A terrifying sign of the lengths the US gov it taking to keep watch over its own citizens US prosecutors are charging a man returning to the US w/ obstruction because he gave them a passcode erasing the data on his smartphone. @adeelhassan.bsky.social @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...

A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge.

Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search.

nytimes.com

“I think we're politically facing the most dangerous moment in my lifetime. The Battle for Free Speech is more critical than ever.” In this episode of @freespeechbattle.bsky.social civil rights activist & radio host Marc Steiner discusses community organizing, underground newspapers & journalism

Marc Steiner: A life standing for free speech | Ep. 8

From civil rights activism to community organizing, from theater and education to radio, Marc has been standing for free speech since the late 1950s. Today, we talk with Marc about his extraordinary l...

therealnews.com

A former Google worker describes the #DropDialog movement and organizing against Big Tech in Ireland: by @undertheshadow.bsky.social

Peter Thiel’s Dialog conference in Ireland shut down by grassroots action

A former Google worker describes the #DropDialog movement and organizing against Big Tech in Ireland.

therealnews.com

A shockingly revisionist script; questionably sourced funding; backing from the US MAGA faction – and all building up to Brazil’s October elections. Euan Marshall tries to take this thing seriously.

‘Dark Horse’: The Bolsonaro Biopic You Have to See to Believe

artreview.com

Elon Musk has interfered in local politics and Big Tech is throwing its weight around, but Europeans are responding. This is Episode 7 of the Battle for Free Speech Podcast from @freespeechbattle.bsky.social

Media education, regulation, and organizing against Big Tech in Europe | Ep. 7

Elon Musk has interfered in local politics and Big Tech is throwing its weight around, but Europeans are responding. This is Episode 7 of the Battle for Free Speech Podcast.

therealnews.com

Trump doesn't like @nytimes.com's reporting about his new plane. He orders the FBI—a supposed independent agency—to investigate. Director Kash Patel does so from the White House (not his office) Times reporters are subpoenaed (at their homes) Where is #FreeSpeech? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...

White House Directed Patel to Oversee Investigation Involving Times Reporting

The F.B.I. director spent about eight hours at the White House Friday focused on the effort, which led to the subpoenaing of several Times reporters who wrote about the security of Air Force One.

nytimes.com

Fewer people are posting on social media, for understandable reasons. Most sites are algorithm-focused, pushing garbage into your feed instead of what you want to see. Social media companies only have themselves to blame for this boring, toxic mess. ca.pcmag.com/social-media...

The Death of the Status Update: Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting on Social Media

If scrolling feels more exhausting than entertaining, you're not alone. I feel the same way, and a recent study backs up the sentiment: Social media is losing its fun factor.

ca.pcmag.com

EFF's @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy joined Trevor Noah's What Now? podcast to discuss enshittification, Big Tech, and the hope we have for fighting back. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK8...

Why Google, Apple & Big Tech Keep Making Everything Worse | Cory Doctorow and Trevor Noah

This week, Trevor and Eugene sit down with science fiction author a...

youtube.com

Few countries in the world have fought disinformation as actively as #Brazil. Now, the US is pushing to roll it back in the name of US-style “free speech.” New episode from @freespeechbattle.bsky.social

Brazil’s battle against fake news and the US war to undermine it | Ep. 6

Few countries in the world have fought disinformation as actively as Brazil. Now, the United States is pushing to roll it back in the name of US-style “free speech.”

therealnews.com

1 yr into Jeff Bezos' decision to censor alternate viewpoints in the Washington Post's Opinion pages, the paper has backed Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing, his kidnapping of the Venezuelan president & unprecedented gerrymandering @fairmediawatch.bsky.social fair.org/home/one-yea...

One Year Into Clampdown, WaPo Opinion Cheers for MAGA, Billionaires and AI

The Washington Post editorial page has backed Trump in the destruction of the East Wing, the kidnapping of Venezuela's president and the military takeover of DC.

fair.org

Meta is making it easier to spread hate as violence rises. We found violent threats against Members of Congress QUADRUPLED on Facebook after Meta rolled back key safety protections in January 2025. Call on Mark Zuckerberg to curb this abuse: act.counterhate.com/page/193469/...

