David H. Kaye | Lightnews

David Kaye

@davidakaye.bsky.social

17K followers 990 following 220 posts

californian. human rights, free expression, tech, international law. uc irvine. fulbright. article 19. prior: UN special rapporteur, GNI chair.

edu coalition (dm for details)

go bears!

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David Kaye is an American politician who served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression between August 2014 and July 2020, succeeded by Irene Khan. .. more

Law 28%

Political science 21%

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 19d

the trump admin and its allies are promoting a lie about european tech regulation. it's really not some niche technical/legal thing, though - it's about power & control over european access to information. i wrote about it here for @techpolicypress.bsky.social

The Trump Lie About Europe and Why it Matters | TechPolicy.Press

The Trump administration is promoting disinformation about European law and policy for reasons that go well beyond social media regulation, writes David Kaye.

www.techpolicy.press

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 9h

i grew up not into him, at a time when he was ubiquitous. but i’ve grown to enjoy his music and really respect him. his autobiography is outstanding. here’s a playlist (tho everyone has their favorites of course).

Springsteen

open.spotify.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 9h

this is elite failure - failure of the media to properly inform the public and of an opposition to raise hell. yes there’s a ton going on, and yes that’s the design, but meeting the crisis head on is not rocket science. it’s just will and guts and doing your job.

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 10h

At basically any other time in my life this would be THE front page story for weeks if not months, and right now it’s “oh right, yeah, that happened.”

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 10h

At basically any other time in my life this would be THE front page story for weeks if not months, and right now it’s “oh right, yeah, that happened.”

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Kimberly A. Prather, David H. Kaye , and 3 more Rebecca Solnit, Kimberly A. Prather, David H. Kaye, Janet Murray, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Fiona Armstrong

Ricci Sergienko, Esq. @riccisergienko.bsky.social · 11h

It’s really difficult & disorienting but the feds hit LA extremely hard today. There were kidnappings all over & reported cluster raids in Chinatown, East LA, Ktown. This list shows to 1130 AM but they haven’t stopped all day

Just because the media attention stopped doesn’t mean the abductions have

TACO
ICE TRACKER
01/28/2026 11:30 am
NATIONAL CITY:
ICE / WALMART / 1200 HIGHLAND AVE /
UNSURE OF TIME / ATTEMPTED
KIDNAPPING /
ENCINITAS:
ICE/ MANCHESTER, UNDER HWY 5 W
BRIDGE /
9:30AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/
COSTA MESA:
ICE / HARBOR & WILSON /
6:20AM / 1 KIDNAPPING /
SANTA BARBARA:
ICE / HUTASH & VOLUNTARIO /
6:45AM / SIGHTING /
PISMO BEACH:
ICE / CAFE / 1053 PRICE ST / 8:00AM / UNSURE IF ANYONE WAS TAKEN /
JURUPA VALLEY:
ICE/ MARLATT & 60TH /
8:00AM / UNSURE IF ANYONE WAS TAKEN /
JURUPA VALLEY:
ICE/DODD &54™*/
8:20AM / SIGHTING /
LOS ANGELES:
ICE / COURT & WELCOME /
7:25AM / ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING/ SAN BERNARDINO:
ICE / COURT / ARROW & 3RD /
9:10AM / SCOUTING /
LOS ANGELES:
СВР / OLYMPIC & VANCOUVER /
9:08AM / SIGHTING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / CHINATOWN / MAIN & LEROY /
9:30AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/ LOS ANGELES:
CBP / BOYLE HEIGHTS/ MOTT & 2ND /
9:45AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / OLYMPIC & AMALIA / 9:48AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / 1001 N MISSION DR / 10:05AM / 1 KIDNAPPING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / RAMONA GARDENS /
2830 LANCASTER AVE /
10:20AM / AT LEAST 1 KIDNAPPING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / 8T & ALVARADO /
10:40AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/ EL MONTE:
ICE / COURTHOUSE / 11234 E VALLEY
BLVD /
10:50AM / AT LEAST 1 KIDNAPPING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / FIGUEROA & PASADENA /
11:18AM / SIGHTING /
By Izzy Ramirez

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Kim L. Scheppele, David H. Kaye

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 18h

Trump warned Iran that time is running out to make a deal with the US, noting that a fleet of US warships entering to the region is ready to complete their mission “with speed and violence.”

