Democracy & Civic Tech

Sotomayor said sorry. Thomas didn’t. That, plus the remarks' substance, shows us two visions of SCOTUS: "a court that would work for America: tough-minded, passionate and willing to admit error" versus "the court we have: smug, unapologetic and gleefully divisive.”

Justices Sotomayor and Thomas each made controversial public comments recently but with sharply different outcomes. In today’s @nytimes.com, @jessewegman.bsky.social explains what the contrast reveals about the Roberts Court.

Cameras in the courtroom make for better prepared lawyers and judges, says a former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court should listen to him. bit.ly/4tviObQ

Courts are supposed to be public. But in a major Wi-Fi patent case in the Eastern District of Texas, key filings were hidden from public view. EFF pushed for access. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

The Supreme Court has enabled the chaotic and antidemocratic gerrymandering fights unfolding in multiple states. Congress must act to ban partisan gerrymandering and establish national standards. bit.ly/4eGk6MC

Following law enforcement seizures of election records, we're detailing the legal requirements for search warrants, red flags in election-related cases, and steps courts can take to protect ballots and voting equipment: bit.ly/48nxEZH

The Supreme Court continues to make a compelling case for its own reform. bit.ly/4sZ1wCR

Massachusetts's social media ban (H. 5349) blatantly violates young people's First Amendment rights, but that's not all: it burdens lawful adult speech, destroys online anonymity, and jeopardizes everyone's privacy and security. We've asked the MA legislature to oppose. www.eff.org/document/ef...

Since 2021, the Brennan Center has surveyed election officials to better understand the challenges they face. Watch this week’s The Briefing with Michael Waldman to learn about this year’s findings: bit.ly/3Qocg0g

Polls show that public support for Supreme Court term limits is quite high, has bipartisan support, and is relatively stable. bit.ly/4s9k6YO

Trump’s DOJ has spent a year trying to seize private voter data from 48 states—to build a national database and control who can vote. We’re suing to stop it. To protect your privacy, data and freedom to vote. https://www.commoncause.org/articles/common-cause-just-sued-the-doj-heres-why/

It’s not enough for politicians to say they’re against sleaze. The real question is what are they going to do about it? At the Brennan Center, we’ve written about reforms that can actually work. You can read about our agenda against corruption by subscribing to The Briefing: bit.ly/3Yrz5jM

Show-your-papers voting policies block Americans from participating in democracy, plus they’re expensive and difficult to implement — but some states insist on enacting them anyway. bit.ly/4w6W9oj

In the risky game of mid-decade gerrymandering, it's the voters who lose. Congress can address this serious problem. bit.ly/4eGk6MC

CA’s social media ban weaponizes legitimate parental concerns, using them to hand over more censorship and surveillance power to the government. Beneath shiny “protect the children” rhetoric, AB 1709 is misguided, unconstitutional, and deeply harmful to users of all ages. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

This year, law enforcement agencies have sought election materials in at least four counties. Election officials, grand jurors, law enforcement, and judges should prepare to keep sensitive materials secure, and they should scrutinize demands that intrude on election security. bit.ly/4eDs35f

With only a few days left to reform Section 702, we're calling on a key Arizona representative and long-time surveillance skeptic vote against mass surveillance. azmirror.com/2026/04/24/...

This Tuesday, residents of San Clemente are fighting back against a proposed Anduril surveillance tower capable of surveilling neighborhoods. @oaklandprivacy.bsky.social www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Oregon is one of 31 cases nationwide seeking access to voter rolls containing sensitive information. We’re tracking these requests and how states respond.

Today, we filed a brief on behalf of LULAC and the League of Women Voters of Oregon in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, defending a lower court ruling that dismissed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking Oregon’s voter file.

Letters reveal a decadeslong strategy, starting with targeted programs for needy kids then expanding benefits to all families, by politicians, church officials, and activists who all believe that the separation of church and state is illegitimate. (Published Jan. 2025 w/ @newyorker.com)

The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against California is one of 31 cases nationwide seeking access to voter rolls, which contain voters’ sensitive information. We’re tracking these requests and how states are responding.

The Brennan Center, Campaign Legal Center, and Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of LULAC, filed a brief in support of the lower court’s decision to block the DOJ's demand for CA voters’ private data. The DOJ’s pursuit of CA's voter rolls exceeds federal authority and puts voter privacy at risk.

Virginia voters approved a state constitutional amendment that will allow changing their congressional maps to heavily favor Democratic candidates. It's the latest round in a series of partisan gerrymandering battles around the country made possible by the Supreme Court.

