Ellery Roberts Biddle

Ellery Roberts Biddle

@elleryrb.bsky.social

Editor, writer, tech skeptic, human rights fan. Views mine. She/her. https://ellerybiddle.com/

226 followers73 following27 posts

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Good reminder here: Immigration authorities in the U.S. have been collecting social media data since Trump 1.0. Now they're using it to justify their "catch and revoke" scheme. Important reporting and analysis by @tekendra-parmar.bsky.social www.compiler.news/mahmoud-khal...

compiler.newsThe chilling effects of using A.I. to hunt ‘pro-Hamas’ activistsThe State Department is attempting to use artificial intelligence to target visa holders in the United States who express views counter to U.S. foreign policy. Is the real goal legitimizing a politica...

Ellery Roberts Biddle reposted

talia jane
@taliajane.bsky.social

BREAKING: Hundreds of Jews and allies have taken over Trump Tower chanting “We want justice, you say how. Bring Mahmoud home now!” and “Fight Nazis, not students.” The civil disobedience is spawned by the ICE arrest of Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil.

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Universities are doing Trump's bidding, purging voices of dissent from their halls. Among them is Swarthmore, a college with a foundation in Quaker values of peaceful resistance and civil disobedience. We must hold them to account -- sign & share if you agree. actionnetwork.org/petitions/de...

actionnetwork.orgDemand Swarthmore College Reverse the Suspension of a Peaceful ProtestorSWARTHMORE COLLEGE ISSUES ITS FIRST SUSPENSION FOR PEACEFUL PROTEST On Thursday, March 6th 2025, Swarthmore college SUSPENDED a student for peaceful protest activities in the Fall of 2023. The studen...

Ellery Roberts Biddle reposted

The New Republic
@newrepublic.com

It’s economic independence—not the lofty and abstract ideas of academic freedom, but the indispensable fact that colleges become the sole economic engines in their regions—that Trump and his acolytes want to curtail.

newrepublic.comTrump Is Cracking Down on the Colleges That Cave to HimColumbia University complied with the demand to aid in Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest. It didn’t save it from the president’s wrath.
Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

What Yale, Columbia and other universities are doing has precious little to do with anti-semitism. The GOP is exploiting a crack in academia that divides people focused on scholarship and truth-telling from those with political and economic capital. Rich people with values, please come forward.

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

"The decision came three days after a news site, *powered at least in part by artificial intelligence,* published a story about Dr. Doutaghi....The news site called her a member of a terrorist group." Shame on Yale. Cowardice will end free thought in this country. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/u...

nytimes.comYale Scholar Banned After A.I. News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist LinkThe deputy director of a liberal project at Yale Law School was put on leave over allegations that she is linked to Samidoun, a group the U.S. government has said funds terrorists.
Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Fear of retribution has rapidly become a feature of working as a journalist in the U.S. Here's a tip from working with journos in Cuba and China: Partner up with a journalist in a safer jurisdiction. Work together on the reporting, but put the story out under their byline.

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

There is extraordinary, if quiet, power in this. The partnership also means you're not alone. It can lead to really beautiful kinds of learning and solidarity, for years to come. I know because I've been the "safe" journalist many times.

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

"...when WaPo’s opinion pages are being gutted and tech CEOs are seeking pre-approval from authoritarians, the line between 'tech coverage' and 'saving democracy' has basically disappeared. It’s all the same thing."

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

I have often grumbled about the cyberlibertarian bent at TechDirt, while regularly agreeing with their arguments and always learning from their reporting and analysis. This has those things, and makes me miss my precious grumbling days really badly.

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

"When you've spent years watching how some tech bros break the rules in pursuit of personal and economic power at the expense of safety and user protections, all while wrapping themselves in the flag of 'innovation,' you get pretty good at spotting the pattern."

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

"One of the craziest bits about covering the systematic dismantling of democracy is this: the people doing the dismantling frequently tell you exactly what they’re going to do. They’re almost proud of it. They just wrap it in language that makes it sound like the opposite."

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

If you're in the weeds of Meta's policy change blitz, this is a good thread 👇🏻

Dave Willner@dwillner.bsky.social

Folks are mostly missing the forest for the trees re: the recent Meta announcement. Specifically, the focus on the move from fact checking to community notes. There two different changes that are a much bigger deal that have received less focus. 🧵 1/11

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Here's the full response from @factchecknet.bsky.social, the network of fact-checkers from around the world who Meta partnered with and routinely praised for their work. www.poynter.org/ifcn/2025/an...

poynter.orgAn open letter to Mark Zuckerberg from the world’s fact-checkers, nine years later - PoynterFrom person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their car...
Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Apparently this is still true! See the company's community standards: "We believe that authenticity helps create a community where people are accountable to each other, and to Meta, in meaningful ways." Oh really? transparency.meta.com/policies/com...

transparency.meta.comAuthentic Identity Representation | Transparency CenterMeta regularly publishes reports to give our community visibility into community standards enforcement, government requests and internet disruptions
Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

US colleagues: Pay attention to what's coming for non-profits that are pushing for equitable, rights-protective technology. And look to your counterparts in India, Hungary, Turkey for tips. They have plenty.

Dr Abeba Birhane@abeba.blacksky.app

Senator Ted Cruz's letter to the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland arguing that Europe and AI Safety organizations are engaged in illegal political activity in the US www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

Ellery Roberts Biddle reposted

dell cameron
@dell.bsky.social

Trump seized the phone records of NYT reporters. Patel has vowed to do it again, if not engage in even more invasive surveillance. And its headline team is going with "wow, bold choice." That is really, really something.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social

The New York Times vs PBS Newshour in my RSS feeds

Ellery Roberts Biddle
@elleryrb.bsky.social

Glad to see my piece on legal threats against researchers is making the rounds here on @bsky.app, where I've finally set up camp. Thanks to @heymike.bsky.social & @compiler.news for all the support. Please read and share --- more relevant than ever.

Compiler @compiler.news

The right's attacks on #misinformation research have left academics struggling to maintain support & fearful of retribution. @ninajankowicz.com, @noupside.bsky.social, @kkarahal.bsky.social, @rebekahtromble.bsky.social & others talk about this ongoing threat: 👉 www.compiler.news/misinformati...

compiler.newsThese researchers wanted to protect democracy. Now, they are getting sued.A rising tide of legal threats against misinformation researchers is having a chilling effect on the field—and threatening a key tool for accountability.

You are up to date.