David Sullivan
@davidsullivan.bsky.social
Tech policy, human rights, trust & safety. Raised in Brooklyn, based in Boulder. @david_msullivan elsewhere. Posts auto delete.
I'm on Germ DM 🔑
https://ger.mx/A1Y8CYx9TUtTxirjHuY_ibg6kbSF7BF5inQ7c-04zOPv#did:plc:sqd3wsj7e6w6do6i26nn62r2
I'm on Germ DM 🔑
https://ger.mx/A1Y8CYx9TUtTxirjHuY_ibg6kbSF7BF5inQ7c-04zOPv#did:plc:sqd3wsj7e6w6do6i26nn62r2
Pinned
David Sullivan
@davidsullivan.bsky.social
· Dec 22
I'm not used to seeing my byline in a tabloid, but nonetheless glad to see the Boston Herald publish our op-ed on State's stupid and counterproductive visa policy for trust and safety workers.
lnkd.in/g5_U7QvR
lnkd.in/g5_U7QvR
From the folks that brought you ubiquitous cookie banners, here comes unending pagination clicks...
The EU Commission has preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act over its addictive design — infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications & hyper-personalized recommendations. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok\'s addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design.
ec.europa.eu
February 6, 2026 at 4:05 PM
From the folks that brought you ubiquitous cookie banners, here comes unending pagination clicks...
Reposted by David Sullivan
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 7:40 PM
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
Reposted by David Sullivan
I don't think I can bring myself to watch the latest House hearing on "European censorship" but here's the link if you want to. It is starting in one minute. 1/
judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...
judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...
Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation: Part II
judiciary.house.gov
February 4, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I don't think I can bring myself to watch the latest House hearing on "European censorship" but here's the link if you want to. It is starting in one minute. 1/
judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...
judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...
Can we add RICO to the Rome Statute?
Asking for the rules-based international order...
Asking for the rules-based international order...
Trump is making the protection racket obvious. This is not spheres of influence. It is about dominance and extraction.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
January 21, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Can we add RICO to the Rome Statute?
Asking for the rules-based international order...
Asking for the rules-based international order...
This is such a great piece. 20 years since grad school and I'm going to need to reread Schelling.
January 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM
This is such a great piece. 20 years since grad school and I'm going to need to reread Schelling.
Heading to Europe for work and fun later this week.
I know January isn't exactly peak season for the Benelux, but damn if this seat map doesn't say something about the current state of transatlantic relations...
I know January isn't exactly peak season for the Benelux, but damn if this seat map doesn't say something about the current state of transatlantic relations...
January 19, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Heading to Europe for work and fun later this week.
I know January isn't exactly peak season for the Benelux, but damn if this seat map doesn't say something about the current state of transatlantic relations...
I know January isn't exactly peak season for the Benelux, but damn if this seat map doesn't say something about the current state of transatlantic relations...
Stop whatever you're doing and read @farzdusa.bsky.social rejoinder to "digital sovereignty" at @futurefreespeech.org's Bedrock Principle:
How Digital Sovereignty Will Lead to The Slow and Fast Erosion of The Internet
Sovereignty is not a synonym for autonomy; it is instead the uncompromising authority to impose a single will upon others.
www.bedrockprinciple.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Stop whatever you're doing and read @farzdusa.bsky.social rejoinder to "digital sovereignty" at @futurefreespeech.org's Bedrock Principle:
Reposted by David Sullivan
What I appreciate most about @dwillner.bsky.social and @samidh.bsky.social is their tendency towards action. A very timely labeler and prompt to detect non consensual intimate imagery (NCII) solicitation:
zentropi.ai/labelers/eb6...
zentropi.ai/labelers/eb6...
Zentropi - Build Custom Content Labelers Instantly
zentropi.ai
January 13, 2026 at 11:56 PM
What I appreciate most about @dwillner.bsky.social and @samidh.bsky.social is their tendency towards action. A very timely labeler and prompt to detect non consensual intimate imagery (NCII) solicitation:
zentropi.ai/labelers/eb6...
zentropi.ai/labelers/eb6...
Reposted by David Sullivan
I have an op-ed in the NYT today about the Grok scandal, sharing my research from last year finding that legal risk hinders AI companies from making their models safer against CSAM - an echo of the years where white-hat hackers were chilled from good-faith research. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Opinion | There’s One Easy Solution to the A.I. Porn Problem
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:34 PM
I have an op-ed in the NYT today about the Grok scandal, sharing my research from last year finding that legal risk hinders AI companies from making their models safer against CSAM - an echo of the years where white-hat hackers were chilled from good-faith research. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Reposted by David Sullivan
Poland's President vetoed the implementing legislation for the DSA there?!?
