Nora Benavidez

@attorneynora.bsky.social

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Senior Counsel / Director of Digital Justice & Civil Rights @ Free Press.

Free speech, democracy, innovation. Formerly free expression @ PEN America, litigation @ ACLU.

www.norabenavidez.com

ATL | LA | NYC

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Nora Benavidez

“The seeds of lies and of disenfranchisement are planted long before these interventions from platforms get implemented. We are running out of time.” -- @attorneynora.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/media/2023/d...

Reversal of content policies at Alphabet, Meta and X threaten democracy, warn expertswww.theguardian.com Media watchdog says layoffs at top social media firms affecting moderation create ‘toxic environment’ as 2024 elections approach

I’ll be testifying before Canadian Parliament tomorrow at their hearing on Big Tech Giants & their evasion of accountability. I’ll present on exclusive research we @freepress.bsky.social are releasing tomorrow, examining the last yr of policy backslides & layoffs at Meta, Twitter, YouTube.

Shadow-banning social media content? Quite likely, but bc the platforms operate w/ almost total opacity, we don’t know how it’s occurring. I spoke w/ @theguardian.bsky.social abt why understandable concern you’ve been downranked or shadow-banned is so combustible and divisive:

Instagram users accuse platform of censoring posts supporting Palestinewww.theguardian.com Users say their posts no longer appear at top of feeds and some suspect platform is shadow-banning, or demoting content

“The platforms have largely abandoned and are in the process of abandoning their promises to keep their environments healthy,” I told @nbcnewspolitics.bsky.social:

Israel-Hamas war misinformation is harder to track, researchers saywww.nbcnews.com Misleading content about the conflict is rampant online, and watchdogs say major platforms’ changing practices have made it “close to impossible” for them to keep up.

“We have distorted the information ecosystem,” said Benavidez told @nyt-first-said.bsky.social. “The end result always being that ppl will be less engaged. People will be less sure of what issues they care abt, less aware of why something might matter.”

Fact or Fiction? In This War, It Is Hard to Tell.t.co Social media is full of false and misleading posts. The rise in A.I. is making it worse. And the trust in traditional news sources has declined.

I wrote @just_security why poor platform integrity — largely failing & in retreat across major tech companies — helped bad actors exploit network vulnerabilities & amplify tension, division, conflict surrounding Israel/Hamas. Proud of this piece:

Social Media Platform Integrity Matters in Times of Warwww.justsecurity.org Twitter’s failure to moderate content about the Israel-Hamas conflict should be a lesson for other social networks.

The FTC is ramping up scrutiny of data brokers, a largely unknowable set of actors who gather our data & give/sell/store untold amounts to other companies & govt. Reining in the data broker sector is essential to addressing data privacy violations:

Analysis | FTC consumer protection chief puts data brokers on noticewww.washingtonpost.com The agency is dialing up scrutiny of companies' privacy practices.

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I wrote for Rolling Stone why the crushing of the #StopCopCity movement is symptom of dangerous US democratic backsliding. Local ATL & GA officials over-criminalizing free speech betrays decades of hard won First Amendment & civil rights victories.

Why Georgia’s Latest Assault on Free Speech Is So Chillingwww.rollingstone.com Authorities in Georgia cracking down on protest opposing the "Cop City" police training facility is part of a nationwide assault on free speech.

It’s Friday evening and you definitely want to read my peace about what Congress, the White House & the FTC can do to protect digital civil rights and fight #AI harms.

What Congress & the FTC Can Do Now to Protect Against AI Abuseswww.freepress.net Instead of holding yet another listening session about AI, Congress should follow these steps to safeguard against discrimination and privacy violations.

