OTI is excited to support the Digital Opportunity Foundation Act. To see returns on our investments in digital infrastructure & #AI, we need to support a hub for funding, resource sharing & developing best practices around adoption & digital upskilling. www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...

The Google Public Policy Fellowship connects students passionate about the internet & tech w/ public interest orgs at the forefront of the biggest tech policy debates—including OTI! Want to spend this summer with the OTI team? Apply by 12 PM ET on Thursday, April 9! https://bit.ly/41PDMG0

Don’t miss @sydneysaubestre.bsky.social’s piece for @techpolicypress.bsky.social unpacking how the new #AI legislative framework from the White House approaches AI harms.

Technology & Democracy@techanddemocracy.newamerica.org · 6mo ago

The national #AI policy framework seems to suggest some harms are an acceptable cost, writes OTI's @sydneysaubestre.bsky.social for @techpolicypress.bsky.social. That is a choice—a choice on whose reality gets treated as a policy problem & whose gets treated as an externality. https://bit.ly/40THRJf

The national #AI policy framework seems to suggest some harms are an acceptable cost, writes OTI's @sydneysaubestre.bsky.social for @techpolicypress.bsky.social. That is a choice—a choice on whose reality gets treated as a policy problem & whose gets treated as an externality. https://bit.ly/40THRJf

Trump’s AI Policy Framework Leaves Most Vulnerable Exposed

The framework appears to suggest certain harms are an acceptable cost, writes Sydney Saubestre from New America’s Open Technology Institute.

techpolicy.press

#ICYMI: @michaelcalabrese.bsky.social, director of @newamerica.org's Wireless Future program, joined @vivekchil.bsky.social & @lindsaygorman.bsky.social for @politico.com's panel "The Geopolitics of 6G." www.politico.com/events/2026/...

POLITICO Policy Outlook: Powering 6G

The next generation of mobile communications technology — commonly known as 6G — promises to unlock a bold new digital future. From autonomous systems to robotics to artificial intelligence, technolog...

politico.com

As government surveillance mechanisms increase, we are reminded why encryption needs to be protected. For women and gender minorities, encryption offers a crucial layer of safety. https://bit.ly/4c1cQd5

Why Weakening Encryption Hurts Women and Gender Minorities

Encryption is sometimes called “privacy’s best friend,” yet some policymakers are undermining it under the guise of preventing misogynistic violence.

newamerica.org

@newamerica.org's OTI has created new resources to help state #data holders & users navigate federal pressure & mounting requests. https://www.newamerica.org/oti/blog/protect-data-to-preserve-public-trust-know-your-states-rights/

Protect Data to Preserve Public Trust: Know Your State’s Rights

New resources to help state data holders and users navigate federal pressure and mounting requests.

newamerica.org

Rounding out our posts for #DataPrivacyWeek, we're excited to share the zine OTI worked on with @nirhealth.bsky.social! Check out OTI's blog that further breaks down #privacy practices illustrated in the zine. www.newamerica.org/oti/blog/top...

Top 6 Digital Safety and Privacy Tips for Advocacy Orgs

To reduce the potential of digital harms for community members, staff, and volunteers, advocacy organizations should develop digital security and privacy protocols.

newamerica.org

National Institute for Reproductive Health@nirhealth.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Digital care is collective care. Together with our partners at @newamerica.org’s Open Technology Institute, we’ve created a brand-new zine that highlights how best to practice digital safety. Swipe and share and learn how to protect your data, your privacy, and your community. #DataPrivacyWeek

When governments collect, share & use our data, they must do so while prioritizing our #privacy & the truth. Read some of OTI's publications from last year to learn more. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4bj5EZu ➡️ https://bit.ly/3NFFaHN ➡️ https://bit.ly/4bfk4K9 #DataPrivacyWeek

OTI is pleased to endorse @markey.senate.gov's & @repsummerlee.bsky.social's bill centering rights & fairness in the federal government's development, use & oversight of #AI tools. www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-r...

Sen. Markey, Rep. Lee Reintroduce Legislation to Mandate Civil Rights Offices in Federal Agencies that Manage Artificial Intelligence | U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts

Bill Text (PDF) Washington (January 15, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the...

markey.senate.gov

An Open Technology Institute thread: Today’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on protecting children & teens online is focusing on nearly 20 bills. OTI is glad that our leaders continue to prioritize the well-being of kids online! Below are our takes on some of these bills ⬇ (1/8)

@bencasselman.bsky.social's covered how this shutdown has impacted our data. Some of it, he & Rebecca Davis O'Brien say, "will probably never be produced, a permanent gap in understanding that could have lasting consequences." This plays into "data theatre." foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/22/u...

When U.S. Data Lies, the World Listens

The Trump administration’s manipulation of statistics is exporting uncertainty into the international system.

foreignpolicy.com

Ben Casselman@bencasselman.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The shutdown is over. The data drought is not. What we know (and mostly don't) about when the data flow will resume, what we'll never get, and what the lasting damage could be: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/b... #EconSky

In a new brief from OTI, former policy fellow @matt-steinberg.bsky.social & OTI director @premmtrivedi.bsky.social propose targeted interventions to address the privacy & security challenges of #AI agents. Read now: www.newamerica.org/oti/briefs/a...

Recent OTI Policy Fellow @matt-steinberg.bsky.social published a @techpolicypress.bsky.social piece emphasizing that the "more physical #AI becomes, the more it slips through the frameworks we’ve tried to build." Learn more: www.techpolicy.press/ai-is-moving...