The DSA is a Regulation, not a Directive. So in principle it applies anyway. But Member States are still supposed to do things like designate a national level regulator (a DSC).
Big h/t to @jeczjan.bsky.social on this one!
The DSA is a Regulation, not a Directive. So in principle it applies anyway. But Member States are still supposed to do things like designate a national level regulator (a DSC).
Big h/t to @jeczjan.bsky.social on this one!
Polish president aligns with Trump to block Brussels’ Big Tech law
Nawrocki called EU social media law “Orwellian,” echoing Washington’s main line of attack.
www.politico.eu
January 10, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Poland's President vetoed the implementing legislation for the DSA there?!?
The DSA is a Regulation, not a Directive. So in principle it applies anyway. But Member States are still supposed to do things like designate a national level regulator (a DSC).
Big h/t to @jeczjan.bsky.social on this one!
The DSA is a Regulation, not a Directive. So in principle it applies anyway. But Member States are still supposed to do things like designate a national level regulator (a DSC).
Big h/t to @jeczjan.bsky.social on this one!
tiny deer energy
January 9, 2026 at 9:46 PM
tiny deer energy
I may be a huge nerd, but I love the bingo card podcast organizing structure from the first Ctrl-Alt-Speech of 2026!
@mmasnick.bsky.social, did you guys come up with this or adapt it from others?
@mmasnick.bsky.social, did you guys come up with this or adapt it from others?
Ctrl-Alt-Speech Podcast
The latest news in online speech, from Techdirt's Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation's Ben Whitelaw
ctrlaltspeech.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I may be a huge nerd, but I love the bingo card podcast organizing structure from the first Ctrl-Alt-Speech of 2026!
@mmasnick.bsky.social, did you guys come up with this or adapt it from others?
@mmasnick.bsky.social, did you guys come up with this or adapt it from others?
Reposted by David Sullivan
As of 18:45 UTC (10:15 PM local), traffic to Iran has stopped as the country has completely severed itself from the global internet.
January 8, 2026 at 7:49 PM
As of 18:45 UTC (10:15 PM local), traffic to Iran has stopped as the country has completely severed itself from the global internet.
Reposted by David Sullivan
Having trouble doing anything else, so had to write out how fucking angry I am about what happened yesterday and how the MAGA world is trying to rewrite the story.
Abolish ICE Before They Kill Again, Impeach Trump & Noem Before They Incite More Murder
Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old award-winning poet, a mother of a six-year-old, and a wife who had recently moved to Minneapolis. That all ended yesterday when a masked ICE agent murdered her in broad…
Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old award-winning poet, a mother of a six-year-old, and a wife who had recently moved to Minneapolis. That all ended yesterday when a masked ICE agent murdered her in broad…
Abolish ICE Before They Kill Again, Impeach Trump & Noem Before They Incite More Murder
Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old award-winning poet, a mother of a six-year-old, and a wife who had recently moved to Minneapolis. That all ended yesterday when a masked ICE agent murdered her in broad daylight, shooting her multiple times at close range in the head. She had stuffed animal toys in the glove box of her SUV that rammed into another car after she’d been killed for no reason at all.
www.techdirt.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Having trouble doing anything else, so had to write out how fucking angry I am about what happened yesterday and how the MAGA world is trying to rewrite the story.
