Laura Edelson
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
Co-Director, C4D
Formerly: Chief Technologist, DoJ Antitrust Division, DOJ Civil Rights Division
Co-Director, C4D
Formerly: Chief Technologist, DoJ Antitrust Division, DOJ Civil Rights Division
Also, this complaint is 🔥🔥🔥
A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle.
Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Also, this complaint is 🔥🔥🔥
Reposted by Laura Edelson
tangentially related: @erie.bsky.social and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social suggest that people with technical chops punch way above their weight in policy circles: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Lawfare Daily: How Technologists Can Help Regulators with Erie Meyer and Laura Edelson
What tasks are technologists best-suited to help regulators with?
www.lawfaremedia.org
October 21, 2025 at 10:08 PM
tangentially related: @erie.bsky.social and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social suggest that people with technical chops punch way above their weight in policy circles: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social spoke to @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @erie.bsky.social about how state enforcers and regulators can better work with technologists, what technologists are suited to help with, and what roles technologists can play. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
October 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social spoke to @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @erie.bsky.social about how state enforcers and regulators can better work with technologists, what technologists are suited to help with, and what roles technologists can play. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
September 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month
www.jstor.org/action/showL...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
The folks who manage our building put a flyer in the elevator every week. Along with the weekly weather and notes about building rules being broken, they often add a quote. This is one I snapshotted a few weeks ago:
September 26, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The folks who manage our building put a flyer in the elevator every week. Along with the weekly weather and notes about building rules being broken, they often add a quote. This is one I snapshotted a few weeks ago:
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I spoke with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @chinafile.bsky.social's Jessica Batke about their recent Locknet report, which provides a brilliant, concise, detailed but accessible overview of China's online censorship system.
Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet”
"Just because there are gaps, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is not effective. The human psychological component to this is that for most people, most of the time, as long as it's inconvenient, that's enough."
"Just because there are gaps, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is not effective. The human psychological component to this is that for most people, most of the time, as long as it's inconvenient, that's enough."
Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet”
In June, ChinaFile published a new report, "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters"—the product of 18 months’ work by Jessica Batke, ChinaFile’s senior editor for investigatio...
chinadigitaltimes.net
September 11, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I spoke with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @chinafile.bsky.social's Jessica Batke about their recent Locknet report, which provides a brilliant, concise, detailed but accessible overview of China's online censorship system.
I talked to @cbsmornings.bsky.social this morning about the rising tide of extreme content on social media in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination:
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
What can be done to slow misinformation in the digital age
The killing of political activist Charlie Kirk was followed almost immediately by a flood of misinformation and graphic content online. Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson about whether th...
www.cbsnews.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I talked to @cbsmornings.bsky.social this morning about the rising tide of extreme content on social media in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination:
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
NEW
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
How Disinformation About the Minnesota Shooting Spread Like Wildfire on X
Under Elon Musk’s leadership, X has become the perfect platform to supercharge the spread of dangerous disinformation during breaking news events.
www.wired.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:17 PM
NEW
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions.
with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I'm one of the 37 targeted below by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. I haven't had a clearance nor worked in government since 2013. This is political theater & a dangerous example of government abusing its powers to punish private citizens for openly exercising their 1st Amendment rights. My full statement:
August 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I'm one of the 37 targeted below by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. I haven't had a clearance nor worked in government since 2013. This is political theater & a dangerous example of government abusing its powers to punish private citizens for openly exercising their 1st Amendment rights. My full statement:
One of the things I was most excited that we got to do for the Locknet report was to produce these explainers of how the internet actually works. It’s not magic!
How do the components of the Internet work together?
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and Jessica Batke discuss what they learned over the course of their investigation into China's online censorship system.
Read the full report on @chinafile.bsky.social. locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and Jessica Batke discuss what they learned over the course of their investigation into China's online censorship system.
