Amos Toh
@amostoh.bsky.social
senior counsel, Brennan Center for Justice. interested in all the ways money in tech helps and hurts. he/him, 🇸🇬 in 🇺🇸
Reposted by Amos Toh
Enough: The NAACP Legal Defense Fund calls to abolish ICE and the DHS infrastructure that enables its wanton, lawless abuse.
This follows our earlier letter demanding sweeping cuts to DHS policing, intelligence, and other harmful programs.
See LDF's statement here: www.naacpldf.org/press-releas...
This follows our earlier letter demanding sweeping cuts to DHS policing, intelligence, and other harmful programs.
See LDF's statement here: www.naacpldf.org/press-releas...
LDF Condemns Egregious Killing of Alex Pretti by Federal Law Enforcement in Minneapolis
Today, a Minneapolis man, Alex Pretti, was fatally shot by a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent, according to city officials. The 37-year-old was a U.S. citizen and intensive care unit nurse....
www.naacpldf.org
January 25, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Enough: The NAACP Legal Defense Fund calls to abolish ICE and the DHS infrastructure that enables its wanton, lawless abuse.
This follows our earlier letter demanding sweeping cuts to DHS policing, intelligence, and other harmful programs.
See LDF's statement here: www.naacpldf.org/press-releas...
This follows our earlier letter demanding sweeping cuts to DHS policing, intelligence, and other harmful programs.
See LDF's statement here: www.naacpldf.org/press-releas...
Brian’s book is a profound meditation on the privilege of making mistakes. Addiction, for example, is not a mistake or choice per se, but does involve frequently catastrophic mistakes and choices. Whether these lead to homelessness is largely shaped by economic forces beyond individual control.
Positively shocked that the house magazine of the Manhattan Institute is upset that my book refuses to attribute America's record-high homelessness to "personal choices"—rather than, say, rents outpacing income gains by 325 percent since 1985.
“There Is No Place for Us”: A Sympathetic, but Skewed, Portrait of the Working Homeless
Brian Goldstone’s new book downplays the role of personal choices.
www.city-journal.org
January 17, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Brian’s book is a profound meditation on the privilege of making mistakes. Addiction, for example, is not a mistake or choice per se, but does involve frequently catastrophic mistakes and choices. Whether these lead to homelessness is largely shaped by economic forces beyond individual control.
Reposted by Amos Toh
Excellent piece on the "Commercial off the shelf" or COTS exceptions the tech industry is constantly looking to expand.
ADDENDUM: here's the Lawfare piece @juliagledhill.bsky.social and I wrote about the gutting of acquisition safeguards www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
How Acquisition Reform Could Make Military AI More Expensive and Less Safe
Proposed changes to how the military acquires and tests weapons expose taxpayers to more wasteful spending while undermining the delivery of safe and effective capabilities.
www.lawfaremedia.org
January 8, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Excellent piece on the "Commercial off the shelf" or COTS exceptions the tech industry is constantly looking to expand.
Reposted by Amos Toh
Congress is on the verge of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Its failure to right-size industry’s role in developing AI for national security purposes could have lasting repercussions, writes Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program senior counsel Amos Toh.
The Good, Bad and Really Weird AI Provisions in the Annual US Defense Policy Bill | TechPolicy.Press
Congress' failure to right-size industry’s role in developing AI for national security purposes could have lasting repercussions, writes Amos Toh.
www.techpolicy.press
December 15, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Congress is on the verge of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Its failure to right-size industry’s role in developing AI for national security purposes could have lasting repercussions, writes Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program senior counsel Amos Toh.
My analysis of the AI provisions in the annual defense policy bill - good, weird, and just bad - is up on @techpolicypress.bsky.social. www.techpolicy.press/the-good-bad...
Thanks @justinhendrix.bsky.social for the nudge and assist!
Thanks @justinhendrix.bsky.social for the nudge and assist!
December 15, 2025 at 3:47 PM
My analysis of the AI provisions in the annual defense policy bill - good, weird, and just bad - is up on @techpolicypress.bsky.social. www.techpolicy.press/the-good-bad...
Thanks @justinhendrix.bsky.social for the nudge and assist!
Thanks @justinhendrix.bsky.social for the nudge and assist!
