Tim Bernard
@timbernard.me
Tech policy, trust & safety. Writings collected at https://timbernard.me.
Tim Bernard reviews a new preprint study by Jeba Sania, Marta Ziosi, and Fazl Barez examining how six AI systems across democracies and autocracies embed features that can enable authoritarian practices.
Researchers Detail How AI Systems Can Enable Authoritarianism
A new preprint study of authoritarianism-enabling AI presents another set of evidence of the gaps in safeguards, writes Tim Bernard.
techpolicy.press
My latest @techpolicypress.bsky.social: This may be the biggest package of federal children's online safety legislation yet, and it's got further than many other attempts to pass similar laws. Check out my update if you want to know what's in it!
Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · last mo.On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, a sprawling collection of measures aimed at mitigating online harms to minors, in a 267-117 vote. The bill will now head to the Senate, where it reportedly faces long odds, writes Tim Bernard.
As the 2026 midterms approach, how are the biggest AI firms preparing? Tim Bernard breaks down the election-safety plans from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic—from voting-info partnerships to watermarking to cyber defense—and where the gaps still are. www.techpolicy.press/how-openai-g...
How OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic Plan to Handle the 2026 US Midterms
With advances in the technology, each new election season brings novel AI risks, writes Tim Bernard.
techpolicy.press
This, by @smgrimes.bsky.social, is brilliant & so needed: a refutal of Jonathan Haidt's & Jean Twenge's moral panic by academics with evidence. It is brief, clear, accessible, and devastating. I, too, quoted those scholars in The Web We Weave. kidsplaytech.com/wp-content/u...
Panic First, Evidence Later — What Leading Experts Think About The Anxious Generation
kidsplaytech.com
Nice work, Meta, at removing a FB page I reported... 360 days after I reported it?!
In a new paper in the journal Violence Against Women, researcher Kaylee Williams examines a set of “nudify” apps through the lens of tech-facilitated gender-based violence, evaluating their affordances, marketing material, and policies. Tim Bernard unpacks the findings:
New Study Examines Features and Policies for 29 AI ‘Undressing’ Apps | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard looks at findings from a new paper by Kaylee Williams published in the journal Violence Against Women.
techpolicy.press
🧵 on the new TikTok deal memo and what it means for content policy on the platform:
As the EU moves toward its first DSA fine against X, major platforms have published their 2025 systemic risk reports. Tim Bernard explores what’s changed since 2024, and what the shifting US–EU political climate reveals about how platforms now frame hate speech, information integrity, and DEI.
Platforms Report to EU Regulators Under DSA With an Eye on US Politics | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard provides analysis of the 2025 DSA systemic risk reports, amid shifting US politics and EU enforcement pressure.
buff.ly
As the EU moves toward its first DSA fine against X, major platforms have published their 2025 systemic risk reports. Tim Bernard explores what’s changed since 2024, and what the shifting US–EU political climate reveals about how platforms now frame hate speech, information integrity, and DEI.
Platforms Report to EU Regulators Under DSA With an Eye on US Politics | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard provides analysis of the 2025 DSA systemic risk reports, amid shifting US politics and EU enforcement pressure.
buff.ly
One tidbit here was that Meta claimed (complained?): "we cannot use our classifiers to proactively detect in Facebook groups, due to legal restrictions." Any ideas which law/s Meta is referring to here? @jtlg.bsky.social @daphnek.bsky.social @mathver.bsky.social
Tim Bernard@timbernard.me · 8mo agoNew from me @techpolicypress.bsky.social: How far did tech firms' 2025 realignment with the Republican party reach into their systemic risk reports to the European Commission (which hardly anyone even reads)? A fair bit, it turns out. www.techpolicy.press/platforms-re...
New from me @techpolicypress.bsky.social: How far did tech firms' 2025 realignment with the Republican party reach into their systemic risk reports to the European Commission (which hardly anyone even reads)? A fair bit, it turns out. www.techpolicy.press/platforms-re...
Platforms Report to EU Regulators Under DSA With an Eye on US Politics | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard provides analysis of the 2025 DSA systemic risk reports, amid shifting US politics and EU enforcement pressure.
techpolicy.press
When the deal to sell it closes, TikTok’s share distribution may be consequential for the platform's future content policies. Tim Bernard draws insights from Paddy Leerssen's recent paper, "From Murdoch to Musk: Platform ownership and the political economy of online content governance."
Who Will Own TikTok in the US and Why it Matters for Democracy | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard draws insights from Paddy Leerssen's paper, "From Murdoch to Musk: Platform ownership and the political economy of online content governance."
techpolicy.press
Now an analysis piece @techpolicypress.bsky.social, summarizing the insights from @pjleerssen.bsky.social's paper and applying them to what we currently know about the TikTok deal: www.techpolicy.press/who-will-own...
