Ashlyn B. Aske
@ashlynba.bsky.social
💡considering tech policy from a human-centered perspective. Master of Jurisprudence @ UW Law + UW Center for an Informed Public
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
Perhaps relevant today, a framework for understanding how many election rumors mislead.
The 2024 election is upon us. Millions of ballots have already been cast. Mail-in ballots are being returned. Early voting is taking place. And dozens of rumors are spreading. So, let me re-introduce our framework for diagnosing how many “evidence-based” rumors mislead:
November 4, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Perhaps relevant today, a framework for understanding how many election rumors mislead.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
Couldn’t get a more clear example of Wilhoit’s theory of conservatism: “There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
The "from my cold dead hands" crowd wants to ban people from owning guns
September 5, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Couldn’t get a more clear example of Wilhoit’s theory of conservatism: “There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn't really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
www.techdirt.com
July 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I finished writing this, it occurred to me that there was no chance I was the first to think of doing this, so I did a search and sure enough, the writer Talia Lavin had the same idea months ago.
www.techdirt.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
Drawing on some of my work from the past year at the Center for an Informed Public, I published a piece in Lawfare with my colleague Stephen Prochaska.
@ashlynba.bsky.social and Stephen Prochaska explore the ways the MAGA movement uses courts and litigation to propel fringe rumors about election fraud into mainstream consciousness. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...
How Strategic Litigation Feeds On and Fuels Political Narrative
Fringe election fraud rumors are becoming legal drama—weaponized lawsuits and policies that present fiction as fact on social media.
www.lawfaremedia.org
July 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Drawing on some of my work from the past year at the Center for an Informed Public, I published a piece in Lawfare with my colleague Stephen Prochaska.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered.
Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.
Their inaction is deadly.
Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.
Their inaction is deadly.
June 16, 2025 at 10:56 PM
The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered.
Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.
Their inaction is deadly.
Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.
Their inaction is deadly.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
This is an extraordinary and courageous piece of writing that wrestles with one of the great challenges of this moment: How do you decide whether to remain a part of broken institutions to try to fix them from within?
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
time.com
May 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
This is an extraordinary and courageous piece of writing that wrestles with one of the great challenges of this moment: How do you decide whether to remain a part of broken institutions to try to fix them from within?
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
whenever i hear mark zuckerberg says the research meta is funding says social media isn’t bad for people, i think of tobacco execs saying smoking isn’t bad for your health
May 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
whenever i hear mark zuckerberg says the research meta is funding says social media isn’t bad for people, i think of tobacco execs saying smoking isn’t bad for your health
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
let’s be clear that personalisation amounts to determining a person’s future based on recurring patterns of the past. if you belong to a groups that society has not been kind to in the past (black & brown, LGBTQI, poor, disabled, etc), AI personalisation ensures your future encodes past injustice
April 23, 2025 at 12:11 PM
let’s be clear that personalisation amounts to determining a person’s future based on recurring patterns of the past. if you belong to a groups that society has not been kind to in the past (black & brown, LGBTQI, poor, disabled, etc), AI personalisation ensures your future encodes past injustice
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
WA Sen. Maria Cantwell is leading a #bipartisan push to give Congress more authority in setting #tariffs. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Cantwell leads bipartisan push to give Congress control over tariffs
Under the new legislation, all new tariffs would expire in 60 days unless they are approved by Congress. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is a co-sponsor.
www.seattletimes.com
April 3, 2025 at 11:08 PM
WA Sen. Maria Cantwell is leading a #bipartisan push to give Congress more authority in setting #tariffs. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
1/ 🏳️⚧️ Today is #TransDayOfVisibility so let’s talk about the disparate impact of AI on this community. From security checkpoint systems that use a binary definition of gender to biased facial recognition technologies, AI is failing transgender and nonbinary people in critical ways.
March 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM
1/ 🏳️⚧️ Today is #TransDayOfVisibility so let’s talk about the disparate impact of AI on this community. From security checkpoint systems that use a binary definition of gender to biased facial recognition technologies, AI is failing transgender and nonbinary people in critical ways.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
Just so we’re all clear, the Supreme Court *expressly ruled* that the president cannot fire FTC commissioners without cause in 1935’s Humphrey’s Executor. Trump’s action here is brazenly illegal under any interpretation of the law as it stands. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Exclusive: Trump fires both Democratic commissioners at FTC, sources say
President Donald Trump fired the two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation said, in another major test of the independence of regulatory agencies.
www.reuters.com
March 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Just so we’re all clear, the Supreme Court *expressly ruled* that the president cannot fire FTC commissioners without cause in 1935’s Humphrey’s Executor. Trump’s action here is brazenly illegal under any interpretation of the law as it stands. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
I can't believe we're gonna relitigate humphrey's executor. what's next. marbury v. madison? www.theverge.com/news/632267/...
