Brandon Silverman
@brandonsilverman.bsky.social
working on something new. former ceo & co-founder of crowdtangle, policy advocate for open internet & transparency, 3x boy-dad, less frequent dog walker.
We live in a two-tiered system—where corporations & brands buy access to the data they need and public interest researchers are locked out.
One customer representative candidly admitted: "Even when they added more restrictions on Facebook, we found a way to get more data."
One customer representative candidly admitted: "Even when they added more restrictions on Facebook, we found a way to get more data."
Despite new EU transparency laws, researchers are still blocked from vital social media data, while corporations buy the same information freely, argues Brandon Silverman. The result: a two-tier system that shields platforms from scrutiny and weakens democratic oversight.
Why Commercial Tools Can Scrape Social Media But Researchers Can't | TechPolicy.Press
Brandon Silverman explains how researchers face barriers to social media data under the DSA, while corporations can buy full access.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 9:31 PM
We live in a two-tiered system—where corporations & brands buy access to the data they need and public interest researchers are locked out.
One customer representative candidly admitted: "Even when they added more restrictions on Facebook, we found a way to get more data."
One customer representative candidly admitted: "Even when they added more restrictions on Facebook, we found a way to get more data."
Needless to say, strongly agree with @ebakerwhite.bsky.social in this op-ed in the Times this morning!
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
Opinion | Legislators Should Force Social Media Platforms to Tell the Truth
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Needless to say, strongly agree with @ebakerwhite.bsky.social in this op-ed in the Times this morning!
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
This new report from @brandonsilverman.bsky.social and @naomishiffman.bsky.social is great. It documents numerous concrete cases in which platform transparency (or scraping-based research) has had significant real-world impact.
iddp.gwu.edu/sites/g/file...
iddp.gwu.edu/sites/g/file...
iddp.gwu.edu
May 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This new report from @brandonsilverman.bsky.social and @naomishiffman.bsky.social is great. It documents numerous concrete cases in which platform transparency (or scraping-based research) has had significant real-world impact.
iddp.gwu.edu/sites/g/file...
iddp.gwu.edu/sites/g/file...
Anyone know what video was actually played?
Trump leans into widely disputed claims about "white genocide" in S. Africa
Trump played a controversial video to emphasize his claims about white Afrikaners facing racial violence.
www.axios.com
May 21, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Anyone know what video was actually played?
Unsubscribe from campaign text messaging is obviously broken. We need a mechanism for more upstream unsubscribes...campaigns should have to tell you *where* they got your number and you should be able to remove yourself from the source list.
May 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Unsubscribe from campaign text messaging is obviously broken. We need a mechanism for more upstream unsubscribes...campaigns should have to tell you *where* they got your number and you should be able to remove yourself from the source list.
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
May 13, 2025 at 4:22 PM
The worst happened. We were DOGE’d. Our NSF funding is gone.
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
So now there’s nothing stopping me from sharing Expert Voices Together, a crisis response system for US-based researchers and journalists facing harassment.
It's a true passion project. 🧵 1/
expertvoicestogether.org
My useless contribution to the Qatar plane news cycle is that people are severely underestimating the economics of private jet ownership.
May 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
My useless contribution to the Qatar plane news cycle is that people are severely underestimating the economics of private jet ownership.
This morning, @naomishiffman.bsky.social and I published a report that helps make the case for why online platform transparency is so important by looking at *specific, concrete case studies* where data sharing led to real-world impact.
Link to the report and 🧵 with more details below!
Link to the report and 🧵 with more details below!
May 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This morning, @naomishiffman.bsky.social and I published a report that helps make the case for why online platform transparency is so important by looking at *specific, concrete case studies* where data sharing led to real-world impact.
Link to the report and 🧵 with more details below!
Link to the report and 🧵 with more details below!
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
Looks like we finally found the censorship industrial complex. I'm sure the Twitter Files conspiracy theorists will be all over it any day now. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
They Criticized Musk on X. Then Their Reach Collapsed.