1/ The AI provisions in the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), need more attention. They will shape AI’s impact on national security for decades to come. Here’s the good, the just plain weird, and the really really bad:
December 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
1/ The AI provisions in the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), need more attention. They will shape AI’s impact on national security for decades to come. Here’s the good, the just plain weird, and the really really bad:
And here's the @hrw.org report on algorithmic exploitation @lenasimet.bsky.social and I published in May:
www.hrw.org/report/2025/...
www.hrw.org/report/2025/...
December 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
And here's the @hrw.org report on algorithmic exploitation @lenasimet.bsky.social and I published in May:
www.hrw.org/report/2025/...
www.hrw.org/report/2025/...
Reposted by Amos Toh
The affordability crisis is an inequality crisis. When prices spike in key sectors, it's not just inflation—it's a massive redistribution shock that hits poor households hardest.
In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A thread 🧵
scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...
In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A thread 🧵
scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...
December 8, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The affordability crisis is an inequality crisis. When prices spike in key sectors, it's not just inflation—it's a massive redistribution shock that hits poor households hardest.
In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A thread 🧵
scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...
In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A thread 🧵
scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...
Vitally important call by @mawaldman.bsky.social @brennancenter.org for Congress to investigate Trump’s boat strikes. A critical unanswered question is how the military’s growing arsenal of surveillance and targeting technology is implicated. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Vitally important call by @mawaldman.bsky.social @brennancenter.org for Congress to investigate Trump’s boat strikes. A critical unanswered question is how the military’s growing arsenal of surveillance and targeting technology is implicated. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...
Reposted by Amos Toh
Thread 🧵🧵🧵👇👇👇
Happy to share that @iveydyson.bsky.social and I have a report out today on the use of AI-driven data fusion tools by police departments. 1/23 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Happy to share that @iveydyson.bsky.social and I have a report out today on the use of AI-driven data fusion tools by police departments. 1/23 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
The Dangers of Unregulated AI in Policing
New data fusion tools risk embedding biases and chilling free speech.
www.brennancenter.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Thread 🧵🧵🧵👇👇👇
Happy to share that @iveydyson.bsky.social and I have a report out today on the use of AI-driven data fusion tools by police departments. 1/23 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Happy to share that @iveydyson.bsky.social and I have a report out today on the use of AI-driven data fusion tools by police departments. 1/23 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Reposted by Amos Toh
OUR @wsj.com OPED: The AI bubble debate misses what's already happening: a massive gov bailout, fast-tracked infrastructure, guaranteed contracts & regulatory exemptions. AI firms get a taxpayer-funded insurance policy that dot-com companies could only dream of.
www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business
Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.
www.wsj.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
OUR @wsj.com OPED: The AI bubble debate misses what's already happening: a massive gov bailout, fast-tracked infrastructure, guaranteed contracts & regulatory exemptions. AI firms get a taxpayer-funded insurance policy that dot-com companies could only dream of.
www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Reposted by Amos Toh
The provisions in this year's NDAA changing how the military acquires and tests weapons would increase waste and undermine the Pentagon’s ability to discern the proper role of emerging technologies like AI in filling capability gaps, write @amostoh.bsky.social and Julia Gledhill.
How Acquisition Reform Could Make Military AI More Expensive and Less Safe
Proposed changes to how the military acquires and tests weapons expose taxpayers to more wasteful spending while undermining the delivery of safe and effective capabilities.
www.lawfaremedia.org
October 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
The provisions in this year's NDAA changing how the military acquires and tests weapons would increase waste and undermine the Pentagon’s ability to discern the proper role of emerging technologies like AI in filling capability gaps, write @amostoh.bsky.social and Julia Gledhill.
Reposted by Amos Toh
Here’s my analysis of NSPM-7 & the antifa EO. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Trump’s Orders Targeting Antifascism Aim to Criminalize Opposition
Purporting to go after “domestic terrorism,” the president presents an imagined left-wing conspiracy and authorizes punishments for even tenuous connections to speech the administration doesn’t like.
www.brennancenter.org
October 10, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Here’s my analysis of NSPM-7 & the antifa EO. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
The military already wastes billions on subpar weapons. What's stopping it from doing the same with AI?
If defense contractors have their way, almost nothing.
