Stanford CIS
@stanfordcis.bsky.social
Stanford Center for Internet & Society. See also @vanschewick.bsky.social
Riana Pfefferkorn @riana.bsky.social: xAI is suing MN over its "nudify" law. It's so broad it bans legal speech, not just nonconsensual deepfake porn. Sponsor knew of the flaws 18 months ago & refused to fix them. Now taxpayers pay to defend it www.kare11.com/article/news...
kare11.com
"This is really a society issue rather than something kids ought to be left to deal with on their own" says @riana.bsky.social on why AI nudification apps are outpacing app store and platform moderation www.cnn.com/2026/07/21/h...
AI-generated sexual content is starting to affect how teenagers view sex, consent and body image | CNN
As generative AI becomes more widespread and sophisticated, experts urge parents to keep an eye on how teens use the technology to create explicit content.
cnn.com
Woodrow Hartzog and Evan Selinger make the case for a legally protected right to obscurity grounded in human dignity and capabilities, in a new essay in the California Law Review Online. www.californialawreview.org/online/right...
On the Right to Obscurity — California Law Review
Tragically, U.S. privacy law has neglected to address a significant dimension of privacy. While lawmakers and judges have routinely recognized intrusions into our secluded spaces and breaches of our ...
californialawreview.org
New in Wake Forest Law Review: @hartzog.bsky.social & @markpmckenna.bsky.social argue scale in tech law isn't just "more" — it can introduce entirely new harms. Miss that distinction and you're targeting the wrong tools and actors www.wakeforestlawreview.com/2026/05/taki...
Taking Scale Seriously in Technology Law - Wake Forest Law Review
In this Article, we argue for a more sustained interrogation of the role of scale in law, one that is more sensitive to the distinction between what we describe as “scale is more” and “scale is differ...
wakeforestlawreview.com
New home robots are designed to be dangerously cute—and that's the point. @rcalo.bsky.social on The Familiar, emotional bonds with machines, and why cuteness is a feature and a risk. 🤖🦭 www.wsj.com/tech/robots-...
House Robots Are Coming—and They Will Be Dangerously Cute
Adorable machines have a secret advantage when it comes to their human owners.
wsj.com
The TAKE IT DOWN Act is now in effect. Platforms must report on NCII takedowns — but will they? CIS Affiliate @riana.bsky.social says add it to transparency reports now www.techdirt.com/2026/05/19/h...
Hey Platforms: Add TAKE IT DOWN To Your Transparency Reports
Today marks the deadline for online platforms to implement a process for notice-and-takedown of nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) under the TAKE IT DOWN Act (TIDA), which became law one year ag…
techdirt.com
Excellent review of @rcalo.bsky.social's Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach (2025) in Jotwell. Calo's four-step framework brings long-overdue rigor to tech law scholarship. Technology is design, not destiny — and law needs to engage with it that way. cyber.jotwell.com/a-method-for...
What must schools do when a student creates a deepfake nude of a classmate? CIS Affiliate + Stanford HAI Policy Fellow @riana.bsky.social discusses her policy brief on AI-generated CSAM in schools in the latest Deepfake Dialogues episode. youtu.be/RpDWlpHRhzE?...
California's proposed attorney AI ethics rules are a good start but should also address deepfakes as evidence writes CIS Affiliate @riana.bsky.social cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2026/05...
Comment to the California State Bar on AI-related proposed ethics rule changes
I submitted a comment to the California State Bar's Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC) on its proposed amendments to the attorney ethics rules related to AI. Given ...
cyberlaw.stanford.edu
Section 230 is flawed, but the alternatives are worse. @daphnek.bsky.social testifies on why gutting it would hurt small platforms, empower censorship, and unleash a heckler's veto on lawful speech cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2026/04...
Section 230 at 30 Senate Testimony: The Worst Law Except for All the Other Ones
Last month, I had the privilege of testifying in an unusually substantive and (mostly) collegial hearing about the law known as Section 230. This is the first of several posts excerpting portions of m...
cyberlaw.stanford.edu
Tiffany Saade & @stanfordhai.bsky.social Privacy Fellow @kingjen.bsky.social examine how foundation models pose sweeping privacy risks—from training data scraping to adversarial attacks—while existing frameworks like GDPR fall short. Policymakers must act. hai.stanford.edu/policy/data-...
