ReactorMag – “One price of free speech is eternal humility, recognizing that none of us is immune to becoming a tool of censorship if we fail to recognize its manipulative tactics. Was it a government action, or did they do it themselves because of pressure?” This is inevitably among our first questions when news breaks… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Civil Liberties
ARCCI submits first report regarding Hamas October 7 attack to the UN
Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI): “The report clearly demonstrates that this is not a “malfunction” or isolated incident but a clear operational strategy involving systematic, targeted sexual abuse. The report focuses on sexual and gender-based violence during the massacre of October 7, 2023, and the war that ensued, serving as a primary… Continue Reading
Silicon Valley has its own ascendant political ideology. It’s past time we call it what it is.
The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism by Adrienne LaFrance [The Atlantic; read free] “Silicon Valley still attracts many immensely talented people who strive to do good, and who are working to realize the best possible version of a more connected, data-rich global society. Even the most deleterious companies have built some wonderful tools. But these tools, at scale,… Continue Reading
The Dignity Index is designed to prevent violence, ease divisions, and solve problems
“The Dignity Index scores distinct phrases along an eight-point scale from contempt to dignity. Lower scores (1-4) reflect divisive language while higher scores (5-8) reflect language grounded in dignity. In its pilot season, a trained group of students supported by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and the Hinckley Institute of Politics… Continue Reading
Why the Most Educated People in America Fall for Anti-Semitic Lies
The Atlantic [read free] “By now, December’s congressional hearing about anti-Semitism at universities, during which the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT all claimed that calls for the genocide of Jews would violate their university’s policies only “depending on the context,” is already a well-worn meme. Surely there is nothing left to… Continue Reading
Wyden Reveals Phone Data Used to Target Abortion Misinformation at Visitors to Hundreds of Reproductive Health Clinics
“U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., revealed today that an anti-abortion political group used mobile phone location data to send targeted misinformation to people who visited any of 600 reproductive health clinics in 48 states. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, Wyden urged the government to act quickly to… Continue Reading
Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers
“Our nation incarcerates more than 1.2 million people in state and federal prisons, and two out of three of these incarcerated people are also workers. In most instances, the jobs these nearly 800,000 incarcerated workers have look similar to those of millions of people working on the outside. But there are two crucial differences: Incarcerated… Continue Reading
Legal Treatises and the Evolution of Civil Rights Case Law
Bahnson, Jane and Shreve, Wickliffe, Legal Treatises and the Evolution of Civil Rights Case Law (November 7, 2023). Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2023-68, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4626237 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4626237 – “During the 2022 term, the Supreme Court cited treatises to change legal precedent in two important civil rights cases. We… Continue Reading
Buying Spying: How the commercial surveillance industry works and what can be done about it
Google: “Spyware is typically used to monitor and collect data from high-risk users like journalists, human rights defenders, dissidents and opposition party politicians. These capabilities have grown the demand for spyware technology, making way for a lucrative industry used to sell governments and nefarious actors the ability to exploit vulnerabilities in consumer devices. Though the… Continue Reading
Israel Privately Estimates as Many as 50 Hostages Could Be Dead
“As many as 50 hostages whom Hamas abducted during its Oct. 7 attack could be dead, Israel said privately. The figure, presented during recent talks in Cairo, according to Egyptian officials, has been key in negotiating the release of hostages—alive and dead (🔐 read for free). Israel has publicly acknowledged 29 deaths. If the private… Continue Reading
“Cast as Criminals, America’s Librarians Rally to Their Own Defense”
The New York Times [read free]: “…As America’s libraries have become noisy and sometimes dangerous new battlegrounds in the nation’s culture wars, librarians like Ms. Neujahr and their allies have moved from the stacks to the front lines. People who normally preside over hushed sanctuaries are now battling groups that demand the mass removal of… Continue Reading
Google’s Location Data Policy Update
EPIC: “In December 2023, Google announced an update to its location data policy to provide users with more control over their sensitive location information. While this seems like a promising step in the right direction, we should be mindful of Google’s long history of failing to uphold its privacy obligations and vigilant in monitoring Google’s… Continue Reading