Three users who disagreed with the site’s owner saw views for their posts plummet.
www.nytimes.com
April 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Looks like we finally found the censorship industrial complex. I'm sure the Twitter Files conspiracy theorists will be all over it any day now. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
Just submitted my first suggestion. Super easy process and such a useful tracker.
April 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Just submitted my first suggestion. Super easy process and such a useful tracker.
Thanks for the bump @mmasnick.bsky.social! And whole thing started with a BlueSky post from @moskov.goodventures.org. Have had a ton of user submissions and just need to go through and approve them all now...
An attempt to create a dashboard of who is capitulating and who is fighting back against unconstitutional gov't pressure and demands...
Think the site is pretty much good to go at this point! trackingourinstitutions.com
April 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Thanks for the bump @mmasnick.bsky.social! And whole thing started with a BlueSky post from @moskov.goodventures.org. Have had a ton of user submissions and just need to go through and approve them all now...
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
This site gets an A+ in design. It's simple, but effective. It's fast. The background isn't blindingly white. There is still strong contrast between the text and background. It looks good on desktop AND mobile.
Think the site is pretty much good to go at this point! trackingourinstitutions.com
Tracking Our Institutions
Which U.S. institutions are resisting pressure from the Trump administration—and which are capitulating?
trackingourinstitutions.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
This site gets an A+ in design. It's simple, but effective. It's fast. The background isn't blindingly white. There is still strong contrast between the text and background. It looks good on desktop AND mobile.
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
Nearly half of people currently detained by ICE/CBP have no criminal charges, yet some are being held in conditions that would be unacceptable in high-security prisons. Admin has eliminated oversight bodies ensured health/safety requirements are met
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Immigrants forced to sleep on floors at overwhelmed ICE detention centers
Some immigrant detention centers across the country are over capacity. The administration has asked for emergency contracts to add more facilities.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 20, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Nearly half of people currently detained by ICE/CBP have no criminal charges, yet some are being held in conditions that would be unacceptable in high-security prisons. Admin has eliminated oversight bodies ensured health/safety requirements are met
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
General purpose decision making tree for my 10 year-old:
April 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
General purpose decision making tree for my 10 year-old:
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
New from me: an essay on the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and its remarkable 30 year history of witch hunts & blacklists.
It chronicles the progression of how industries & academia went from capitulation to defiance,& what we can take from that today
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/proc...
It chronicles the progression of how industries & academia went from capitulation to defiance,& what we can take from that today
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/proc...
April 15, 2025 at 12:12 AM
New from me: an essay on the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and its remarkable 30 year history of witch hunts & blacklists.
It chronicles the progression of how industries & academia went from capitulation to defiance,& what we can take from that today
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/proc...
It chronicles the progression of how industries & academia went from capitulation to defiance,& what we can take from that today
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/proc...
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
Oh.
"This is about whether we have functional constitutional government in this country. If the IRS can go after you because of what you think or what you believe or what you do, we'd no longer live in a free country.“
"This is about whether we have functional constitutional government in this country. If the IRS can go after you because of what you think or what you believe or what you do, we'd no longer live in a free country.“
April 16, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Oh.
"This is about whether we have functional constitutional government in this country. If the IRS can go after you because of what you think or what you believe or what you do, we'd no longer live in a free country.“
"This is about whether we have functional constitutional government in this country. If the IRS can go after you because of what you think or what you believe or what you do, we'd no longer live in a free country.“
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
I’m profoundly disappointed that the only bias Meta apparently tested for in Llama 4 was *ideological* bias so no one will call them woke. Seems political appeasement is more important at Meta than preventing actual race & gender discrimination in their AI’s decisionmaking.
April 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I’m profoundly disappointed that the only bias Meta apparently tested for in Llama 4 was *ideological* bias so no one will call them woke. Seems political appeasement is more important at Meta than preventing actual race & gender discrimination in their AI’s decisionmaking.
