APRIL U.S. NEWSLETTER

CDT Takes on Viewpoint-based Immigration Enforcement & Other Attacks on Free Speech

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has made an unprecedented effort to use social media and government data to target removal of immigrants based on First Amendment-protected activity. USCIS stated its plans to screen social media activity when making immigration decisions in millions of cases, and announced that it is scouring the social media accounts of foreign students for speech that it deems potential grounds to revoke legal status. Simultaneously, the Department of State is using AI to monitor visa-holders under its “catch and revoke” program, which aims to identify and cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups.

This effort will inevitably chill the speech of noncitizens seeking to enter or remain in the U.S. — particularly since, as CDT’s Kate Ruane told Newsweek, "Automated tools are error-prone and guaranteed to improperly categorize an unknown number of applicants' viewpoints as violent, terroristic, or antisemitic, even by the Administration's broad definitions of those terms.” She continued, “We can be sure the Administration is unlikely to stop here. The proverbial slope from seemingly reasonable uses of these technologies to unconstitutional and unjustifiably speech-suppressive uses is very slippery. That's why governments shouldn't start sliding down it to begin with.”

Alex Givens, Commissioner Anna Gomez, Sarah Oates, Kate Tummarello, and Alex Abdo at the CDT Event: "Who Will Fight for the First Amendment? Protecting Free Expression at a Critical Time." CDT Logo in the Background.

CDT discussed these attacks on free speech in an event we hosted last week with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and a range of experts on free expression. The conversation, which is available to view on CDT’s YouTube channel, situated the government’s actions in an unprecedented wider campaign to chill broadcasters’ protected editorial decisions, pressure social media companies’ content moderation practices, and interfere in academic affairs and research agendas at universities, think tanks, and nonprofits.

Earlier this month, after the IRS and DHS reportedly struck an agreement that would permit sharing confidential taxpayer information for immigration enforcement purposes, CDT joined UnidosUS and over 270 other organizations in calling on Congress to stand up for taxpayers’ privacy by conducting oversight hearings, demanding release of the unredacted agreement, and demanding that the Treasury Department clarify its novel interpretation of laws that have protected taxpayer information for nearly 50 years.

CDT’s Tom Bowman repeatedly highlighted the importance of taxpayer privacy in interviews with the Associated Press, MSNBC, and NBC, where he warned that disclosing tax records to DHS will undermine tax compliance among immigrant communities, weakening contributions to essential public programs and increasing burdens for U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant taxpayers. CDT stressed how this and similar DOGE data access issues set a dangerous precedent for data privacy abuse, undermining the federal tax system and other federal programs. And, as CDT’s Quinn Anex-Ries noted at Axios, the agreement seems to be out of alignment with the Trump Administration Office of Management and Budget’s own guidance on federal government use of AI.

As CDT’s Elizabeth Laird told 404 Media about the stakes of the Administration’s effort, the potential of “false positives and false negatives” is high. “When you have lists of millions of people, it’s hard to imagine that you don’t have a significant population who are being false matched as warranting immigration enforcement action when it is in fact the wrong person, and we’re seeing those mistakes happen, where a person is wrongly deported to El Salvador, and the government is saying we can’t get them back.”

Laird continued in Wired, “It's hard to overstate what a significant departure this is, and the reshaping of longstanding norms and expectations that people have about what the government does with their data.”

In Case You Missed It

— We published three new resources in our series highlighting AI regulation trends: 1) analysis at the city and county level of publicly available AI policies and guidance; 2) analysis of current state education agencies’ guidance on how to responsibly use AI in public education; and 3) examination of steps federal agencies took in 2024 AI inventories toward improved reporting.

— CDT co-authored a post debunking claims on the national security impact of requiring a warrant to query Americans’ communications obtained via Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

— CDT submitted comments to the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s working group on a federal comprehensive privacy and security framework. We urged the Working Group to build upon the past several years' work to achieve bipartisan consensus on key elements of a federal privacy framework, and highlighted key features of an effective privacy law.

— CDT submitted comments to U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan about reforming the Privacy Act of 1974 to address advances in technology and emerging threats to federal government data privacy. Our comments highlight potential privacy harms related to federal government data practices and provide an overview of CDT’s nearly two decades of advocacy on the Privacy Act.

