Jake Laperruque

Media Capitulation Index A new tool from Free Press that you should know about

New from me: This week @freepress.bsky.social launched a Media Capitulation Index. I cover what it is, why it matters, and how we can use it to organize. ctrlaltrightdelete.substack.com/p/media-capi...

Read my latest:

Project Dystopia: How a Little-Known Non-Profit Has New Orleans Considering Mass, Real-Time Facial Recognition Surveillance

"Project Dystopia"

Check out this warning from @epic.org on the dangers of New Orleans proposed plan to institutionalize dragnet, untargeted facial recognition across the city
epic.org/project-dyst...

It is wild to look back to 2015 where Trump’s original primary campaign was largely built around his promise to “self fund” his campaign which would stop corrupt donors from controlling him.
Now: mass big money donors, unprecedented access for billionaires, and a mega tax cut for the wealthy

Places of public accommodation are going to start banning these things.

Who wants to hang out at a bar where you're worried some creep is secretly using his glasses to record you or scan your face to stalk you online?

No Warrants and Half a Dozen Different Rules: The Convoluted and Dangerous Status of the Border Search Exception This is the second in a series of blog posts regarding Customs and Border Protection searches of digital devices. Imagine you live in the western United States and are planning a vacation to Europe, returning with a connecting flight somewhere on the east coast. When you arrive in the U.S., the government may invoke the […]

CDT’s @jakelaperruque.bsky.social unpacks the history of this law, the conflicting rules in different jurisdictions, and the problem with the border search exception. cdt.org/insights/no-...

How to Read an "AI" Press Release — Sonja Drimmer Every so often someone like Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Altman will dribble out some unadorned text, announcing with stentorian certitude the advent of a new world that their latest product will avail. Zuc...

here's a useful critical annotation of zuck's "superintelligence" memo sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...

Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation

Faculty who wrote to defend their president and object to a DOJ investigation of their university...are now being investigated by the DOJ.
The most banal defense of free speech and academic freedom will trigger the full wrath of the US government now.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

Exact same vibe

youtu.be/vyZkHjgzGRM?...

Starmer defends Online Safety Act as `child protection´ Rules introduced under the Act on July 25 require online platforms to take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content.

The introduction of age-verification in the UK this weekend appears to be an unmitigated disaster. Anyone accessing socials now has to upload ID, scan their face or otherwise verify. The outrage is widespread and everyone is just finding workarounds.

The government has gone into defense.

Prof. @jmiers230.bsky.social points out that the latest South Park "Trump PSA" with a deepfake naked Trump could violate the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which Trump himself announced he was eager to use to censor content critical of himself.

Zeus made history 🪂🐾 The first K9 officer to skydive all on his handler’s command. Loyalty, bravery, and no fear in the sky! #K9Hero #SkydivingDog #PoliceDog #ZeusTheK9 #DogTok #FYP #ForYouPage #Vira... TikTok video by K9 Dog Farewell

Staff meeting today took on the critically important question "Can dogs skydive?" and having now done the deep dive research, I really want Dogs Skydiving to be the theme of the Air Bud revival

@darthbluesky.bsky.social please provide a screenplay?

www.tiktok.com/@k9_d_f/vide...

Border Patrol Wants Advanced AI to Spy on American Cities A Customs and Border Protection “Industry Day” deck also asks for drones, seismic sensors, and tech that can see through walls.

Border Patrol is buying new tech... "advanced AI" to surveil dense residential areas? Automated surveillance towers? Tech to see through walls??

I talked to @sambiddle.com of @theintercept.com about serious risks amid the agency's increasingly aggressive behavior.

theintercept.com/2025/07/23/c...

AI is transforming how we communicate in relationships ‘All I wanted was to feel seen, heard and understood by him, but instead, he was sending me a robot’s questions’

I'm quoted in this piece. In short: do not use ChatGPT or any generative AI as a “therapist.” It’s not sentient. It doesn’t care. It may even lead people toward harm. And nothing shared is protected by HIPAA or real privacy standards; it's fodder for the machine. www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture...

The Michigan @aclu.org is looking to hire a senior staff attorney. These jobs don't come around that often, and they've got a great team -- wanted to make sure folk saw it!
www.aclumich.org/en/jobs/staf...

Opinion | Remember the TikTok Ban? Does Anyone?

Remember the TikTok Ban? Does Anyone? www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

Hard to think of something you get more value from for $2 - subscribe to Wired, they’re doing incredible work

It’s a pretty brilliant twist on origin story: he doesn’t show us the 20th version of Crime Alley murder and the story of Bruce Wayne becoming a super hero, he shows him discovering what type of hero he’s going to be any why

One of my favorite things about The Batman was how the trailer came out with him screaming “I am vengeance!” and fans hated it and said that’s too grim it’s not Batman and it turns out it wasn’t! That was the start of the character evolution that felt so gratifying at the end

Martin Scorsese drew these storyboards when he was 11 years old. They are for a Roman epic entitled THE ETERNAL CITY.

Tweet screenshot: SunDog @SUNDOG_TRX You never truly know who’s pulling the strings… 🤫 [AI-generated image of a corgi dog with a collar depicting the Tron logo, paws raised above the White House, with strings attached to the paws like a marionette] 2:30 AM Jul 24, 2025

Sundog, a memecoin by crypto billionaire Justin Sun, just posted a meme depicting its mascot controlling the White House. Sun has spent (or will shortly spend) a total of $213 million on Trump-connected crypto projects.

Five alarm fire in a crowded theater

Gen X leapfrogging Boomers to become America’s most conservative generation is also really something

Text from article, reads: Most importantly, Todd told me that the version at UT Law is actually a print, because he sold the original to Justice Stephen Breyer, a frequent and enthusiastic STC mock trial participant. Todd personally delivered the painting to Breyer’s chambers, where he discovered firsthand that Breyer otherwise decorates his walls with masterpieces on loan from the National Gallery of Art. Apparently, he’d decided that “Supreme Court Beach” would really bring the room together nicely.

OMFG

I am currently at the shore with family including my Republican lawyer uncle and feel like I need to acquire this cursed image for him. I assume to get a copy you need to perform some sort of dark ritual?

Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home (Published 2024)

Honestly just extremely grateful that this image has forever tainted Rehoboth Beach rather than Long Beach Island, which is where I spent childhood summers but is also where Sam Alito has a house and flew one of his Stop The Steal flags

www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/u...

Reign of Terror by Spencer Ackerman: 9781984879790 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2021   "An impressive combination of diligence and verve, deploying Ackerman’s deep stores of knowledge as a national security journalist to full...

Will never be enough times recommending Reign of Terror by @attackerman.bsky.social, brilliant read for offering a through line for politics of the last 25 years www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622555...

This also happened post 9-11, especially during the shameful Peter King anti-Muslim hearings. Any Muslim engaged in public debate would reflexively get challenged to condemn Al Qaeda

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Wired rules. Just an incredible group of journalists who are completely meeting the moment. And you can subscribe for $2 a month, which is insane www.wired.com/story/a-new-...

Protecting Electronic Devices When Crossing U.S. Borders By: Jacob Smith, CDT Intern [ PDF version ] This is the first in a series of blog posts regarding Customs and Border Protection searches of digital devices.   Border agents have broad authority to exa...

And if you’re looking for steps you should take to keep your devices protected during a border crossing, check out this guide:

cdt.org/insights/pro...