Read the full report on @chinafile.bsky.social. locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
July 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
One of the things I was most excited that we got to do for the Locknet report was to produce these explainers of how the internet actually works. It’s not magic!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
July 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
Big Brother gets new powers in China with digital ID system
China is launching a digital ID system, giving Beijing greater control over online activity and further raising concerns about surveillance and censorship.
wapo.st
July 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
wapo.st/4kBkkEc
Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!
July 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
NEW: @lancierifilippo.bsky.social (@georgetownlaw.bsky.social), @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, Stefan Bechtold (@ethz.ch) explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.
The Politics of Fragmentation and Capture in AI Regulation - ProMarket
In new research, Filippo Lancieri, Laura Edelson, and Stefan Bechtold explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.
www.promarket.org
July 7, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NEW: @lancierifilippo.bsky.social (@georgetownlaw.bsky.social), @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, Stefan Bechtold (@ethz.ch) explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.
Reposted by Laura Edelson
NEW: A ChinaFile investigation into China's powerful, but leaky, internet censorship system at locknet.chinafile.com
1/21
1/21
June 30, 2025 at 10:42 AM
NEW: A ChinaFile investigation into China's powerful, but leaky, internet censorship system at locknet.chinafile.com
1/21
1/21
Reposted by Laura Edelson
EPIC collaborated w/ @commonsensemedia.bsky.social, Cybersecurity for Democracy (@yaeleisenstat.bsky.social @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social) & Tech Justice Law Project on a brief telling the Ninth Circuit to deny Meta Section 230 protections for its allegedly addictive design. 11 legal scholars joined!
EPIC led a coalition of legal scholars including @commonsensemedia.bsky.social, Cybersecurity for Democracy, and Tech Justice Law Project to file a Ninth Circuit amicus brief arguing against Meta’s use of Section 230 to shield itself from lawsuits. 🧵 #Meta #SocialMedia #Section230
EPIC Leads Coalition of Tech Accountability Groups, Legal Scholars in Telling Ninth Circuit to Deny Meta Section 230 Protections for Alleged Addictive Design
epic.org
July 2, 2025 at 2:11 PM
EPIC collaborated w/ @commonsensemedia.bsky.social, Cybersecurity for Democracy (@yaeleisenstat.bsky.social @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social) & Tech Justice Law Project on a brief telling the Ninth Circuit to deny Meta Section 230 protections for its allegedly addictive design. 11 legal scholars joined!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Thanks to @epic.org for leading the way, to @comminsense.bsky.social and TJLP for this collaboration, and the below legal scholars, who signed on in support. What a team! cc: @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social & @meganiorio.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/mega...
bsky.app/profile/mega...
The 11 legal scholars are experts on Section 230, platform governance, & digital rights, including @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, @daniellecitron.bsky.social, @brettfrischmann.bsky.social, @FrankPasquale.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy, @gaiabernstein.bsky.social, & @ariezra.bsky.social. Thank you all!
July 2, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Thanks to @epic.org for leading the way, to @comminsense.bsky.social and TJLP for this collaboration, and the below legal scholars, who signed on in support. What a team! cc: @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social & @meganiorio.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/mega...
bsky.app/profile/mega...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Supported by @opentechfund.bsky.social: @chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke & @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social explain that Chinese censorship isn’t simply a “firewall, but a “locknet” – a multi-level system of socio-technical controls. (1/4)
locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
June 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Supported by @opentechfund.bsky.social: @chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke & @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social explain that Chinese censorship isn’t simply a “firewall, but a “locknet” – a multi-level system of socio-technical controls. (1/4)
locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
So... I'm not saying you should sue any platforms under the DSA. But if you *did* want to do that, you'd definitely want to look at this article from @pjleerssen.bsky.social, Iris Toepoel, Anna van Duin, and @jvh.bsky.social
It's basically a tactical guide.
dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...