Democratic FTC commissioners say they were just ‘illegally fired’ by President Trump
It’s the latest power grab over the independent agency.
www.theverge.com
March 18, 2025 at 11:33 PM
I can't believe we're gonna relitigate humphrey's executor. what's next. marbury v. madison? www.theverge.com/news/632267/...
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
Trump's freezing of all civil rights cases at the DOJ is not part of an anti-DEI agenda, but an anti-civil rights agenda. DOJ was *founded* to protect Black rights during Reconstruction. That this difference is unclear speaks to the success of conservative propagandists and the failures of liberals.
January 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Trump's freezing of all civil rights cases at the DOJ is not part of an anti-DEI agenda, but an anti-civil rights agenda. DOJ was *founded* to protect Black rights during Reconstruction. That this difference is unclear speaks to the success of conservative propagandists and the failures of liberals.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
A really powerful thread 🧵
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
January 21, 2025 at 3:47 PM
A really powerful thread 🧵
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
BREAKING NEWS 🚨: Who supplied information to X users during the Trump assassination attempts?
Our latest report dives deep into this and discovers that the news supply on X is becoming oligarchical, where few prominent accounts dominate the news supply and shape the discourse in key events.
Our latest report dives deep into this and discovers that the news supply on X is becoming oligarchical, where few prominent accounts dominate the news supply and shape the discourse in key events.
Breaking News in the Hands of a Few: Newsbrokering on X During the Trump Assassination Attempts
Research Report
uwcip.substack.com
October 14, 2024 at 10:32 PM
BREAKING NEWS 🚨: Who supplied information to X users during the Trump assassination attempts?
Our latest report dives deep into this and discovers that the news supply on X is becoming oligarchical, where few prominent accounts dominate the news supply and shape the discourse in key events.
Our latest report dives deep into this and discovers that the news supply on X is becoming oligarchical, where few prominent accounts dominate the news supply and shape the discourse in key events.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
A quick read from @mikecaulfield.bsky.social on the pet eating rumors in Springfield. Do rumors cause violence? The answer Knopf provides and Mike summarizes here makes perfect sense to me ad a political scientist where rumors have potential but not sufficient to cause violence on their own.
The book that explains how the Springfield cat rumors put people at risk
Knopf's Rumors, Race, and Riots (1975) remains one of the best works on how misinformation fuels and sustains hate.
open.substack.com
September 14, 2024 at 3:01 PM
A quick read from @mikecaulfield.bsky.social on the pet eating rumors in Springfield. Do rumors cause violence? The answer Knopf provides and Mike summarizes here makes perfect sense to me ad a political scientist where rumors have potential but not sufficient to cause violence on their own.
Reposted by Ashlyn B. Aske
The false narrative of "non-citizen voters" is a major theme of election rumors (and outright misinformation) in 2024. There's a whole cottage industry of creators generating "non citizen voters" content and the Heritage Foundation is getting in on the action: www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/u...
Heritage Foundation Spreads Deceptive Videos About Noncitizen Voters
The right-wing think tank has been pushing misinformation about voting into social media feeds. The Georgia secretary of state’s office called one video “a stunt.”
www.nytimes.com
September 9, 2024 at 2:21 PM
The false narrative of "non-citizen voters" is a major theme of election rumors (and outright misinformation) in 2024. There's a whole cottage industry of creators generating "non citizen voters" content and the Heritage Foundation is getting in on the action: www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/u...
Claims that "strange" anomalies and/or patterns in voter registration data indicate fraud are often unfounded, and reflect misconceptions about data or election law.
Read my recent piece w/ @katestarbird.bsky.social here! ⤵️
www.cip.uw.edu/2024/05/14/w...
Read my recent piece w/ @katestarbird.bsky.social here! ⤵️
www.cip.uw.edu/2024/05/14/w...
Examining mischaracterizations of voter registration data in Washington state
There are often many explanations for why patterns and outliers occur in a dataset.
www.cip.uw.edu
May 16, 2024 at 10:27 PM
Claims that "strange" anomalies and/or patterns in voter registration data indicate fraud are often unfounded, and reflect misconceptions about data or election law.
Read my recent piece w/ @katestarbird.bsky.social here! ⤵️
www.cip.uw.edu/2024/05/14/w...
Read my recent piece w/ @katestarbird.bsky.social here! ⤵️
www.cip.uw.edu/2024/05/14/w...