AI Is Moving Into Physical Products, And Out of Regulatory Reach | TechPolicy.Press

Matt Steinberg discusses how AI wearables and toys blur the line between products and speech—raising urgent regulatory gaps in privacy and child safety.

techpolicy.press

This reporter helped expose the falsity of ICE's narrative on the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez. His work is a perfect example of why we don't have secret police. Journalists have a constitutional right to cover protests and their aftermath. Release @peoplesfabric.com immediately.

unraveled@unraveledpress.com · 12mo ago

Chaos again, feds tackling protesters at random. They just detained @peoplesfabric.com.

Thrilled to step into this role.

Technology & Democracy@techanddemocracy.newamerica.org · last yr.

📢 Big news announced at #OTIat15: @premmtrivedi.bsky.social is stepping into the role of director of @newamerica.org's OTI! Kicking off his tenure, Prem gives a presentation on how the program is thinking about building the future internet we want. Tune in live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgrD...

Don't miss OTI's 15th yr anniversary, which will feature fascinating forward-looking panels & lightning talks.

New America@newamerica.org · last yr.

For the past 15 years, OTI has been working to ensure that every community has equitable access to digital technology and its benefits. Join OTI on 9/9 for a lightning talk + past/present directors panel on the future of tech policy 💻 @techanddemocracy.newamerica.org go.newamerica.org/oti-at-15-5

Well this will be impossible to operationalize. Also, pretty clearly a First Amendment violation, since it's conditioning federal contracts on speech that is unrelated to the contract performance. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whit...

🚨 Today, @publicknowledge.bsky.social joined 21 other public interest, civil rights, labor, and digital rights groups in a letter urging FCC Chair Brendan Carr to pull an item from the FCC's July Open Meeting agenda for violating the Administrative Procedure Act.

[JULY 24] @daniel-solove.bsky.social, author of On Privacy and Technology, will unpack how policy professionals from different fields should understand privacy & its relationship to power, society & healthy democracies. OTI's @premmtrivedi.bsky.social will host the discussion. RSVP ⬇️

Privacy, Technology, and Protecting Democracy: A Conversation with Daniel Solove

An event unpacking how policy professionals from different fields should understand privacy and its relationship to healthy democracies.

newamerica.org

Looking forward to this conversation with @daniel-solove.bsky.social !

Daniel Solove@daniel-solove.bsky.social · last yr.

On July 24 at 11 AM – 12 PM, I will be interviewed by Prem Trivedi at @newamerica.org ’s Open Technology Institute on privacy, technology, and democracy: www.newamerica.org/oti/events/p... Please join us for this event!

The #TikTokBan was never just about #TikTok. No “deal” would make it ethical to promote protectionist tech policies under the guise of #NationalSecurity — and there is no substitute for true #DataPrivacy reform, writes VP of our programs @lcoral.bsky.social. www.newamerica.org/oti/blog/the...

The “TikTok Ban” Was Never Just About TikTok

A separation between our government and Big Tech will be crucial to defending democracy—both nationally and globally—for years to come.

newamerica.org

"By lowering the bar for assessing the constitutionality of online age verification mandates, the #SupremeCourt puts Americans’ #privacy and #security at risk," says Open Technology Institute's @premmtrivedi.bsky.social in response to the #SCOTUS decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.

SCOTUS’ Decision to Uphold the Texas Age Verification Law Jeopardizes Everyone’s Online Privacy and Security, Says OTI

OTI responds to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a Texas law that requires certain websites to verify age.

newamerica.org

Today’s #SCOTUS decision in FCC v. Consumers’ Research—which reverses the 5th Cir. & upholds key aspects of the #UniversalServiceFund (#USF)—is “a step in the right direction toward closing the #DigitalDivide." Open Tech Institute @newamerica.org statement: www.newamerica.org/oti/press-re...

OTI Welcomes SCOTUS Ruling Upholding the Constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund

OTI’s response to this morning’s SCOTUS decision, which reverses a July 2024 Fifth Circuit ruling and upholds key aspects of the USF.

newamerica.org

I just took a quiz on how much of my personal data DOGE can access. The results aren’t pretty. Take it now to discover how much of your sensitive info is now exposed. #HandsOffMyData www.newamerica.org/oti/briefs/q...

Quiz: What Does DOGE Know About You?

The Department of Government Efficiency has unauthorized access to millions of Americans’ data. Take New America’s quiz to see how much of your data is at risk.

newamerica.org

We’ve watched the internet become a tool of corporate dominance, surveillance, and control. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. This piece for the Thread @newamerica.org explores what went wrong—and how we can rebuild a more democratic digital future. 👉 www.newamerica.org/the-thread/h...

How We Lost the Internet—and How We Might Win It Back

Big tech and governments have hijacked the internet. Here’s how we can take it back and build a more democratic digital future.

newamerica.org

Senate Commerce's version of the budget bill out tonight requires states to not enforce their AI rules for 10 years under the moratorium to receive federal broadband subsidies under BEAD www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

The House Republican tax bill would ban (& bulldoze) state efforts to regulate #AI, halting timely and innovative policy work in a very high-stakes issue. Really important commentary from @shalinjyotishi.bsky.social and An-Me Chung at @educationwork.newamerica.org: www.newamerica.org/education-po...

Big Beautiful Reconciliation Bill Will Upend States’ Bottom-Up AI Governance and Create a Regulatory Vacuum

A 10-year ban would prohibit states from enforcing already-passed laws and passing new laws regulating AI models.

newamerica.org

I successfully pushed the Biden administration to clamp down on how data brokers use your private data. Now it's the latest casualty in the Trump administration's efforts to help companies turn a profit at the expense of consumers.

WIRED@wired.com · last yr.

Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to more tightly regulate the sale of Americans’ sensitive personal data. www.wired.com/story/cfbp-q...

The mayor of an American city exercising his constitutional rights being detained by force by armed, masked federal officers wielding batons.

Marco Foster@marcofoster.bsky.social · last yr.

HAPPENING NOW: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was just taken into custody while protesting outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention center