars. The protest escalated. A police officer was shot and injured. That is extremely serious - and whoever shot the officer should be held accountable under the law. 2/

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