Trump Warns Iran That Time Is Running Out as Ships Enter Region

President Donald Trump warned Iran to make a nuclear deal with the US or face military strikes far worse than the attack he ordered last June, ratcheting up pressure on the regime even as regional leaders sought to spur fresh diplomacy between the adversaries.

bloom.bg

Reposted by David H. Kaye, Eric J. Segall

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 18h

My New One at @slate.com on the 50th Anniversary of the Buckley v. Valeo Decision: “One Supreme Court Case Is Most Responsible for Our Oligarchy. It’s Not the One You Think.” slate.com/news-and-pol...

The Buckley court was right that threats to free speech and association, and the dangers of incumbency-protecting laws, mean that courts should closely scrutinize campaign money laws. But that should not doom all attempts to level the playing field or limit the risk of corruption from nine-figure campaign contributions, mostly to ostensibly independent groups. If Congress passed a law with generous contribution and spending limits, and strong disclosure rules, we could have ample breathing room for vigorous and competitive campaigns without the danger of the wealthy swamping our democracy.

Because Buckley was a constitutional decision, there are only two paths to overturn it. One is to get a court majority to rethink the case’s fundamental mistakes. With the current makeup of the court, that seems unlikely. An even harder road is to amend the Constitution to allow for a better balance between the rights of free speech and the risks of corruption and oligarchy.

We should not give up the struggle over our money-in-politics rules. But we must recognize that there will be fierce resistance from the moneyed interests who benefit from a system giving them outsize influence over who is elected and what politicians do once they are in office.

A real democracy deserves better than Buckley.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 1d

the number of propagandists here is impressive, a real turn away from a tradition of news at CBS

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Evan Osnos @eosnos.bsky.social · 1d

A government can only go to war against its citizens if it can afford to ignore them. The road to Minneapolis ran through the gilded line-up beside Trump at Inauguration. Oligarchy is the timely topic this Fri/Sat at an amazing event, details here @ucirvine.bsky.social
sites.uci.edu/forum/

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, David H. Kaye, Laurent Pech , and 6 more Kim L. Scheppele, David H. Kaye, Laurent Pech, Aaron Sojourner, Scott A. Imberman, Erin O’Donnell, Diane Marie Amann, Lisa Diedrich, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 3d

Standing with 65 of my UMN Law colleagues (and counting) to condemn ICE’s lawless conduct towards Minnesotans: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Open Letter to Minnesota Law CommunityJanuary 25

January 25, 2026 To the Minnesota Law Community: We, the undersigned faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School, write in our individual capacities to address the federal government's ongoin...

docs.google.com

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

i'm not disappointed b/c he never delivers. here it's not just his inability to say abolish ICE, though i personally wish he'd say that. he also doesn't need to say federal LE have a "tough job" given what we're seeing on the street & what the admin is instructing ice/cbp to do.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

delete the first three paras, add “abolish ICE”, and maybe it’s not so terrible. but obama just can’t resist the chimera of self-perceived high-mindedness.

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 3d

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

fwiw john was a very good teacher at berkeley when i was a student his first year there. but he has had vanishingly little if any influence in the field. so when he speaks of the need to reform int'l law, he's genuinely speaking as someone who's long been hostile to its restraint of american power.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

you can find the piece in the atlantic if you must, happy to platform a former waterboarding advocate because, what, marketplace of ideas?