Congress has the power to fix the shadow docket and establish other reforms that would bring greater accountability and democratic legitimacy to the Court, such as Supreme Court term limits. bit.ly/4sZ1wCR

Threats of violence against the Americans who run our elections have sharply increased since 2020, and the Brennan Center’s annual survey of election officials shows we need to do more to support these unsung heroes. Listen to The Briefing with Michael Waldman to learn more: bit.ly/4vU9EYj

In our latest Speaking Freely, attorney Lizzie O'shea discusses the impacts of Australia's current age verification and privacy laws on freedom of expression and what the rest of us should learn from the country's examples. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

The EO mandates that USPS refuse to deliver mail ballots of anyone not on federally-created lists. States and Congress set rules for elections, not the President. The order is unconstitutional, and if implemented, it would cause disruptions in mail voting and block eligible Americans from voting.

Yesterday, the Brennan Center and co-counsel filed a motion in League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump asking the court to block implementation of an executive order on voting that would put the U.S. Postal Service in the position of deciding who can cast a mail ballot.

There are myriad ways that law enforcement can access the content or other metadata of push notifications. Let’s fix that. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

A former chief justice of Texas's supreme court talks about why the U.S. Supreme Court should allow cameras in the courtroom: bit.ly/4tviObQ

President Trump is urging Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but lawmakers in both parties oppose extending it without reforms. Congress now has a chance to protect Americans’ privacy. bit.ly/4tASUmW

The shadow docket memos leaked to the NY Times lay bare how SCOTUS has held the Trump admin to a far more deferential standard than its Democratic predecessors. My colleague @amaciolek.bsky.social and shared our analysis in @brennancenter.org's Benchmark. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Who does Section 230 protect? Users, moderators, and entire communities—not just platforms. Our interview with Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer explains how it works. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Knight Institute commends @mayor.nyc.gov for vetoing NYC “buffer zone” bill restricting protest near schools. The Institute has warned both bills raise serious constitutional concerns and threaten to chill lawful protest. Statement from @georgewang.bsky.social: knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

The government shouldn’t be able to buy its way around the Fourth Amendment. 💸We’re leading 30+ organizations in a call for Congress to close the Data Broker and Backdoor Search loopholes. Americans deserve a warrant rule, not more excuses. Read the letter:

As AI makes it easier for agencies to sift through personal data, the need for a warrant rule has never been more urgent. We’ve joined 35+ orgs to tell leadership: Any FISA 702 extension must protect our constitutional rights. It’s time for real reform. ⚖️

Warrantless surveillance is a violation, not a loophole. CDT and a coalition of 35+ groups are calling on Congress to fix FISA 702 by requiring warrants for U.S. person queries and ending the purchase of our private data from brokers. No more backdoors. 🛑

Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas Wallace Jefferson on why he wanted cameras in the courtroom and why the Texas high court allows clerks to sit in on the justices' conferences.

🚨ACTION ALERT🚨 The CA Assembly is fast-tracking A.B. 1709, a bill that would ban everyone under 16 from social media. This censorship scheme threatens your data privacy and ignores the First Amendment. Tell your representatives to vote NO on A.B. 1709. eff.salsalabs.org/stopcasocia...

Multiple states have enacted legislation with requirements similar to those in the federal SAVE Act that will make it harder for Americans to vote. These laws are all based on the false claim that there are large numbers of noncitizens on voter rolls. bit.ly/4w6W9oj

Those convictions were backed by judges and juries after years of investigation, evidence, and testimony about violence, planning, and threats tied to Jan. 6. Roughly 140 police officers were injured during the attack.

This is our system. Pay attention. Speak up. Demand that Congress do its job, investigate the DOJ's efforts to wipe the slate on January 6, and protect fairness – because it won’t happen without pressure from us.

If years of investigations, jury verdicts, and court rulings can be undone to help the president’s allies, that sends the message that they’re above the law. It tells them they can get away with anything if it serves the president. And that puts all of us in danger.

But the Justice Department under Trump has lost all independence and focused on pursuing the president’s political and personal agendas. That includes a broad effort to rewrite the history of what happened on Jan. 6, and let those responsible off the hook.

If courts approve the move to vacate the convictions, they would be wiped away entirely. That would erase felony records tied to some of the most serious crimes from that day.

One of Trump’s first acts in coming to office was to issue mass pardons for January 6 defendants. For about a dozen convicted of seditious conspiracy – an extremely serious charge – he issued commutations, allowing them to be released from prison.

The Trump administration-controlled Justice Department is seeking to vacate seditious conspiracy convictions for members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers involved in planning the violent Jan. 6 2021 riot in the Capitol. www.npr.org/2026/04/15/n...

