“Facebook’s race-blind practices around hate speech came at the expense of Black users, new documents show”
WaPo:
Last year, researchers at Facebook showed executives an example of the kind of hate speech circulating on the social network: an actual post featuring an image of four female Democratic lawmakers known collectively as “The Squad.”The poster, whose… Continue reading
“Leaked Texts: Jan. 6 Organizers Say They Were ‘Following POTUS’ Lead’”
New scoop from Hunter Walker for Rolling Stone.
Thanks to
Tabatha Abu el-Haj was primary ELB blogger last week and will be again next week. She will be followed by Nick Stephanopoulos the week of Dec. 6.
“US added to list of ‘backsliding’ democracies for first time”
The Guardian:
The US has been added to an annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, the International IDEA thinktank has said, pointing to a “visible deterioration” it said began in 2019.
Globally, more than one in… Continue reading
“‘Midnight is approaching’ to pass voting rights protections”
Axios:
“Defenders of democracy in America still have a slim window of opportunity to act. But time is ticking away, and midnight is approaching,” according to more than 150 top scholars of U.S. democracy in a new push to… Continue reading
Sad News: “Prominent San Antonio lawyer dies following lengthy battle with illness, LULAC confirms”
KSAT:
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is mourning the loss of its longtime legal counsel, and San Antonio attorney Luis Roberto Vera, Jr.Vera, 65, died overnight in San Antonio following a lengthy battle with an illness,… Continue reading
“How Trump ally Cleta Mitchell won a seat on the EAC advisory board”
Jessica Huseman for Votebeat:
Mitchell’s selection resulted from an unorthodox process by the Civil Rights commission, according to two people with direct knowledge of the process. In April, the commission changed the nominating procedures for members of the EAC… Continue reading
“As Gerrymanders Get Worse, Legal Options to Overturn Them Dwindle”
Michael Wines for the NYT:
Voting-rights advocates are in a North Carolina state court in Raleigh this month, arguing in three lawsuits that Republican gerrymanders of the State Legislature and the state’s 14 seats in the House of… Continue reading
“What the democracy watchers worry about”
Axios:
People who study democracies around the world will be watching the 2022 midterm elections for new signs of how vulnerable the U.S. system has become.Why it matters: Even if the true test doesn’t come until the 2024 presidential election,… Continue reading
“Pro-Trump nonprofit gives millions to groups boosting his agenda”
Carrie Levine for CPI:
A nonprofit closely tied to former President Donald Trump and his administration gave millions of dollars in 2020 to an array of conservative groups, a new tax filing from the nonprofit, now called America First… Continue reading
“Another voter fraud accusation blows up in Republicans’ faces”
Daniel Dale for CNN:
The mysterious case of Rosemarie Hartle’s vote in the last presidential election, three years after her death, was trumpeted in November 2020 by the Nevada Republican Party and various prominent conservatives. From then-President … Continue reading
“Latino, Asian American, LGBTQ activists: They want to shape California’s congressional maps”
LAT:
Activists are urging the creation of a congressional district that links LGBTQ populations in Long Beach and coastal northern Orange County. Civil-rights groups say a plan to split up a Los Angeles-area district — the most heavily Latino in … Continue reading
“How the Liberal First Amendment Under-Protects Democracy”
Signing off now as I am off to catch a plane to Chicago to discuss my new article, How the Liberal First Amendment Under-Protects Democracy with the faculty at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law. Thank you Rick for giving me… Continue reading