Free speech is pretty easy . . . one's words should not be detrimental to the freedom or safety of another and, in Nelson Mandela's words, "The purpose of freedom is to create it for others". #auspol #speech #freespeech #NelsonMandela

Scary times for the 1st amendment. When US citizen David Streever wrote an angry letter to ICE officials denouncing their violent actions in Minneapolis, he never imagined they'd show up at his home & then track him across the state @washingtonpost.com @thefireorg.bsky.social @jtmorristx.bsky.social

Democratic erosion is everywhere. Free speech is attacked day one & consistently by authoritarians. Trump brought his typical, longstanding ethos of retaliation for "critics" (ie ANYONE who disagrees w/ him) to the WH. I'm proud of my CHOKEHOLD report analyzing: www.freepress.net/attack-on-fr...

Chokehold: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance

This Free Press report examines the Trump administration’s hostile relationship with dissent and free expression in 2025. It analyzes how Trump and his political enablers have sought to undermine and ...

freepress.net

“There’s a kind of narcotic effect of those words — free speech,” says legal scholar Mary Anne Franks. “It’s because we think we know it so well that we don’t know anything about it.” New The Battle For Free Speech episode from @undertheshadow.bsky.social

What is free speech? America at 250

"There's a kind of narcotic effect of those words — free speech," says legal scholar Mary Anne Franks. "It's because we think we know it so well that we don't know anything about it."

therealnews.com

The Supreme Court just effectively gutted two key laws for suing tech over human rights abuses, says Tech Justice Law's Madeline Batt. The result in Doe v. Cisco leaves companies and executives "less constrained by liability fears"—and victims with fewer pathways to redress.

Supreme Court Decimates Key Remedies for Tech Complicity in Human Rights Abuse

Following the ruling in Doe v. Cisco, victims are left searching for new pathways to redress, writes Tech Justice Law legal fellow Madeline Batt.

techpolicy.press

Manipulative reporting @nytimes.com. They painted Colorado's 1st District Democratic primary winner as a radical leftist who had taken up arms. @melatkirosco.bsky.social is a PHD candidate & former lawyer who has stood up for Palestine. She is the latest in the @demsocialists.bsky.social wave!

US journalists are being targeted like never before. Arrests, attacks, detentions, threats & even deportations. This moment, they say, is “unprecedented.” #BattleForFreeSpeech @therealnews.com @rsf.org @pressfreedom.bsky.social @nppa.org @plasticjesusart.bsky.social therealnews.com/shot-jailed-...

Shot, jailed, deported: Inside Trump's crackdown on journalists | Ep. 4

US journalists are being targeted like never before. Arrests, attacks, detentions. Threats and even deportations. This moment, they say, is “unprecedented.” This is Episode 4 of The Battle for Free Sp...

therealnews.com

Press freedom today in the United States is under attack like never before. Assaults, intimidation, arrests, even deportations of journalists are up. The @nppa.org Mickey Osterreicher says this moment is “unprecedented.” This is Episode 4 of The Battle for Free Speech podcast

Shot, jailed, deported: Inside Trump's crackdown on journalists | Ep. 4

US journalists are being targeted like never before. Arrests, attacks, detentions. Threats and even deportations. This moment, they say, is “unprecedented.” This is Episode 4 of The Battle for Free Sp...

therealnews.com

Two ICE agents tracked down a woman *inside a polling place* yesterday. Why? They demanded that she take down an Instagram post in which she named Jonathan Ross as the man who shot & killed Renee Good (after the Star Tribune identified Ross). www.syracuse.com/news/2026/06...

Federal agents track down Syracuse woman, demand she remove Instagram post about ICE

She believes the warning was related to a post about the ICE agent who shot Renee Good in Minneapolis.

syracuse.com

In this episode of The Battle for Free Speech, I tell the story of Pennsylvania Hall, built in 1838 as a "temple for free speech" where women & men, black & white, could speak together freely. It stood for 4 days before being burned to the ground by a white mob. therealnews.com/a-history-of...

A history of free speech, from abolitionists to Berkeley | Ep. 2

From abolitionists to muckrakers, civil rights organizers to student activists, many communities have carried the banner for free speech and demanded that their voices be heard. This is Episode 2 of T...

therealnews.com

Excellent new episode about Big Tech's commodification of free speech in The Battle for Free Speech podcast, including a few thoughts from me

The Real News Network@therealnews.com · last mo.