Data Privacy and Foundation Models: Can We Have Both? | Stanford HAI
This brief examines the privacy risks foundation models pose to individuals and society, and governance mechanisms needed to address them.
hai.stanford.edu
Jennifer Granick (granick.substack.com/p/ai-art-and-crime) argues society can't survive AI-powered mass enforcement — nearly everyone has broken a law, and criminal records block housing, jobs, and more. Artists must engage with AI seriously, not just fear or embrace it.
AI, Art, & Crime
Art can tell impactful stories of how AI supercharges government power
granick.substack.com
"AI isn't just being misused — it's working as designed, and that's the problem." BU Law profs Woodrow Hartzog & Jessica Silbey argue AI is fundamentally eroding the expertise, accountability, and human connection that hold democratic institutions together www.techpolicy.press/considering-...
Considering How AI Destroys Democratic Institutions
Boston University School of Law professors Woodrow Hartzog and Jessica Silbey say today's AI systems are a "death sentence" for civic institutions.
techpolicy.press
Stanford @slstechlaw.bsky.social Director of Platform Regulation Daphne Keller testified before the Senate Commerce Committee as Section 230 turns 30 — weighing in on platform power, online expression, and the First Amendment limits on Congress. 🎥 www.youtube.com/live/F8T5vCm...
“Liability or Deniability? Platform Power as Section 230 Turns 30
YouTube video by CommerceRepublicans
youtube.com
@hartzog.bsky.social & Neil Richards in WBUR's Cognoscenti: MA should pass strong privacy legislation with real data minimization rules. Surveillance advertising hurts consumers and small businesses. It only enriches Silicon Valley www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Big tech is hungry for consumer data. Mass. needs privacy legislation now
The heart of the privacy bill that the Massachusetts legislature is now considering is a simple but firm rule that companies should collect and use only the personal information that they need to prov...
wbur.org
AI labs like Anthropic, OpenAI & Google default to training on your chats. @kingjen.bsky.social calls it a privacy risk. Opt out in settings now www.bigtechnology.com/p/hey-you-sh...
Stanford CIS Affiliate @kingjen.bsky.social fights to protect her children's data from apps like TeamSnap but finds even experts can't escape the system. Bill AB 1159 seeks change calmatters.org/education/20...
Modern parenting means apps for sports, school and more. Where is the data going?
California laws protecting student data have loopholes that allow tech companies to continue packaging and selling that information.
calmatters.org
CIS Affiliate @granick.bsky.social reviews Orin Kerr's "The Digital Fourth Amendment," agreeing with his "equilibrium-adjustment" theory but criticizing his cautious approach to tech surveillance & his 1920s baseline that ignores racism in policing harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...
Fourth Amendment Equilibrium Adjustment in an Age of Technological Upheaval - Harvard Law Review
The Digital Fourth Amendment is written by Professor Orin Kerr, one of the country’s foremost authorities on the Fourth Amendment, electronic privacy, and criminal procedure. Kerr’s work has been deep...
harvardlawreview.org
Bryant Walker Smith @bwalkersmith.bsky.social urges caution on autonomous vehicles at Senate hearing, emphasizing US road safety crisis, company trustworthiness, local expertise, and avoiding federal preemption cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2026/02...
Opening Statement of Professor Bryant Walker Smith for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s Hearing on Automated Driving (February 4, 2026)
[Watch on YouTube] Thank you for your invitation. I’ll offer seven points. First: American driving is dangerous. Automated driving could help, if we’re careful about it. But people are dying today ...
cyberlaw.stanford.edu
CIS Affiliate bwalkersmith.bsky.social and Sven Beiker rode Chinese robotaxis in cities like Wuhan, Beijing & Shanghai. China's Baidu, Pony.ai & WeRide lead globally. Quirks include Chinese apps & limited zones, but the experience was worth it www.businessinsider.com/the-ultimate...