When someone writes the book on Facebook and their role in news & politics over the decades, the last four words of this announcement should be the title. It perfectly captures the complete total capitulation to their bad faith critics.
April 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
When someone writes the book on Facebook and their role in news & politics over the decades, the last four words of this announcement should be the title. It perfectly captures the complete total capitulation to their bad faith critics.
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
So much for the so-called "Censorship Industrial Complex" that fuels so much of the white right's victimhood complex, and led to countless hearings in the GOP-controlled Congress.
Data scientists say differently. c/o @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/scientists-r...
Data scientists say differently. c/o @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/scientists-r...
April 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
So much for the so-called "Censorship Industrial Complex" that fuels so much of the white right's victimhood complex, and led to countless hearings in the GOP-controlled Congress.
Data scientists say differently. c/o @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/scientists-r...
Data scientists say differently. c/o @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/scientists-r...
This is one of the those times when I can so vividly see myself three years in the future, looking backwards and thinking "I have some vague memory of a journalist being added to a highly sensitive group chat but honestly, it just paled in comparison to so much that came after..."
March 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
This is one of the those times when I can so vividly see myself three years in the future, looking backwards and thinking "I have some vague memory of a journalist being added to a highly sensitive group chat but honestly, it just paled in comparison to so much that came after..."
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
Excellent statement from Nature’s editorial board.
The last section on “How to respond” is the most important.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The last section on “How to respond” is the most important.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
www.nature.com
March 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Excellent statement from Nature’s editorial board.
The last section on “How to respond” is the most important.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The last section on “How to respond” is the most important.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A Mike Pesca line for the ages: “Donald Trump's big speech perfectly showcased a quintessential Trump's quality: imperviousness to fact-checking. The man doesn't just dodge accountability; he breakdances on its grave while firing merch out of a t-shirt cannon.”
March 8, 2025 at 1:03 AM
A Mike Pesca line for the ages: “Donald Trump's big speech perfectly showcased a quintessential Trump's quality: imperviousness to fact-checking. The man doesn't just dodge accountability; he breakdances on its grave while firing merch out of a t-shirt cannon.”
Reposted by Brandon Silverman
What a joke
DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week
The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the “wall of receipts” posted by Elon Musk’s team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved.
www.nytimes.com
February 26, 2025 at 12:02 AM
What a joke
So disappointed in Martin Gurri's interview with Ezra Klein.
Revolt of the Public was one of the best books about the internet that I've read and I've been so curious about why he turned into Trump supporter.
Turns out his explanation is just a litany of incoherent, political grievances.
Revolt of the Public was one of the best books about the internet that I've read and I've been so curious about why he turned into Trump supporter.
Turns out his explanation is just a litany of incoherent, political grievances.
February 25, 2025 at 6:22 PM
So disappointed in Martin Gurri's interview with Ezra Klein.
Revolt of the Public was one of the best books about the internet that I've read and I've been so curious about why he turned into Trump supporter.
Turns out his explanation is just a litany of incoherent, political grievances.
Revolt of the Public was one of the best books about the internet that I've read and I've been so curious about why he turned into Trump supporter.
Turns out his explanation is just a litany of incoherent, political grievances.
Massive fan of this project and very bull-ish on the huge impact its going to have over the long-run...congrats on the launch to everyone involved! @camillefrancois.bsky.social @elisugarman.bsky.social @dwillner.bsky.social @julietshen.bsky.social and a lot more...
At at time when the very idea of content moderation is under assault, I wrote about an effort that gives me hope: a $27 million project to transform trust and safety with open-source tools in the same way that open source transformed cybersecurity www.platformer.news/roost-open-s...
February 11, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Massive fan of this project and very bull-ish on the huge impact its going to have over the long-run...congrats on the launch to everyone involved! @camillefrancois.bsky.social @elisugarman.bsky.social @dwillner.bsky.social @julietshen.bsky.social and a lot more...