Free speech 101 🧵 for Elon Musk & everyone: 1/

Social media platforms have the ability as private companies to remove content if they choose without it violating the First Amendment. But they also promise users, in terms of service/moderation policies/community guidelines, to do certain things to limit hate, abuse, lies. 2/

Elon has himself a long track record of intimidating ppl when they say things he dislikes. He forced Tesla employee to stop speaking on an earnings call; he limited digital chat forum for Chinese workers to discuss malfunctions with Tesla cars. 3/

Since taking over Twitter, Elon has also escalated his attacks on speech he dislikes: he removes journalists when they report on him. He complies with authoritarian gov’t requests for content takedowns. He brings back neo-Nazi users & elevates their content for advertising $. 4/

Elon has also started proactively going after researchers like CCDH for accountability efforts to monitor how Twitter’s toxicity, harassment, disinfo have risen since Musk took over. Elon didn’t like that research, so he sued CCDH & even encouraged Congress to investigate. 5/

Elon says he’s a free speech absolutist. But only when he likes the speech. Which isn’t the ability to listen or debate or put users’ free expression rights first. He threatened to remove the “block feature” — a known stopgap preventing abuse, esp abuse targeting BIPOC & women. 6/

Now, he’s escalated his proactive legal attacks. The structural & verbal intimidation wasn’t enough. He’s threatening to sue ADL, a known Jewish led organization which works on platform accountability measures. 7/

Musk’s escalating tactics to scare voices he dislikes should worry us all. He can manipulate @X algorithms so his speech occupies our feeds, promoting false claims, conspiracy, neo-Nazi accounts. But being “open” to neo-Nazi hate doesn’t equate to supporting free speech. 8/

Options on ways to respond: We can pressure @Google @Apple to remove @X from their app stores. We can remove ourselves from this platform. We can sound the alarm about his descent into the Trumpian playbook. We can try to support those attacked by Musk. 9/

Free speech in practice is only as strong as the weak link seeking to undermine it. We tried to counsel Musk on what speech means; @freepress & other civil rights groups met with him in Nov. He promised to protect users. He went back on those promises. 10/

Elon Musk Is Absolutely an Enemy of Free Speechwww.freepress.net Musk claims he supports free speech, but the evidence shows that he attacks or tries to silence anyone who dares to hold him accountable.

Musk’s malfeasance doesn’t stop here. His bad behavior has been license for other platforms to do less as well, with negligence mushrooming across platforms amid policy rollbacks to moderate the Big Lie and layoffs of critical safety & innovation teams. 11/ www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

This era of platforms shirking responsibility while using their power and influence to improperly set the rules of the road must end. Read more of how I believe we need platforms & gov’t regulators to correct course 12/

The Era of Big Tech Minimalism: Missouri v. Biden Gives Platforms Cover to Retreat From Election Int...techpolicy.press Judge Doughty’s ruling is an imperfect cover for platforms to do less ahead of the 2024 election cycle, says Nora Benavidez.

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Three years ago. pressthink.org/2020/09/you-...

Is the Trump indictment an attack on #freespeech? A short legal 🧵:

We should always be vigilant & take seriously possibilities for free speech to be curtailed by govt censorship. But this criminal indictment isn't about what Donald Trump wrote or said; it's about what the former president did to undermine our democracy & thwart voters. 2/

Trump’s words broadcast & seen across airwaves, platform feeds, and television sets are a wholly different matter than govt censorship. To claim that he's being censored now, is more of the same bogus complaints that we heard throughout his presidency. 3/

Censorship cries were often a tool Trump and his administration used to chill criticism. We need to find ways to ensure that powerful people are held accountable for breaking the law, defying the will of voters and attempting to seize control of government. 4/

The First Amendment was never intended nor now exists as a shield for such tyranny, nor should it ever be. The rule of law is critical here. 5/

We also need to find ways to ensure that platforms share some accountability for the violence that inciting speech causes, particularly lies that flow from those in positions of power. The consequence of inaction threatens the future of our open elections. 6/

Tune in tomorrow @democracynow.bsky.social where I’ll be on to talk abt the Musk effect of targeting speech he dislikes, how that’s affecting platforms’ role in our democracy & ahead of 2024.