Civil Liberties
1,361 Articles

Was Your Voting Machine Hacked? Without More User-Friendly Devices, We May Not Know
Election-technology monitoring during the midterms logged more than 900 individual reports of voting issues. But the problems weren’t the anticipated cyberattacks.

Digital Journalism and the New Public Square – Or’ Emet Lecture
I was delighted to be asked by the Nathanson Center and Or’ Emet Fund at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School to deliver the 2018 Or’ Emet Lecture. In the lecture I…

Misogynist Apartheid — Saudi Arabia’s Original Human Rights Sin
The murderous brutality of the Saudi regime is rightly condemned for the killing and dismembering of courageous dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the merciless Saudi war…

Reply to Bauer and Goodman: No, the Government Doesn’t Decide What ‘Legitimate Press Functions’ Are First Amendment Worthy
Former Obama administration lawyers Bob Bauer and Ryan Goodman make a dangerous argument: that coordination with a political campaign is outside the “legitimate press function” and…

Why the First Amendment Does Not Protect Trump Campaign Collusion with Wikileaks and Russia
Despite the president’s signature hostility toward the press, the Trump campaign is strenuously trying to wrap itself and Wikileaks in the protective garb of the First Amendment…

Election Security is an Immediate National Security Concern
Democracy isn’t in the casting of the votes -- it’s in the counting. Georgia State Rep. Scott Holcomb says we need to ensure that our system is secure and every ballot is counted…

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board’s Disappointing Report on PPD-28 Implementation
Edward Snowden’s revelations that the NSA engaged in massive spying operations overseas prompted outrage and political blowback from our closest allies. In an attempt to manage…

The New ‘Welfare Queen’: Donald Meet Ronald, Ronald Meet Donald
We do not know yet whether 2018 will be the “year of the woman” in the midterm elections, but it’s worth reflecting on one of several particularly low points for women’s…

Conscientious Objectors and Whistleblowers: Sentencing Should Recognize First Amendment Interests
Whistleblower Terry James Albury, a former FBI agent in Minneapolis, will be sentenced for violations of the Espionage Act on Thursday, October 17, at 11:00 am Central Time. The…

On Big Brother Watch v. U.K.: The Future of Surveillance at Two Europe-Wide Courts
A recent opinion by the European Court of Human Rights was more limited than recent decisions concerning surveillance. The European Court of Justice should seize the opportunity…

New U.K. Law Fails European Court Standards on Mass Interception Disclosed by Snowden
The U.K. government trots out its new surveillance legislation as curing the ills identified by the European Court of Human Rights. That's not the case. The Court’s judgment…

How Trump’s Pressure on Google Threatens Government Manipulation of Search Results
Tech behemoths just can’t catch a break these days. Just as they are struggling to meet calls to contain the spread of misinformation and hate speech online, they are being bashed…