Journal article by @daniellecitron.bsky.social and @ariezra.bsky.social argues youth privacy law wrongly relies on parental rights doctrine, harming kids. They propose including tech companies and shifting focus from control to who benefits. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Youth Privacy's Constitutional Reckoning
Youth privacy law today shares the logics and pathologies of the U.S. Supreme Court's jurisprudence about parental rights over children. We argue that this reli
papers.ssrn.com
Elon Musk restricted X's AI chatbot Grok after it created non-consensual sexualized images, prompting bans in some countries. @pbsnews.org Liz Landers discussed concerns with @stanfordhai.bsky.social policy fellow @riana.bsky.social www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Musk's Grok AI faces more scrutiny after generating sexual deepfake images
Elon Musk was forced to put restrictions on X and its AI chatbot, Grok, after its image generator sparked outrage around the world. Grok created non-consensual sexualized images, prompting some countr...
pbs.org
X will block Grok from creating explicit images of real people after global investigations. Stanford's @riana.bsky.social tells NPR users will find ways around safeguards. UK, California, Philippines investigating; paying users can still undress images privately www.npr.org/2026/01/16/n...
Elon Musk's X to block AI chatbot Grok from making explicit images of real people
Elon Musk's social media company X says it will block its AI chatbot Grok from creating explicit images of real people after governments around the world launched investigations into the feature.
npr.org
NY Times op-ed: @riana.bsky.social argues Grok is generating sexualized images of children, while laws meant to protect actually prevent AI companies from testing safeguards. Congress must create legal safe harbors for responsible testing. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Opinion | There’s One Easy Solution to the A.I. Porn Problem
nytimes.com
New paper by @jessicasilbey.bsky.social & @hartzog.bsky.social: How AI Destroys Institutions. AI systems erode expertise and short-circuit decisions, undermining the transparency and accountability that civic institutions need to survive. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
How AI Destroys Institutions
Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies
papers.ssrn.com
Ninth Circuit affirms Kat Von D's win in Miles Davis tattoo case, but Judges Wardlaw & Johnstone question the 50-year-old "total concept and feel" test. CIS Affiliate C. Sprigman notes "feel" may arise from unprotectable elements. En banc review may follow. copyrightlately.com/kat-von-d-ta...
Will the Kat Von D Tattoo Case Kill “Total Concept and Feel”?
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg—but two judges called for scrapping the intrinsic test. En banc review may be next.
copyrightlately.com
AI-hallucinated case citations exploded from novelty to major court burden—712 decisions globally in 2025 (90% this year) says @stanfordhai.bsky.social @riana.bsky.social Judges say fake cases waste resources. Sanctions rising: 1 lawyer fined $15.5K, firm $59.5K news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-ops-an...
AI-Faked Cases Become Core Issue Irritating Overworked Judges
AI-hallucinated case citations have moved from novelty to a core challenge for the courts, prompting complaints from judges that the issue distracts from the merits of the cases in front of them.
news.bloomberglaw.com
Stanford CIS Affiliate @riana.bsky.social discusses her research on AI-generated CSAM—examining how "nudify" apps targeting students have created new harms, and how educators, platforms, law enforcement, and legislators are responding. Recorded Dec 3, 2025. youtu.be/ewS6RacTWGI?...
Riana Pfefferkorn: Student Misuse of AI-Powered “Undress” Apps
YouTube video by Stanford HAI
youtu.be
Join @daniel-solove.bsky.social and @rcalo.bsky.social to discuss Calo's new book "Law and Technology: A Methodological Approach" - exploring how law can channel technology toward human flourishing Wed Dec 17, 2 PM ET. teachprivacy.com/video-dealin...
Video: Dealing with Technology's Hazards
Dealing with Technology's Hazards Wed, Dec 17, at 2 PM ET Daniel Solove and Ryan Calo (U. Washington Law) will discuss Calo’s new book, Law and
teachprivacy.com
Trump's AI executive order aims to preempt state regulation, but exempts child safety laws. States retain authority over AI-CSAM and chatbot protections despite federal pressure. Analysis by @riana.bsky.social : cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2025/12...
Well, At Least the Anti-States’ Rights AI EO Spares AI-CSAM Laws
On December 11, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) that purports to deprive states of the ability to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) – to the modest extent possible given the l...
cyberlaw.stanford.edu