Trump and his allies are rolling out censorship in the name of free speech through the deployment of media mergers, social media, and AI.But they’re clamping down on your voice, not freeing it. This is Episode 3 of The Battle for Free Speech podcast @freespeechbattle.bsky.social

The Media Merger that Should Really Scare Democrats The Murdochs are about to have massive influence on what millions of Americans watch.... with Fox's purchase of Roku for $22 billion. Important reporting. @danpfeiffer.bsky.social #BattleForFreeSpeech www.messageboxnews.com/p/the-media-...

The Media Merger that Should Really Scare Democrats

The Murdochs are about to have massive influence on what millions of Americans watch

messageboxnews.com

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they)@doctorvive.bsky.social · last mo.

Think X is bad? The whole media landscape will increasingly elevate right-wing content and hide reality-based programming. @danpfeiffer.bsky.social with the worst news of the day. www.messageboxnews.com/p/the-media-...

In the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup, FIFA ordered #Haiti to change its jersey because the small imagery of people raising the Haitian flag in the corner of the jersey was deemed "too political”. #FreeSpeech www.patreon.com/SovereignMed...

Africans and Iranians Face Discrimination at World Cup | Sovereign Media

In the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup in North America, the US and FIFA have carried out discriminatory and racist harassment of several Afri

patreon.com

Trump and his allies are rolling out censorship in the name of free speech through the deployment of media mergers, social media, and AI.But they’re clamping down on your voice, not freeing it. This is Episode 3 of The Battle for Free Speech podcast @freespeechbattle.bsky.social

Big Tech’s assault on free speech: Mergers, social media, AI, and censorship

Trump and his allies are rolling out censorship in the name of free speech through the deployment of media mergers, social media, and AI. This is Episode 3 of The Battle for Free Speech podcast.

therealnews.com

The biggest AI risk isn't rogue machines—it's "cognitive surrender,” writes Evan Liu. As part of a series of student essays produced in collaboration with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, Liu argues AI tempts us to outsource the struggle of learning itself.

AI's Catastrophic Risk Isn't Rogue Machines, It's Cognitive Surrender

For many, AI introduces the suspicion that self-investment is inherently a losing proposition, writes recent graduate Evan Liu.

buff.ly

Israel asked Meta to #censor social media content about its ongoing war against Iran, according to internal documents. Israel petitioned Meta to take down posts expressing support for #Iran & opposition to Israel. Important reporting @sambiddle.com @theintercept.com theintercept.com/2026/06/18/i...

Israel Asked Facebook to Censor Iran War Content, Internal Documents Show

Company records reviewed by The Intercept show Israel urged Facebook and Instagram to take down posts supportive of Iran.

theintercept.com

From fascism to AI, our world is breaking. Only rank-and-file workers can save it. A blockbuster panel with labor journalists @kimkelly.bsky.social @alexnpress.bsky.social @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social @inthesetimes.com therealnews.com/from-fascism...

From fascism to AI, our world is breaking. Only rank-and-file workers can save it.

“It's on us to think for the future, because the people in power clearly don't think we have one.” From fascism to AI, labor reporters Kim Kelly, Alex Press, Hamilton Nolan, and Maximillian Alvarez ad...

therealnews.com

For Truthout: Some of my reflections on current movements on Juneteenth. truthout.org/articles/des...

Despite the State’s Attempts to Stamp Out Opposition, Our Movements Persevere

Echoes of anti-slavery and civil rights struggles reverberate through the current uprising against ICE.

truthout.org

I wrote about the astounding indictment of 15 people in Minnesota now charged with an alleged criminal conspiracy against ICE, and what federal prosecutors’ wild “who posted what on Signal when,” “who said what on the ‘Anarchist Speaking Tour’” claims are meant to do:

Trump’s DOJ Is Trying So Hard to Scare People Away From Protesting ICE

Federal prosecutors just leveled sweeping charges against 15 Minnesotans for allegedly conspiring to stop ICE. The charges may not succeed, but a conviction isn’t what the feds are really after.

newrepublic.com