"The State Department is excluding tech researchers from the United States because of their constitutionally protected work, and this newly disclosed memo only underscores the unbounded scope and unconstitutionality of the policy" -- @carriedecell.bsky.social knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

69 million Americans could lose their voice because of the SAVE Act—simply for not matching their birth certificate. Thanks to Senate Democrats & Sen. Murkowski for stopping it—for now. But it’s not over. Tell the Senate: Reject it again.

It's the FINAL WEEK to grab a ticket for the @hope.net and benefit EFF's work! Hack the planet while supporting digital freedom today: www.eff.org/event/eff-h...

DOJ plans to strip 400 Americans of their citizenship. More than any other recent admin, even the 1st Trump admin. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/u... Some may be real fraud cases, but if they're politically motivated or based on a technicality, the courts will shut them down.

75% of local election officials have not received additional resources from their state or local government to address federal cuts to election security services. Liz Howard discusses the Brennan Center’s survey of local election officials on The Briefing with Michael Waldman: bit.ly/42puIbp

New Yorkers, it's not too late to demand your representatives drop state-mandated censorship and surveillance from the proposed budget. eff.org/3DPrintNY

Requiring that intel agencies get a warrant before searching through Americans’ communications collected under Section 702 not only helps protect Americans’ privacy, but as @lizagoitein.bsky.social has argued it would also streamline the internal oversight process. More in @washingtonpost.com.

When DOGE arrived at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the operatives had no real background in nuclear issues. They boxed out experienced hands, forcing resignations and massive exodus of talent. Over 400 people have since left or been forced out. Our full story: https://propub.li/3OBQMwk

Election officials are the unsung heroes of our democracy, but they’ve been under increasing pressure since 2020. Listen as Brennan Center experts discuss our annual survey of election officials and the challenges they face, on this week’s The Briefing with Michael Waldman: bit.ly/4vU9EYj

A new episode of EFF's EFFector Podcast is up 🔊 This time we're discussing Google's failed promise to protect users from government data requests. Tune in: www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

CDT’s Crawford: “Unfortunately, the lack of a comprehensive privacy law places the burden on each of us to make sure we are okay with the way companies handle our data before we turn it over.” wpintelligence.washi...

CDT’s Crawford: “Inadequate data protections and policies can put sensitive health information in real danger. People need to be patient and do their homework first before they jump in headfirst and use these tools.” wpintelligence.washi...

Crawford: “I worry that a number of companies not bound by HIPAA’s privacy protections will be collecting, sharing and using peoples’ health data.” wpintelligence.washi...

CDT’s Andrew Crawford in Washington Post’s Intelligencer: “Digital health tools offer the promise of empowering patients and promoting better health outcomes, but health data is some of the most sensitive info people can share, and it must be protected:” wpintelligence.washi...

New from the Knight First Amendment Institute: “Lawyering Without Law,” a podcast launching May 1. Hosted by @katygb.bsky.social and Madhav Khosla, it examines the role lawyers play in defending democracy or facilitating its decline. More: knightcolumbia.org/content/lawy...

“These broken systems harm everyone.” — @lbeisen.bsky.social talks with @wbur.org On Point about why prison reform is needed, and how some states have made changes to help improve conditions for people who live and work behind bars.

The SAVE Act may have stalled in the Senate, but some state laws include similar requirements that will keep eligible Americans from voting.

Nojeim: “But the amount of secrecy that surrounds this use is particularly troubling because the tech is so powerful and so new and so difficult for Congress to oversee.”

CDT’s Nojeim: “There are legitimate reasons for secrecy about how informational assets are being obtained and used for intelligence or defense purposes.”

CDT’s Greg Nojeim in MIT Tech Review: “One way to look at the kerfuffle with Anthropic is that the DOD wants to be able to exploit this [commercial data] loophole to the max.”

In our newest Speaking Freely, attorney Lizzie O'shea discusses her belief that giving people of all ages more control over restricting access to and use of their personal information is the basis for creating an online environment that respects everyone's human rights. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

After his spectacular failure to push through a reauthorization of Section 702 in the dead of night last Thursday, Speaker Johnson is trying again—with a new proposal that’s almost identical to the one that failed last week. 1/18

Watch ProPublica's @jenafifield.bsky.social on PBS News Hour below and read her recent investigation with @dougbockclark.bsky.social into the Trump White House's efforts to exert influence over local elections here:

CDT’s Jake Laperruque joined NPR’s 1A to break down what’s at stake as the future of FISA Section 702 hangs in the balance. From national security to Americans’ privacy rights, this is a critical moment in the surveillance debate.