It's basically a tactical guide.
dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...
dsa-observatory.eu
July 2, 2025 at 9:38 AM
So... I'm not saying you should sue any platforms under the DSA. But if you *did* want to do that, you'd definitely want to look at this article from @pjleerssen.bsky.social, Iris Toepoel, Anna van Duin, and @jvh.bsky.social
It's basically a tactical guide.
dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...
It's basically a tactical guide.
dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I bring you a tiny bit of good news — courts are finally reining in Big Tech in significant ways.
We could actually be on the cusp of a totally transformed tech landscape - after 30 years of total lack of constraints.
My latest for @nytopinion.nytimes.com (gift link)
We could actually be on the cusp of a totally transformed tech landscape - after 30 years of total lack of constraints.
My latest for @nytopinion.nytimes.com (gift link)
Opinion | Big Tech Is Finally Losing
www.nytimes.com
June 12, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I bring you a tiny bit of good news — courts are finally reining in Big Tech in significant ways.
We could actually be on the cusp of a totally transformed tech landscape - after 30 years of total lack of constraints.
My latest for @nytopinion.nytimes.com (gift link)
We could actually be on the cusp of a totally transformed tech landscape - after 30 years of total lack of constraints.
My latest for @nytopinion.nytimes.com (gift link)
There’s nothing ‘unofficial’ about this start to the summer.
May 26, 2025 at 11:18 PM
There’s nothing ‘unofficial’ about this start to the summer.
The stars of the Memorial Day Fair, the town farm’s goats!
May 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
The stars of the Memorial Day Fair, the town farm’s goats!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
I left my job at ProPublica about a month ago.
Here's why: I've teamed up with @mantzarlis.com to launch indicator.media, a new publication dedicated to exposing digital deception and to equipping professionals and the public with knowledge and skills to investigate it.
Sign up for free below!
Here's why: I've teamed up with @mantzarlis.com to launch indicator.media, a new publication dedicated to exposing digital deception and to equipping professionals and the public with knowledge and skills to investigate it.
Sign up for free below!
Indicator
Indicator is your essential guide to understanding and investigating digital deception.
Indicator.media
May 19, 2025 at 8:21 PM
I left my job at ProPublica about a month ago.
Here's why: I've teamed up with @mantzarlis.com to launch indicator.media, a new publication dedicated to exposing digital deception and to equipping professionals and the public with knowledge and skills to investigate it.
Sign up for free below!
Here's why: I've teamed up with @mantzarlis.com to launch indicator.media, a new publication dedicated to exposing digital deception and to equipping professionals and the public with knowledge and skills to investigate it.
Sign up for free below!
Reposted by Laura Edelson
Since 2022, my colleagues and I have been targeted by political attacks. Early on, we worried that political actors would specifically target our projects & universities for defunding. But in the end, they came after everyone. The strategy of keeping heads down was never the right one.
Great article with lots of perspectives from scientists who are scared to speak out — and other scientists who are scared of what will happen if they don't. Trump & Musk & Kennedy are devastating U.S. research and setting progress back decades
www.science.org/content/arti... on @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti... on @science.org
Trump’s ‘fear factor’: Scientists go silent as funding cuts escalate
Many worry about retribution. But for others, speaking out is worth the risk
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Since 2022, my colleagues and I have been targeted by political attacks. Early on, we worried that political actors would specifically target our projects & universities for defunding. But in the end, they came after everyone. The strategy of keeping heads down was never the right one.
You know it's 7PM on Tuesday because that's when you receive an email from your kid's teacher that the kids are all 'invited' to dress up like woodland creatures tomorrow! Go pull out that squirrel costume you definitely keep on hand for just such occasions. 🫠
May 13, 2025 at 11:36 PM
You know it's 7PM on Tuesday because that's when you receive an email from your kid's teacher that the kids are all 'invited' to dress up like woodland creatures tomorrow! Go pull out that squirrel costume you definitely keep on hand for just such occasions. 🫠