Who Will Own TikTok in the US and Why it Matters for Democracy | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard draws insights from Paddy Leerssen's paper, "From Murdoch to Musk: Platform ownership and the political economy of online content governance."
techpolicy.press
Tim Bernard@timbernard.me · 9mo agoWhile we're still waiting on details of the TikTok deal, this paper by @pjleerssen.bsky.social opens up some crucial questions about platform ownership that are still tbd for any new US TikTok entity. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
While we're still waiting on details of the TikTok deal, this paper by @pjleerssen.bsky.social opens up some crucial questions about platform ownership that are still tbd for any new US TikTok entity. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Platforms are accelerating the transition to AI for content moderation, laying off trust and safety workers and outsourced moderators in favor of automated systems, writes Tim Bernard. buff.ly/EvVEFfO
My latest with @techpolicypress.bsky.social piece on a key theme from the @techimpactpolicy.bsky.social's Trust and Research Conference. Includes @dwillner.bsky.social's keynote and presentations from @gligoric.bsky.social, @thejusticecollab.bsky.social's Matthew Katsaros and more.
Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social · 9mo agoPlatforms are accelerating the transition to AI for content moderation, laying off trust and safety workers and outsourced moderators in favor of automated systems, writes Tim Bernard. The practice raises a host of questions, some of which are now being studied both in universities and in industry.
New from me: the downsides of data centers are already being reckoned with by lawmakers across the US, even as competition for the biggest tax breaks continues apace.
Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 11mo agoFor Tech Policy Press, Tim Bernard reviewed over 300 proposed and passed bills related to data centers from across the United States. State legislatures seek to balance investment and jobs with a host of problems for energy infrastructure and impacts on the environment and communities on the other.
Just updated my @techpolicypress.bsky.social article on spyware to add the effective legal moves against FinFisher that were initiated by a complaint by NGOs including @netzpolitik.org, @rsf.org & @ecchr.bsky.social.
Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · last yr.Despite a massive judgment against NSO Group, developer of the notorious Pegasus spyware, the battle against surreptitious surveillance software is far from over. For Tech Policy Press, Tim Bernard reviews legal and policy avenues for combating spyware:
I thought the TikTok ban was an idiotic moral panic and a gross curtailment of expressive freedom, but I’m at least as uncomfortable about a scenario where a platform with 170m US users exists entirely on the personal sufferance of Donald Trump (or any president).
Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social · last yr.A failure of journalism. Neither the push nor the NBC News article notes that THIS IS ILLEGAL. The law allows a one-time delay. That’s it! www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
My latest @techpolicypress.bsky.social article:
Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social · last yr.Despite a massive judgment against NSO Group, developer of the notorious Pegasus spyware, the battle against surreptitious surveillance software is far from over. For Tech Policy Press, Tim Bernard reviews legal and policy avenues for combating spyware: www.techpolicy.press/legal-and-po...
There were a couple of new pieces of information out last week about the TikTok ban (remember that?), so we've updated my @techpolicypress.bsky.social timeline. techpolicy.press/a-tiktok-ban...
A TikTok Ban Timeline: From Rapid Passage to Truce With Trump | TechPolicy.Press
In a dizzying year, the TikTok ban was passed, challenged, upheld and halted. With the app's fate hinging on Trump, Tim Bernard reviews the twists and turns.
techpolicy.press
In a dizzying year, the TikTok ban-or-sale law was passed, challenged, upheld, and halted. Now, as the platform's fate hinges on President Trump's dealmaking, Tim Bernard (@timbernard.me) reviews the twists and turns. A development could come this week, given an April 5 deadline for a deal:
A TikTok Ban Timeline: From Rapid Passage to Truce With Trump | TechPolicy.Press
In a dizzying year, the TikTok ban was passed, challenged, upheld and halted. With the app's fate hinging on Trump, Tim Bernard reviews the twists and turns.
techpolicy.press
Most researchers don’t believe AGI is coming any time soon. But policy makers are steering policy toward AGI anyway. In this article for Tech Policy Press, a look at the distortions the AGI Frame introduces to policymaking. #ai #criticalai #aipolicy In @techpolicypress.bsky.social
Most Researchers Do Not Believe AGI Is Imminent. Why Do Policymakers Act Otherwise? | TechPolicy.Press
Tech Policy Press fellow Eryk Salvaggio says it is dangerous to the public interest for policymakers to center the pursuit of AGI in AI policy.
techpolicy.press
My thoughts on Congress's theory about TikTok and misinformation: I don't think that's how any of this works.
Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y agoTim Bernard says there is wisdom in the US Supreme Court's choice not to engage with the government's claims that TikTok could be a tool for China to manipulate US politics:
When it comes to the TikTok case, a number of key questions emerge from a review of the petitioners’ and government’s briefs to the Supreme Court, outlined here by @timbernard.bsky.social. How the Justices engage with these questions may give a good indication as to how they will rule.
A Guide to the Supreme Court Oral Arguments on the TikTok Case | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard considers the key arguments likely to play out before the bench.
techpolicy.press
For Tech Policy Press, Tim Bernard (@timbernard.bsky.social) read a selection of the Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) systemic risk assessments released in late November 2024 in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), including those for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X reports.
Reading the Systemic Risk Assessments for Major Speech Platforms: Notes and Observations | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard is reading a selection of the Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) systemic risk assessments released in late November 2024.
techpolicy.press
For those interested in #DSA VLOP systemic risk reports, here is a good summary for some of the big ones. @timbernard.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/reading-the-...
Reading the Systemic Risk Assessments for Major Speech Platforms: Notes and Observations | TechPolicy.Press
Tim Bernard is reading a selection of the Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) systemic risk assessments released in late November 2024.
techpolicy.press
