Olivier Sylvain

Cybersecurity for Democracy

Tune in to: How Do Social Media Feeds Actually Work? a panel discussion w/ Knight Institute Sr. Policy Fellow @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, and C4D's Laura Edelson (@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social) and @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social.

Thurs. Feb. 26, 1-2 pm.
Streaming: www.youtube.com/@Cybersecuri...

Tune in tomorrow! Looking forward to moderating this talk with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @oliviersylvain.bsky.social.

Reclaiming the Internet | Columbia Global Reports How the Internet lost its way—and how to fix it

I appreciate your post. I have a book coming out in March. globalreports.columbia.edu/books/reclai.... A blast from you would be great. Thanks.

‘This Is Our Time’: Acclaimed Poet to Honor Mamdani With Inaugural Poem

Very pleased that New York City will have an inaugural poet and such a fine one in the great Cornelius Eady. Poet Elizabeth Alexander of the Mamdani arts and culture transition committee doing good work: “Poets and artists…can say things that politicians can’t say.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...

Opinion | I Counted Trump’s Censorship Attempts. Here’s What I Found.

An excellent op-ed by @attorneynora.bsky.social laying out the Trump admin’s campaign of censorship.

In her full report (www.freepress.net/download/cho...), she chronicles ~200 instances of attempted censorship this year.

It’s incredibly important reading.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...

Scoop: TikTok signs deal for sale of U.S. unit after years-long saga The deal would end a years-long saga to force TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the company's U.S. operation.

Trump consolidating his influence over TikTok, a platform used by 170m Americans. If you doubt that this outcome serves American democracy or security, take it up with SCOTUS. www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...

NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.

So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.

@techpolicypress.bsky.social asked me to comment on the White House's EO to block state AI laws. Shorter: its focus on interstate commerce, "truthful AI," & innovation are a flop. The President is not as powerful as he pretends. Enlisting DoJ & FTC won't help; they are bound by law.

Incredibly generous of you to say so here. Thanks.

Why Trump’s AI EO Will be DOA in Court | TechPolicy.Press Policymakers should not allow the happy-talk about innovation blind them to the ways in which AI companies may harm consumers, Olivier Sylvain writes.

@techpolicypress.bsky.social asked me to comment on the WH's EO on state AI laws. Shorter: its focus on interstate commerce, "truthful AI," & innovation are a flop. The Pres isn't as powerful as he pretends. Enlisting DoJ & FTC won't help; they are bound by law. www.techpolicy.press/why-trumps-a...

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 Leads Coalition of Tech Accountability Groups, Legal Scholars in Telling Ninth Circuit to Deny Meta Section 230 Protections for Alleged Addictive Design

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

Opinion | Big Tech Is Finally Losing

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)

U.S. college is first to decline federal science grants because of new DEI language Williams College says NSF and NIH requirement related to discrimination “undermines” academic freedom

Grateful for President Maud Mandel's strong, principled leadership of Williams College right now. cc: @oliviersylvain.bsky.social @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social @jaystanley.bsky.social @ethanz.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

I'm thrilled that we're hosting such a great group of thinkers to talk about one of the defining issues of our day.

US States in the Vanguard: Social Media Policy Today | TechPolicy.Press The states have stepped up to regulate consumer-facing online services where the federal government has been utterly silent, writes Olivier Sylvain.

US states have stepped up to regulate consumer-facing online services where the federal government has been utterly silent, writes Olivier Sylvain (@oliviersylvain.bsky.social). The laws can be lumped into three categories: content moderation, data protection, and child online safety laws.

States in the Vanguard: Social Media Policy Today The states have stepped up to regulate consumer-facing online services where the federal government has been utterly silent. But the tech companies are not sitting idly by.

Prof. @oliviersylvain.bsky.social explains how state laws on content moderation, data protection, & child online safety have proliferated.

But while states step up to regulate social media where the federal government has been silent, big tech is not sitting idly by.

Today's post by brave Columbia public law scholars/friends shows how unhinged the admin's 3/13 Title VI demand letter is. This is how Columbia & others can/should fight back. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-ti.... I am proud to know these folks. Onward.

Some of my Columbia Law School colleagues and I offer our thoughts on legal issues with the Administration's March 13, 2025 letter to our University's president, and its threat to academic freedom. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-ti...

Knight Institute Condemns Trump Administration’s Effort to “Subjugate Universities to Official Power.” knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

Government’s wins are often invisible: Systems that avoid plane crashes; alliances that avert war; surveillance that prevent pandemics.

Government wins are often *the avoidance of loss.*

So how do we tell the story of the destruction of government? The story of future losses *not* averted?

Keeping this list up to date must feel like a fulltime job.

Trump is calling for ethnic cleansing—“clean out that whole thing” was his phrase!—but the NYT manages to make him sound like a humanitarian.

Hard to hedge on this one. Best part of the segment: @steveinskeep.bsky.social googles and reads aloud the remarkable text for himself to see how far this President has actually gone.

Transcript: Mark Zuckerberg Announces Major Changes to Meta's Content Moderation Policies and Operations | TechPolicy.Press The Meta founder and CEO says "it's time to get back to our roots around free expression on Facebook and Instagram."

So much to say/consider about this.

I'm thrilled to see that the staff is still on the beat even with likely imminent leadership changes on the horizon. Now let's see if they can open a BlueSky account. :)

Unpacking Real Time Bidding through FTC’s case on Mobilewalla The FTC recently

Another post, from yesterday, "unpacks" real time bidding in the ad tech market. The jump off point is the Commission's recently announced enforcement action against a data broker for collecting & retaining personal info w/o consumers' consent. www.ftc.gov/policy/advoc....

Solving the Traveling Salesman Problem? Not quite, but here are more research questions from the Office of Technology Earlier this year, the Office of Technology (OT) published a list of

One post pushes the midcentury "Traveling Salesman Problem" known to computer scientists to contemporary circumstances: www.ftc.gov/policy/advoc.... These include inquiries into AI competition, procurement, and commercial surveillance.

The FTC's Office of Technology, along with partners in the Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, have just post a couple blog posts over the past couple of days. All are fascinating and make plain the Commission is still on the beat, despite likely imminent leadership changes.

this reminds me of your maiden post on the bird site. this one will be less memorable. :)