Heading to the Courthouse for Sandvig v. Sessions

(or: Research Online Should Not Be Illegal) I’m a college professor. But on Friday morning I won't be in the classroom, I'll be in courtroom 30 in the US District Courthouse on Constitution Avenue in Washington DC. The occasion? Oral arguments on the first motion in Sandvig v. Sessions. You may recall that the ACLU, …

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Why I Am Suing the Government — Update

[This is an old post. SEE ALSO: The most recent blog post about this case.] Last month I joined other social media researchers and the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the US Government to protect the legal right to conduct online research. This is newly relevant today because a community of devs interested in public policy started …

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Why I Am Suing the Government

(or: I write scripts, bots, and scrapers that collect online data) [This is an old post. SEE ALSO: The most recent blog post about this case.] I never thought that I would sue the government. The papers went in on Wednesday, but the whole situation still seems unreal. I’m a professor at the University of Michigan and a social …

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Shouting Fire in a Crowded Hashtag

Narco Censorship The press is one of the many casualties of Mexico's ongoing violence, in particular, the local media. Newspapers and TV stations are caught in a battle between censorship, control and threats from the drug cartels, and the local governments. In some cities, people often witness shootings, grenade attacks and other violent events, but …

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