My deep dive into the wild and wacky world of "acquisition reform" with @juliagledhill.bsky.social:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
If defense contractors have their way, almost nothing.
My deep dive into the wild and wacky world of "acquisition reform" with @juliagledhill.bsky.social:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
October 9, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The military already wastes billions on subpar weapons. What's stopping it from doing the same with AI?
If defense contractors have their way, almost nothing.
My deep dive into the wild and wacky world of "acquisition reform" with @juliagledhill.bsky.social:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
If defense contractors have their way, almost nothing.
My deep dive into the wild and wacky world of "acquisition reform" with @juliagledhill.bsky.social:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
Reposted by Amos Toh
NEW: Internal report reveals DHS intelligence portal was accidentally opened to tens of thousands of users for months, exposing sensitive intel about Americans. @brennancenter.org obtained the docs. @wired.com has the story. 🧵
www.wired.com/story/a-dhs-...
www.wired.com/story/a-dhs-...
www.wired.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:27 PM
NEW: Internal report reveals DHS intelligence portal was accidentally opened to tens of thousands of users for months, exposing sensitive intel about Americans. @brennancenter.org obtained the docs. @wired.com has the story. 🧵
www.wired.com/story/a-dhs-...
www.wired.com/story/a-dhs-...
Reposted by Amos Toh
THREAD: This morning, President Trump and members of his cabinet announced a set of sweeping, unprecedented, and unwarranted actions to impose federal control over local policing in Washington, D.C.
August 11, 2025 at 10:33 PM
THREAD: This morning, President Trump and members of his cabinet announced a set of sweeping, unprecedented, and unwarranted actions to impose federal control over local policing in Washington, D.C.
Reposted by Amos Toh
@amostoh.bsky.social explains what the new AI EO is really about:
“These restrictions feign a commitment to truth and impartiality while expecting tech companies to fall in line with the administration’s version of reality.”
“These restrictions feign a commitment to truth and impartiality while expecting tech companies to fall in line with the administration’s version of reality.”
A more comprehensive analysis for @brennancenter.org of how the Trump administration's latest AI policy could leave us more divided and less informed: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
August 7, 2025 at 1:15 AM
@amostoh.bsky.social explains what the new AI EO is really about:
“These restrictions feign a commitment to truth and impartiality while expecting tech companies to fall in line with the administration’s version of reality.”
“These restrictions feign a commitment to truth and impartiality while expecting tech companies to fall in line with the administration’s version of reality.”
According to my @brennancenter.org colleague @sreynolds.bsky.social, DHS' secretive intelligence arm "analyzes contents of phones or laptops seized by agencies like CBP and ICE, comparing them with personal data to create detailed pictures of people, their social networks, and their habits"
Drones, spy blimps, and motion-triggered cameras—the border is now a testing ground for dystopian surveillance. From James Baratta, the high-tech machine behind the border industrial complex:
trib.al/xNL3uaj
trib.al/xNL3uaj
Surveillance at the Border
It’s only a matter of time before the drones, spy blimps, license plate readers, and motion-activated cameras come to the rest of America.
trib.al
August 6, 2025 at 8:23 PM
According to my @brennancenter.org colleague @sreynolds.bsky.social, DHS' secretive intelligence arm "analyzes contents of phones or laptops seized by agencies like CBP and ICE, comparing them with personal data to create detailed pictures of people, their social networks, and their habits"
Reposted by Amos Toh
Essential reading on border surveillance tech, its human impact, and the risk it will move inward.
As part of this apparatus, a U.S. Intelligence Community element helps CBP analyze the phones and laptops it seizes at the border. I spoke with the author about the activity's lax rules and risks.
As part of this apparatus, a U.S. Intelligence Community element helps CBP analyze the phones and laptops it seizes at the border. I spoke with the author about the activity's lax rules and risks.
Drones, spy blimps, and motion-triggered cameras—the border is now a testing ground for dystopian surveillance. From James Baratta, the high-tech machine behind the border industrial complex:
trib.al/xNL3uaj
trib.al/xNL3uaj
Surveillance at the Border
It’s only a matter of time before the drones, spy blimps, license plate readers, and motion-activated cameras come to the rest of America.
trib.al
August 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Essential reading on border surveillance tech, its human impact, and the risk it will move inward.