Reposted by David Sullivan
4 pieces of good news today:
1) Hochul and Mamdani are working on free pre-K
2) Tish James got a SECOND Trump makebelieve US Attorney DQed
3) 9 Republicans backed Jeffries' ACA subsidies discharge petition
4) 5 Republicans voted for cloture Kaines' WPR prohibiting more invasion in VZ
1) Hochul and Mamdani are working on free pre-K
2) Tish James got a SECOND Trump makebelieve US Attorney DQed
3) 9 Republicans backed Jeffries' ACA subsidies discharge petition
4) 5 Republicans voted for cloture Kaines' WPR prohibiting more invasion in VZ
January 8, 2026 at 5:48 PM
4 pieces of good news today:
1) Hochul and Mamdani are working on free pre-K
2) Tish James got a SECOND Trump makebelieve US Attorney DQed
3) 9 Republicans backed Jeffries' ACA subsidies discharge petition
4) 5 Republicans voted for cloture Kaines' WPR prohibiting more invasion in VZ
1) Hochul and Mamdani are working on free pre-K
2) Tish James got a SECOND Trump makebelieve US Attorney DQed
3) 9 Republicans backed Jeffries' ACA subsidies discharge petition
4) 5 Republicans voted for cloture Kaines' WPR prohibiting more invasion in VZ
"raises questions"
ICE agent was not in the vehicle’s path when he fired at driver, video shows
An analysis of video footage raises questions about claims by President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem about the fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:50 PM
"raises questions"
Tim Wu literally doing "it's time for same game theory" on the other site 🫠
January 8, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Tim Wu literally doing "it's time for same game theory" on the other site 🫠
America withdraws from the Freedom Online Coalition (among many other intl orgs) putting itself firmly on the side of lack of freedom online www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 2:40 AM
America withdraws from the Freedom Online Coalition (among many other intl orgs) putting itself firmly on the side of lack of freedom online www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by David Sullivan
Wrote about the State Department's made up censorial rationale for banning visas for some folks based on their speech. It's nonsense.
www.ms.now/opinion/marc...
www.ms.now/opinion/marc...
Opinion | Marco Rubio is using real censorship to fight fake censorship
Mike Masnick: In the name of protecting free speech, the U.S. government just banned five Europeans from entering the country because it doesn’t like their speech.
www.ms.now
December 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Wrote about the State Department's made up censorial rationale for banning visas for some folks based on their speech. It's nonsense.
www.ms.now/opinion/marc...
www.ms.now/opinion/marc...
i've been wondering about this: what % of drivers genuinely think it's ok to drive around with their brights on perpetually?
It’s been a minute since I drove at night and I am now radicalized about fucking LED HEADLIGHTS
December 26, 2025 at 8:03 PM
i've been wondering about this: what % of drivers genuinely think it's ok to drive around with their brights on perpetually?
Reposted by David Sullivan
Good news; a judge has blocked the detention of a technology researcher that the State Department had slated to deport.
However, this is just the start of what will certainly be a longer-term challenge. What can we do about this? A thread.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
However, this is just the start of what will certainly be a longer-term challenge. What can we do about this? A thread.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Good news; a judge has blocked the detention of a technology researcher that the State Department had slated to deport.
However, this is just the start of what will certainly be a longer-term challenge. What can we do about this? A thread.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
However, this is just the start of what will certainly be a longer-term challenge. What can we do about this? A thread.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Reposted by David Sullivan
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
Reposted by David Sullivan
BREAKING: Supreme Court DENIES Trump’s emergency appeal to send National Guard troops into Illinois against the wishes of local officials
Apparent 6-3 ruling with Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch in dissent @courthousenews.bsky.social
Apparent 6-3 ruling with Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch in dissent @courthousenews.bsky.social
December 23, 2025 at 8:12 PM
BREAKING: Supreme Court DENIES Trump’s emergency appeal to send National Guard troops into Illinois against the wishes of local officials
Apparent 6-3 ruling with Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch in dissent @courthousenews.bsky.social
Apparent 6-3 ruling with Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch in dissent @courthousenews.bsky.social
Reposted by David Sullivan
Fire is estimated to be about one acre in size and slowly spreading.
Winds are decreasing in the area and humidity is increasing. Hope that helps firefighters get a handle on this.
#COwx
Winds are decreasing in the area and humidity is increasing. Hope that helps firefighters get a handle on this.
#COwx
Wild Turkey Fire near Crisman (Boulder County) is prompting evacuations in the area highlighted below, via Watch Duty.
#COwx
#COwx
December 23, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Fire is estimated to be about one acre in size and slowly spreading.
Winds are decreasing in the area and humidity is increasing. Hope that helps firefighters get a handle on this.
#COwx
Winds are decreasing in the area and humidity is increasing. Hope that helps firefighters get a handle on this.
#COwx
Reposted by David Sullivan
🔥 🚨 NEW WILDFIRE EVAC IN BOULDER COUNTY: Wildfire occurring in the area of In the Area of 519 Wild Turkey Trail in Fourmile Canyon. Use Evening Star Road for Evacuations. Avoid Wild Turkey Trail. #wildturkeyfire #cofire
December 23, 2025 at 1:26 AM
🔥 🚨 NEW WILDFIRE EVAC IN BOULDER COUNTY: Wildfire occurring in the area of In the Area of 519 Wild Turkey Trail in Fourmile Canyon. Use Evening Star Road for Evacuations. Avoid Wild Turkey Trail. #wildturkeyfire #cofire