CDT In the Press

— CDT CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens was quoted by Ars Technica, discussing a recent Pew poll that showed that only 11 percent of the public says that they are more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life: "AI’s widespread adoption is contingent on user trust. Just as traffic lanes and seat belts help people drive faster, well-tailored laws and norms will help people know what AI tools they can rely on in their daily lives. Without those safeguards, it’s no wonder the public is skeptical."

— CDT’s Miranda Bogen was quoted by the Washington Post: “There’s absolutely a backsliding in tech developers’ thinking about trust and safety,” she said. “This is why folks are advocating for the creation of institutions that can help develop methods to spot and mitigate risks posed by AI.”

— CDT’s Ruchika Joshi wrote for Tech Policy Press about the six critical questions AI developers should answer when building and deploying AI agents.

Event graphic, for a gathering hosted by the Consulate General of Finland New York and all tech is human.

CDT "In-Person"

— Next month, Nathalie Maréchal, Co-Director of CDT’s Data & Privacy Project will be speaking at the Knight Institute’s Surveillance Ascendant, Democracy in Free Fall event on the intersection of consumer surveillance and free speech.

— Join CDT’s Miranda Bogen, Director of our AI Governance Lab, in New York next month for the All Tech is Human Event with the Finnish Embassy. She will be discussing the role of civil society and research in responsible AI policymaking.

— On April 28, CDT President & CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens appeared as a featured speaker at the National Fair Housing Alliance’s Responsible AI Symposium.

— Join CDT and the Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology on May 1 for a webinar on DOGE and government data privacy featuring Elizabeth Laird, Director of CDT’s Equity in Civic Technology Project.

A collage of seven images from Spring Fling showing guests.

Partner Spotlight

Thank you to our sponsors for their partnership in making this year's Spring Fling possible!

Bella Hillebrand, smiling in a black dress in front of a CDT logo.

Staff Spotlight

Isabella Hillebrand, Operations Associate

How long have you been working in digital rights?

I guess I could say I've been working in digital rights as long as I've been working at CDT, which will be two years this June. However, and in complete fairness to my incredibly knowledgeable & hard working colleagues on the policy and research side of CDT, I am solely on the Operations side of our organization. While I am not directly involved in our digital rights work, I have been lucky enough to learn and engage with so many of the important issues CDT tackles on a daily basis, and for that I'm grateful. In particular, working with my fellow Internship Coordinators and interacting with students who apply to our Internship program has shown me just how far our work can reach and has also made it rather accessible to a non-expert like myself.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT?

While there are a few examples that come to mind with this question, I think the times I've consistently felt the most proud of my work is when I've been able to help organize staff-appreciation events at CDT. While I always have help from our incredible Partnerships Manager, Jamal Magby, I am often leading the planning efforts for our annual staff retreat & holiday party. Any opportunity we can take to pause and recognize everyone's hard work is an important one and should be treated as such! Our holiday party at the end of 2024 felt really special as we were able to have staff's family and loved ones join us and take a step away from the business of the work for a few hours. It was a delightful wrap on a year of great work, and I was very proud to play a larger role in recognizing all of our staff's efforts. I hope they all felt it too!

What is your fandom?

I feel like this is a cheat answer, because I could stand to narrow it down, but in general I'm a film & television lover. I am the friend who is freely advertising for AMC Stubs List because "it pays for itself if you just see two movies a month!". I don't know if I have the true passion of those who are labeled as cinephiles these days, but I love to go see a movie in theaters and managed to see 9 of the 10 best picture Oscar nominees from this year prior to the ceremony. Some of my favorite watches from last year were I'm Still Here, Nickel Boys, Conclave, and The Substance. I may enjoy a good tv show at home even more than a movie, and right now I'm really loving The Pitt and am looking forward to the new season of Hacks. While I'm not deeply entrenched into any fandom of the shows I watch, it is so fun to be watching a popular show like Severance or The White Lotus alongside the rest of the world as it airs!

Cats or dogs?

Perhaps controversial, but I prefer cats! We all know dogs are incredible and that would be the easy answer. As someone who has grown up with both animals, there is something very special about cats. I appreciate how strong willed and independent they can be and simultaneously, there is no better lap pet. Generally, dogs like anyone and everyone, but the highest compliment one can receive is a cat taking a special interest/liking to them. All that said, I am eternally grateful to my fellow CDTers for sharing pictures of their cats AND their dogs in abundance so I can revel in their cuteness.

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