As part of this apparatus, a U.S. Intelligence Community element helps CBP analyze the phones and laptops it seizes at the border. I spoke with the author about the activity's lax rules and risks.
As part of this apparatus, a U.S. Intelligence Community element helps CBP analyze the phones and laptops it seizes at the border. I spoke with the author about the activity's lax rules and risks.
A more comprehensive analysis for @brennancenter.org of how the Trump administration's latest AI policy could leave us more divided and less informed: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
August 4, 2025 at 11:36 AM
A more comprehensive analysis for @brennancenter.org of how the Trump administration's latest AI policy could leave us more divided and less informed: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
1/ Yesterday, the Trump administration announced its AI Action Plan - a pillar of which is an executive order that vows to end federal procurement of “woke AI.” The order would not only chill speech but also make the technology more unreliable and untrustworthy.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
July 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
1/ Yesterday, the Trump administration announced its AI Action Plan - a pillar of which is an executive order that vows to end federal procurement of “woke AI.” The order would not only chill speech but also make the technology more unreliable and untrustworthy.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by Amos Toh
The United States sued Los Angeles over its sanctuary laws, which direct agencies not to help federal immigration enforcement. The suit follows others, and threats to cut funding and prosecute local officials.
These actions violate the Constitution: 1/
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
These actions violate the Constitution: 1/
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Federal Efforts to Punish Sanctuary Cities Are Unconstitutional
While states and cities can choose to help enforce federal law, the 10th Amendment means that the U.S. government can’t force them to do so.
www.brennancenter.org
July 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The United States sued Los Angeles over its sanctuary laws, which direct agencies not to help federal immigration enforcement. The suit follows others, and threats to cut funding and prosecute local officials.
These actions violate the Constitution: 1/
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
These actions violate the Constitution: 1/
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
1/ The government is fielding AI to gather intelligence, patrol borders, and fight wars. My latest in @lawfaremedia.org explains how Congress should step up its scrutiny of the ways taxpayer dollars are spent on acquiring and developing these systems: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/narr...
@amostoh.bsky.social looks at the Office of Management and Budget's recent memos on the government's use of AI and argues that the Trump admin and Congress should build on the memos to provide clarity and consistency to how these rules apply to national security uses of the technology.
Narrowing the National Security Exception to Federal AI Guardrails
Fostering public trust in how the government uses AI to protect national security requires robust and enforceable rules on how it is authorized, tested, disclosed, and overseen.
www.lawfaremedia.org
June 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
1/ The government is fielding AI to gather intelligence, patrol borders, and fight wars. My latest in @lawfaremedia.org explains how Congress should step up its scrutiny of the ways taxpayer dollars are spent on acquiring and developing these systems: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/narr...
Reposted by Amos Toh
New Op-Ed from me and @smw.bsky.social
in the @nytimes.com today! We discuss how the rush to implement AI within national and defence infrastructure (including in weapons) may in fact threaten, rather than preserve, US national security.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/o...
in the @nytimes.com today! We discuss how the rush to implement AI within national and defence infrastructure (including in weapons) may in fact threaten, rather than preserve, US national security.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/o...
Opinion | Our Military Is Adopting A.I. Way Too Fast
The military is integrating A.I. into its deadly systems too quickly, and Trump will only accelerate a dangerous situation.
www.nytimes.com
January 27, 2025 at 11:19 AM
New Op-Ed from me and @smw.bsky.social
in the @nytimes.com today! We discuss how the rush to implement AI within national and defence infrastructure (including in weapons) may in fact threaten, rather than preserve, US national security.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/o...
in the @nytimes.com today! We discuss how the rush to implement AI within national and defence infrastructure (including in weapons) may in fact threaten, rather than preserve, US national security.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/o...
Reposted by Amos Toh
Incredible news out of the White House this morning and hope the Biden administration continues to grant more clemency to thousands whose sentences continue to be disproportionately long www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...
FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Americans | The White House
Today’s announcement will commute the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement and will pardon 39 individuals convicted
www.whitehouse.gov
December 12, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Incredible news out of the White House this morning and hope the Biden administration continues to grant more clemency to thousands whose sentences continue to be disproportionately long www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...