Sending you cat pics & a "common carriage" debate
Plus, misinformation, smartphone searches at the border, and more on the Florida bill
Do we have any cat people in this tech-wonk community? If you love felines, you’re in good company. Abraham Lincoln was a cat fiend, so much so that when asked about his hobbies, his wife said, “cats.” I recently moved into an apartment with a cat, and as a lifelong dog person, I’ve found it to be full of surprises.
I’ve learned that cats somehow respect your privacy and property even less than U.S. airport and border security (which you’ll hear more about later in this letter). When I step into the bathroom to do my makeup, the cat perches himself in the bathtub to observe the process. When I cut up vegetables to make tabbouleh, he sprints toward and across the cutting board to get his own taste.
In spite of (and perhaps because of) these quirks, I’m starting to see why so many people love cats. If you’re one of those people and you don’t have your own at home, a trip to Crumbs & Whiskers might be in order. Or, at the very least, follow the Tech Policy Cat on Twitter.
Social Media Regulation. We continued to have things to say about Florida’s social media bill. Instead of preaching to the choir, Ari published an op-ed in the Daily Caller explaining why government regulation of social media is the last thing that conservatives should want.
Yesterday, Berin again debated Eugene Volokh, one of America’s leading free speech scholars, on the constitutionality of forcing websites to carry content they find objectionable. The pair did a debate weeks ago in an event hosted by the Federalist Society’s Southern Florida Lawyers chapter. Read more of our arguments in our two recent Lawfare essays.
Misinformation. We had a special guest, Internet super-expert Renée DiResta, on our latest episode of the Tech Policy Podcast. As Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, Renée is among the top scholars studying the dark sides of online behavior. Corbin and Berin picked Renée’s brain about the latest trends in misinformation, social media’s role in the “Stop the Steal” movement, the rise of online influencers, how to increase information literacy, and more.
Fourth Amendment. TechFreedom has been a consistent advocate for the protection of digital privacy along the border, and this week was no exception. We joined the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Brennan Center for Justice in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court. In Merchant v. Mayorkas, the Court will decide on the constitutionality of smartphone searches without reasonable suspicion, which currently occur along the border as a result of the “border search exception” to the Fourth Amendment. Our team at TechFreedom pointed out that by traveling with your smartphone, you carry around an unprecedented wealth of personal information — equivalent to the contents of a room stuffed with filing cabinets, not your wallet. As Corbin said, including these devices in the border search exception “effectively nullifies the Fourth Amendment for anyone entering the country.”
The handsome cat in question.