Alondra Nelson
@alondra.bsky.social
Scholar, author, policy advisor
alondranelson.com
Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab
https://www.ias.edu/stsv-lab
alondranelson.com
Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab
https://www.ias.edu/stsv-lab
Pinned
Alondra Nelson
@alondra.bsky.social
· Sep 11
An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms
In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months h...
www.science.org
🧵 The summer of 2025 has been AI's "cruel summer"—wrongful deaths, dangerous therapy chatbots, medical misinformation, facial recognition failures. These aren't isolated glitches but predictable harms from systems deployed without adequate oversight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
“This was a very very bad vote”
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 AM
“This was a very very bad vote”
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
This right here.
Chris Murphy: "There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop... if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it'll be hard to get them back up off the mat"
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
This right here.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
It’s not.
King: So I believe that we are closer tonight to a vote on the ACA tax credits than we were this morning. This agreement tonight is a win for the American people.
November 10, 2025 at 2:48 AM
It’s not.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
UPDATE: NSO just hired former Trump ambassador to Israel.
They're trying to push Pegasus spyware to 🇺🇸America.
Your rights and freedoms are in danger.
NSO Group is no friend to the US & has spent years undermining our security & values 1/
They're trying to push Pegasus spyware to 🇺🇸America.
Your rights and freedoms are in danger.
NSO Group is no friend to the US & has spent years undermining our security & values 1/
November 9, 2025 at 10:05 PM
UPDATE: NSO just hired former Trump ambassador to Israel.
They're trying to push Pegasus spyware to 🇺🇸America.
Your rights and freedoms are in danger.
NSO Group is no friend to the US & has spent years undermining our security & values 1/
They're trying to push Pegasus spyware to 🇺🇸America.
Your rights and freedoms are in danger.
NSO Group is no friend to the US & has spent years undermining our security & values 1/
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.
November 9, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
I asked Georgetown law prof David Super wtf is going on with this latest demand for states to claw back benefits already sent out.
He says the law doesn't allow for this, and if the USDA is mad that states already sent out SNAP money, too bad—they were following USDA's own guidance. Full comments:
He says the law doesn't allow for this, and if the USDA is mad that states already sent out SNAP money, too bad—they were following USDA's own guidance. Full comments:
November 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I asked Georgetown law prof David Super wtf is going on with this latest demand for states to claw back benefits already sent out.
He says the law doesn't allow for this, and if the USDA is mad that states already sent out SNAP money, too bad—they were following USDA's own guidance. Full comments:
He says the law doesn't allow for this, and if the USDA is mad that states already sent out SNAP money, too bad—they were following USDA's own guidance. Full comments:
Sure, that's easy ↩️
Trump administration demands states "undo" efforts to provide full SNAP payouts for November amid court battle
Trump administration demands states 'undo' full SNAP payouts as states warn of "catastrophic impact"
President Donald Trump's administration is demanding that states reverse full SNAP benefits issued under recent court orders. The U.S.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Sure, that's easy ↩️
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system
In the year’s most shocking documentary, The Alabama Solution, prisoners share astonishing footage in a plea for help
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:38 PM
And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
LAST CALL! #Sociology Professorships in Copenhagen, Denmark!
We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area.
Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15!
Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost!
jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area.
Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15!
Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost!
jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
Call for two or more open-rank academic positions in Sociology
jobportal.ku.dk
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 AM
LAST CALL! #Sociology Professorships in Copenhagen, Denmark!
We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area.
Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15!
Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost!
jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
We're hiring 2+ open-rank profs (Asst/Assoc/Full). Any area.
Deadline: this Saturday, Nov 15!
Join a leading European sociology department. Please repost!
jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...
🧵 Important work from @epic.org examining a critical governance gap after DOGE. The 2007 Data Mining Reporting Act was meant to ensure oversight of surveillance tech. But agencies treat it as optional, undermining the institutional checks needed to constrain govt power. epic.org/data-mining-...
Closing the Data Mines: Repairing Oversight, Preserving Rights
epic.org
November 8, 2025 at 6:38 PM
🧵 Important work from @epic.org examining a critical governance gap after DOGE. The 2007 Data Mining Reporting Act was meant to ensure oversight of surveillance tech. But agencies treat it as optional, undermining the institutional checks needed to constrain govt power. epic.org/data-mining-...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
The Times interviewed dozens of migrant men sent to a prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration. Independent forensic analysts called the testimony credible and consistent and said the treatment met the U.N.’s definition of torture.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:58 AM
The Times interviewed dozens of migrant men sent to a prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration. Independent forensic analysts called the testimony credible and consistent and said the treatment met the U.N.’s definition of torture.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Rather than seeking and securing assurances that prisoners delivered from the US would be treated humanely or at least would not be tortured, the Trump administration did the opposite, inviting torture and mistreatment. And it turns out, unsurprisingly, they were grotesquely tortured and abused.
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Rather than seeking and securing assurances that prisoners delivered from the US would be treated humanely or at least would not be tortured, the Trump administration did the opposite, inviting torture and mistreatment. And it turns out, unsurprisingly, they were grotesquely tortured and abused.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Coming back for more — even after this week’s messy cleanup. 🤡
OPENAI ASKS US TO EXPAND CHIPS ACT TAX CREDIT TO DATA CENTERS
November 7, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Coming back for more — even after this week’s messy cleanup. 🤡
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
An idea: what if Members of Congress who are being paid taxpayer dollars *not to show up to work* were to give their pay -- or a chunk of it -- to food banks to help feed people being denied federal benefits during their shutdown? Could be a nice non-partisan way for Members to come together.
November 8, 2025 at 2:20 PM
An idea: what if Members of Congress who are being paid taxpayer dollars *not to show up to work* were to give their pay -- or a chunk of it -- to food banks to help feed people being denied federal benefits during their shutdown? Could be a nice non-partisan way for Members to come together.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
25 years ago today: the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime. 36 days later, it was effectively decided by the Supreme Court. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who voted with the majority, would later she regretted that the court accepted the case.
November 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
25 years ago today: the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime. 36 days later, it was effectively decided by the Supreme Court. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who voted with the majority, would later she regretted that the court accepted the case.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Powerful people are working overtime to keep poor people from eating.
Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments
The Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown.
apnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Powerful people are working overtime to keep poor people from eating.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
James Watson in his own words
“Some anti-Semitism is justified” “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them” “Japan should be bombed for d…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.
Direct File won’t happen in 2026, IRS tells states
The free service that allowed taxpayers to file online directly with the IRS was used by hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in 2024 and 2025, who gave it high marks — although tax prep companies and R...
www.nextgov.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:04 PM
The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
As civil rights groups warned 7 years ago.
Facial recognition errors can have life-altering consequences. In @techpolicypress.bsky.social, CDT’s @jakelaperruque.bsky.social warns that ICE’s new approach — treating AI matches as definitive IDs — violates currently-understood DHS policy and endangers civil liberties.
ICE’s Reckless Reliance on Facial Recognition Puts Us All In Danger | TechPolicy.Press
Jake Laperruque raises the alarm on ICE’s reckless use of facial recognition and its risks for wrongful detainment.
www.techpolicy.press
November 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
As civil rights groups warned 7 years ago.
Reposted by Alondra Nelson
"The use of force shocks the conscience."
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Judge Criticizes Immigration Agents in Chicago: ‘Use of Force Shocks the Conscience’
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:19 PM
"The use of force shocks the conscience."
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans:
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
How Big Tech uses NDAs to hide AI data center details from Americans
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 AM
How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans:
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...