If you donate to EFF today, you can: ✅ support civil liberties online, ✅ feel good about helping out, and ✅ if you're in the U.S., get a tax deduction! eff.org/join

In yesterday's Data Center Policy in Practice training session, “The AI Industry, Data Center Buildout, and How to Take Power Back,” we explored how the concentration of power in the AI industry is driving the data center buildout and the policy strategies to push back. Watch it: shorturl.at/V4ihg

Join our training on April 29 at 1 ET: "Bans, Moratoriums, Zoning: How to Stop or Limit Data Center Development." Learn the most direct policy interventions to stop data center development and zoning interventions that can be used when bans aren’t an option: bit.ly/policy-in-practice-training-series

In both the first and second Trump administrations, the number of times a president has asked the Supreme Court to take “emergency” action has increased dramatically. Learn more: bit.ly/4cybln3

Even more troubling, the proposed legislation would eliminate individuals' ability to hold companies legally accountable for data privacy violations, leaving consumers with no meaningful recourse when their information is mishandled or exploited. Congress should not advance either bill. 3/3

These bills would establish a weak baseline while undermining the stronger state protections already safeguarding Americans’ personal and financial data — effectively stripping away rights that millions of people currently enjoy. 2/3

A nationwide data privacy standard is long overdue. But the SECURE Data Act and GUARD Financial Data Act would do more harm than good. Here's why: 1/3 www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

"SPLC is a longstanding force fighting for equality. We stand with them. And we stand against this abuse of power." 2/2

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice: "The more I read about DOJ’s SPLC indictment, the more abusive it appears. It reflects an unprecedented weaponization of that agency’s grave prosecutorial power. 1/2

Speaker Johnson has dropped a new proposal to reauthorize Section 702. Not only does it fail to include a warrant requirement for backdoor searches, it makes no changes AT ALL to the standard or the procedures currently in place for conducting these searches. I'll have a thread coming soon.

Null: “Any federal privacy law discussed in 2026 should be future-proofed by protecting against growing AI-related privacy harms, namely by limiting data collection for AI training & preventing use of the technology to discriminate against protected classes, but this bill does neither sufficiently.”

“Null was also critical of the bill’s lack of substance around AI, saying that Large Language Models pose significant privacy challenges today that will only worsen over time.”

“[CDT's Eric Null] indicated that the Secure Data Act falls short, calling it full of ‘easily exploitable loopholes’ that let companies ‘hide behind cookie banners and lengthy terms of service rather than establishing meaningful privacy protections.’”

The issue of corruption has exploded in the United States and across the world. Politicians, journalists, and others are waking up, and corruption is going to be a big topic in the upcoming election. Stay informed by subscribing to The Briefing, our free weekly newsletter: bit.ly/3Yrz5jM

About 80% of local election officials — jobs that require navigation of physical threats, misinformation, and rapidly evolving technology — are women. Liz Howard discusses the Brennan Center’s latest survey of local election officials on The Briefing with Michael Waldman: bit.ly/3Qocg0g

@anthropic.com's Mythos presents new elex security challenges. Fortunately, they are a difference in degree, not in kind. The layers of security in place (incl. paper ballots) should keep the system resilient, but the Trump admin's gutting of fed security support has come at a particularly bad time.

How local election authorities should respond if the feds come around with a search warrant demanding ballots and voting records [Gary Restaino for @brennancenter.org]

@pbsnews.org covers @brennancenter.org's poll of election officials. It's a harrowing account of what election officials are facing right now, but also inspiring as so many officials remain committed to secure, free and fair elections. Everyone should watch it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNs...

Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights are not for sale. CDT has long warned about the dangers of government access to commercially available data without a warrant, and this Hill op-ed from Rep. Warren Davidson underscores what’s at stake.

Americans want a solution to corruption. The Brennan Center has several proposals.

In @pbsnews.org, our 2026 local election official survey shows that officials' concerns about their safety and political interference in the election administration process remain high as they grapple with federal cuts to election services ahead of midterms.

An assault on corruption can unify — it unites voters from left and right, as well as those from the exhausted middle who are sick of politics that never seem to produce results. bit.ly/4vAjw9g

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Common Cause stands firmly with the SPLC (@splcenter.org) in the face of yesterday’s attack by the DOJ. We are clear that this is a sham case built on illegitimate claims.

You can also help stop this mass spying scheme by contacting your representatives today! www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Once again, Section 702 is up for renewal, so are EFF's NSA Spying t-shirts! We hope you'll wear this t-shirt to proudly let everyone know that it’s time to rein in mass surveillance: shop.eff.org/products/ns...

EFF analysis of Palantir’s responses to our questions concludes that a good-faith application of Palantir’s own human rights commitments should lead it to end its contract with ICE. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Election officials are responsible for safeguarding ballots and other sensitive election information on voters’ behalf. Here’s how they can keep election materials safe from abusive law enforcement demands: