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Kate Klonick

@klonick

Law professor & journalist looking at tech geopolitics, free expression, internet law, online governance, & AI. Senior Editor at Lawfare. https://klonick.substack.com/ www.kateklonick.com

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Latest posts by Kate Klonick @klonick

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The transatlantic battle over free speech EU efforts to regulate the digital sphere are under attack from the Trump administration and, increasingly, Silicon Valley

Quoted alongside the great @daphnek.bsky.social, @klonick.bsky.social, and @hutko.bsky.social in this Financial Times piece on 'The transatlantic battle over free speech' - www.ft.com/content/37d4... via @financialtimes.com

03.03.2026 12:45 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A guy in my apt building just texted this to the building group chat and it’s a great illustration of the privacy/usability tradeoff.

Is what a provider knows actionable information that the user could benefit from?
Hell yes.

Is it something that the service provider should do?
Hell f**ing no.

01.03.2026 18:18 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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To Read This, Please Upload Photo ID A primer on digital age assurance methods and a survey of the lawsβ€”both enacted and proposedβ€”requiring them.

Sharing this *excellent* explainer by @lawfaremedia.org 's Isabel Arroyo on the current stage of digital age assurance definitions and laws.

Bookmark it, it's a fabulous resource:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/to-r...

19.02.2026 19:30 πŸ‘ 49 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Was in an event with Canadian government officials, and they still are using pronouns, land acknowledgements, and descriptions of what they are wearing. Wild counterfactual.

19.02.2026 16:30 πŸ‘ 136 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
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Shhhh no one tell @sranderson.bsky.social

[Still from mandatory university cybersecurity training]

18.02.2026 20:41 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Unpopular opinion: Meme law is bad and if you have the New York Times movie and poetry critic writing your legal analysis it’s still the bad place even if the outcome is righteous.

04.02.2026 00:01 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
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The Real Reason ICE Agents Wear Masks Face-coverings may work less to protect federal agents from danger than to make it easier for them to do unconstitutional things.

No masks on cops. No masks on cops. No masks on cops. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

02.02.2026 20:41 πŸ‘ 8264 πŸ” 2050 πŸ’¬ 212 πŸ“Œ 122

Here’s a tell: when you point to their hypocrisy it doesn't move them.

Hypocrisy is a feature not a bug of autocracy. Because it proves that the rules apply to you but not to them.

02.02.2026 21:17 πŸ‘ 142 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1
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America’s Digital Empire Has a Trust Problem One year into Donald Trump’s presidency, foreign nations are increasingly skittish about their dependence on U.S. tech companies.

America's digital empire has a trust problem. U.S. hyperscalers' future may depend less on the commercial deals they strike and more on their commitment to protect the democracy that made their global dominance possible. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-hyperscal...

29.01.2026 17:31 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesiveβ€”because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about β€œWestern civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesiveβ€”because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about β€œWestern civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

It's a well placed fear.

Brilliant writing by @adamserwer.bsky.social in The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

27.01.2026 17:28 πŸ‘ 173 πŸ” 52 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 5

I’ve been thinking lately about this experience and the immense gratitude I’ll never stop having for the nurses who helped us through it as the #NYCnursestrike stretches on.

In solidarity ✊

26.01.2026 03:19 πŸ‘ 73 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

5* and windy now. Tomorrow will be perfect tho :)

25.01.2026 20:51 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Watching the skid steer plow with snacks

25.01.2026 20:35 πŸ‘ 74 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m not sure how many more people I can watch die on social media.

24.01.2026 21:32 πŸ‘ 195 πŸ” 27 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

@klonick.bsky.social

19.01.2026 03:06 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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This guy is basically inviting China to take Taiwan.

17.01.2026 02:35 πŸ‘ 12700 πŸ” 3359 πŸ’¬ 2895 πŸ“Œ 736
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Lots of stunning data in here. There's a reason Trump has been a manic, impulsive mess these last few days.

13.01.2026 00:15 πŸ‘ 1089 πŸ” 184 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 11

Right of publicity question of the day, Fed edition

12.01.2026 19:16 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It was so good. Like a great set of coworkers.

11.01.2026 20:22 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Too soon, Ken

10.01.2026 17:05 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Even before I had children, Leslie Odom’s β€œDear Theodosia” moved me to tears every time I heard it.

β€œWhen you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart;
And I thought I was so smart”

God that solo is 2 minutes of absolute emotive perfection

10.01.2026 04:14 πŸ‘ 115 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 0

β€œThe Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
β€” George Orwell, 1984

08.01.2026 14:38 πŸ‘ 95 πŸ” 35 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Everything we’ve predicted from science fiction about police weaponization, constant surveillance, misinformation, and the threat of AI to truth is in this moment.

08.01.2026 02:36 πŸ‘ 57 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I've made this point elsewhere, but it seems bananas to me that in the state where I live, I would have to enter a valid ID to watch consensual, ethically produced pornography but if I want to watch actual, honest to gawd CSAM all I have to do is log on Twitter and holler at Elon's little bot.

07.01.2026 03:28 πŸ‘ 107 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1

The United States uses 20 M barrels of oil a day.

This is at most 1.5 to 2.5 days worth of oil.

Sure sounds good though!

07.01.2026 03:30 πŸ‘ 54 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Liars dividend

06.01.2026 16:23 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It's Tuesday on the east coast, but lucky for you, we're based in California, so this offer is still good for a few more hours...

06.01.2026 05:21 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 0

Since I first began pubic speaking on freedom of expression issues in the 1990s, I never use the word "censorship" because the label itself has no significance and everyone has their own meaning for the word. The key is whether what you are doing promotes or hinders the freedom of speech.

06.01.2026 03:24 πŸ‘ 68 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I wrote section 230 to protect user speech, not a company's own speech. I've long said AI chatbot outputs are not protected by 230 and that it is not a close call. Given that the Trump administration is going to the mat to protect pedophiles, states should step in to hold Musk and X accountable.

05.01.2026 23:10 πŸ‘ 4437 πŸ” 1288 πŸ’¬ 62 πŸ“Œ 55

@nycbarassociation.bsky.social condemns the illegal use of force in Venezuela and calls on Congress to fulfill its constitutional duties.

06.01.2026 03:08 πŸ‘ 60 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0