Nora Benavidez
free speech, digital justice, civil rights | now: senior counsel @freepress | past: US free expression @PENamerica, litigation @ACLU.
www.norabenavidez.com
- Press freedom, commitments to the rule of law, and overall democratic health is backsliding around the world. With the government killing civilian streamers and deporting freelance journalists in the US alone, it feels like it's just a grab bag of bad all over: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/w...
- I was looking back on my old research on platform behavior. The biggest social media co's have implemented NONE of the expert recs that I & others have urgently pushed. In fact, platform accountability is largely a thing of the past, as tech bros align w/ Trump. www.freepress.net/big-tech-bac...
- GOP members of congress & now the second Trump admin have doggedly distorted the concept of content moderation -- inverting free speech principles & claiming that user safety/privacy/hate/misinformation policies are somehow "censorship."
- Academic experts have contributed evidence-based study that calibrates the reach an&d impact of online data manipulation. This is important work that must continue, especially in light of efforts by Republican leaders & Trump to defund and discredit the disinformation research space.
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View full threadIt comes full circle as Trump insists that states can't be trusted oversee their elections & that the fed. gov't must intervene to protect voters/elections. This is a false problem --> further weakening election security & democracy, predicated on how influential lies/liars sway public beliefs.
- Just a reminder: TikTok & Snap have settled a new lawsuit alleging their platforms/products harm kids' well-being. This means there are troves of discovery that we, the public, will not get access to. Evidence of how harmful platforms are. Dozens of more lawsuits are coming. Stay tuned.
- Only sustained collective resistance will get us out of this doomloop: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
- I wrote a people's playbook for how to engage with democracy if we are to challenge this violent, brutal, lawless administration. In my full report for @freepress.bsky.social, CHOKEHOLD! Check it out & share: www.freepress.net/attack-on-fr...
- The bombastic rhetorical style and overt political greed is strategy. It moves the window of acceptability. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
- She should be called to Congress to testify about the administration's rising lawlessness, its brutality against press & protesters across the country, and the blatant misconduct exhibited -- from agents on the ground to prosecutors doing Trump's censorial bidding.
- The arrests of journalists for simply covering a protest a personify the Trump regime’s accelerated sprint toward fascism.These arrests also remind us that no one has been more instrumental than Bondi in the assault on rule of law domestically and internationally open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
- Here -- I wrote an entire report on the rising lawlessness of the administration and its hostile, violent relationship to dissent: www.freepress.net/attack-on-fr...
- I'm glad more awareness is growing on why we need laws that allow people to sue federal agents of the gov't for constitutional violations. But this reads like no one ever thought of it. We've been talking abt & fighting for robust civil rights protections for decades. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
- Liam and his father are back home in Minneapolis. And the images of @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social made me cry. That's how our electeds should act. Standing shoulder to shoulder with constituents, fighting to ensure human dignity and safety. #justice
- Trump tried to mount a deportation efforts --> largely met with judicial smackdowns on his unconstitutional campaign. The rule of law has stayed strong. The BIG question is what Trump does next. Will he double down & go after judges more aggressively? www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
- If you care about Don Lemon, don't forgot Mario Guevara (reporter who was filming police at a No Kings rally in June) was targeted for his journalistic activity; detained for 112 days; and deported. He had no criminal charges against him and was on the path to getting a green card.