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

i don't have much brain-space atm to write about john yoo's regurgitation of long-held views about how military action by the united states [ahem, "western democracies" LOL] should not be constrained by int'l law.

still he's basically arguing that *his* version of what's legit should be the rule.

The Trump administration should give up on any half-hearted legal defense of its attack. Rather, the United States should use this opportunity to change international law to be more flexible, specifically by shifting it away from the criminalization of preventive action. Washington itself promoted rules prohibiting aggression after World War II to stop another Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan from invading its neighbors. But such rules will not meaningfully deter Russia in Ukraine, or China in the South China Sea. Nor should democratic nations have to wait until troops are amassed at their borders or they have suffered a devastating attack before international law recognizes their right to act.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

and yet typical of him

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

anyway obama is yesterday. the people of minnesota are pointing us towards tomorrow.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

delete the first three paras, add “abolish ICE”, and maybe it’s not so terrible. but obama just can’t resist the chimera of self-perceived high-mindedness.

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 3d

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Richard S.J. Tol, Michael Wagner , and 40 more Elizabeth Saunders, Richard S.J. Tol, Michael Wagner, Tony R. ‎Walker, Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Joshua S. Weitz, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott, Robert W. Wallace, David H. Kaye, Valerie P. Hans, Juliet Lodge, Nick Pearce, Heike Delitz, Michelle Everson, Ameet Sarpatwari, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Holger Nehring, Tom Griffin, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Craig R. McClain, Lee Jones, Ian Loader, Christian Fisch, Jos Akkermans, Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Serge Slama, Christina Pagel, Claire Sécail, Karine Espineira, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Dan Immergluck, Roos Vonk, Dunlap, Stuart Shapiro, David Darmofal, Deborah M. Kolb, Kristina McElheran

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 3d

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d

elite institutions can no longer act as if things are normal. think tanks, especially the establishment ones in DC and NYC (you know who you are), need to rethink the platforming of trump administration figures. this is a moment to shun not normalize.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

👇

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 4d

Absolutely reprehensible that AG Bondi is offering ICE stand down in exchange for access to voting rolls. Outrageous and disgusting. It shows ICE is in Minneapolis is not for law enforcement purposes. Instead it’s a way to stir up shit in blue states and extort them.

Natasha Korecki @natashakorecki.bsky.social · 4d

In the wake of another fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
AG Pam Bondi sends Gov. Walz a letter today making several asks including:
"Allow DOJ Civil Rights division access to state voter rolls"

Reposted by John Horgan, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 9 more John Horgan, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce, Robert C. Richards, Nazita Lajevardi, Michael D. McDonald, Ari Ezra Waldman, Paul Gronke, David Gamage, Melanie O’Brien, Olivier Mannoni, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 4d

Natasha Korecki @natashakorecki.bsky.social · 4d

In the wake of another fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
AG Pam Bondi sends Gov. Walz a letter today making several asks including:
"Allow DOJ Civil Rights division access to state voter rolls"

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

yes, her, too, definitely

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

*this* is the environment in which dem lawmakers are operating. not just bad faith but subjugation, occupation, violence.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

they have no interest in 'calming tensions' or anything else we have typically heard from government in the past. they are ramping it up.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

noem, bovino, hegseth, miller & house gop on fox are clear about one thing: they expect the killing to continue, they condone it, they incite it. that is the substance and tenor of their responses to ICE's murder of alex pretti.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

and conveys its positions in the gobbledygook of legislative process

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

i mean, they are the problem

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

extend this to the entirety of the trump administration. they govern through propaganda and the only way for the media to properly inform the public is to report things accordingly.

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 4d

Everything Stephen Miller and DHS say should be presumed to be a lie, without exception.

Reposted by David H. Kaye

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 4d

Everything Stephen Miller and DHS say should be presumed to be a lie, without exception.

Reposted by Aidan O’Sullivan

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 4d

this is clear & expert reporting (by journalists trained in visual investigations at berkeley's human rights center) demonstrating ICE's execution of alex pretti

Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis

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