iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Carrie DeCell

@carriedecell.bsky.social

704 followers 117 following 30 posts

Senior Staff Attorney & Legislative Advisor, Knight First Amendment Institute (she/her)

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 10/08/2026

How is 9/11 still shaping our lives and freedoms, 25 years later? On Sept. 9–10, the Institute and @columbiajournalism.bsky.social’s Li Center for Global Journalism will host a symposium exploring how the post-9/11 era reshaped speech and the press. RSVP: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-f...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 05/08/2026

“Students and faculty should not have to censor themselves out of fear that simply speaking their minds will lead to arrest or deportation,” said @georgewang.bsky.social, staff attorney at the Knight Institute. Read today’s brief: knightcolumbia.org/documents/ex...

knightcolumbia.org

Plaintiffs’ Principal and Response Brief

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The Trump administration tried to use visa denials and deportation to silence researchers who study social media. A court just said no. Sunday Tagliasacchi and Elisabeth Snyder, former legal externs at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, break down the CITR v. Rubio ruling.

Trump Cannot Use Immigration Law to Silence Technology Researchers

Sunday Tagliasacchi and Elisabeth Snyder detail an initial court victory for the Coalition for Independent Technology Research in CITR v. Rubio.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Now we’ll get back to work to convince the court that this temporary relief should be made permanent. The Trump admin can’t be allowed to censor speech it dislikes through the threats of exclusion and expulsion from this country.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Also grateful to the @knightcolumbia.org team behind this initial victory, our co-counsel @protectdemocracy.org, and amici @eff.org @integrity-inst.bsky.social and @factchecknet.bsky.social

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

The court's temporary block on the policy's enforcement provides real reassurance to CITR's members and others that they can research and report on the platforms without fear of visa denials or arrest, detention, and deportation because of their work.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It thus “sweeps into the category of ‘foreign censorship’ a substantial measure of the research, reporting, advocacy, and association through which CITR and institutions like it carry out their protected work, and it does so on the basis of viewpoint, in violation of the First Amendment.”

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

As the court wrote, the policy "reaches private researchers, advocates . . . and trust-and-safety professionals whose asserted 'censorship' consists of studying platforms, reporting on disinfo[], petitioning for access to platform data, and urging platforms or advertisers to act on what they find."

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

So proud to be representing @thecoalition.bsky.social in this case, and so grateful for their courage—and their members’ courage—in standing up to fight this backwards and blatantly unconstitutional policy.

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Emile Ayoub @emileayoub.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The Trump admin is continuing its invasive data collection efforts. Last week, it approved a USCIS plan to collect social media handles from the more than 3 million people applying each year to change their immigration status, as well as (in some cases) the handles of their U.S. citizen relatives.

brennancenter.org

Trump Administration Will Collect Social Media Handles from Legal Immigrants and U.S. Citizens

The new requirement poses serious threats to free speech and privacy rights.

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Emile Ayoub @emileayoub.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

CBP wants to collect social media handles from the roughly 14.5 million travelers visiting annually from countries deemed our “close allies.” This proposal comes after the administration has openly declared its intent to use social media to screen people for speech it doesn’t like. 1/

federalregister.gov

Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision; Arrival and Departure Record (Form I-94) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review an...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Katy Glenn Bass @katygb.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Next Wednesday 12/10, 12:30 ET: Join our @knightcolumbia.org webinar to hear @natematias.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social @sarahbrayne.bsky.social talk about using social science to study chilling effects, and how courts use this kind of evidence: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...

knightcolumbia.org

The Science of Chilling Effects

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 30/09/2025

⬇️ NEWS: “This is a historic ruling that should have immediate implications for the Trump administration’s policies. If the First Amendment means anything, it means the government can’t imprison people simply because it disagrees with their political views." knightcolumbia.org/content/in-l...

knightcolumbia.org

In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Says Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Judge Young: "The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence." An extraordinary, historic victory for democratic freedom. knightcolumbia.org/content/in-l...

knightcolumbia.org

In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Says Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Xiangnong (George) Wang @georgewang.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

A huge win in @knightcolumbia.org's challenge to the Trump admin's policy of targeting noncitizen students and faculty for deportation based on their pro-Palestinian speech. Thank you @aaup.org and @mesa1966.bsky.social for trusting in us to represent you. knightcolumbia.org/content/in-l...

knightcolumbia.org

In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Says Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

AAUP @aaup.org · 30/09/2025

BREAKING: WE WON!!! 💥 💥 💥 Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment. Full ruling here:

courtlistener.com

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 29/05/2025

The Trump administration is set to expand social media vetting of visa applicants. The policy has done little for national security, says @jameeljaffer.bsky.social, but "it is very effective at chilling free speech."

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 29/04/2025

A federal judge just ruled that our case seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian protests can go forward. Read our statement: knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Xiangnong (George) Wang @georgewang.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

My @knightcolumbia.org colleague Ramya Krishnan will be in court in Boston this Wednesday arguing on behalf of @aaup.bsky.social & @mesa1966.bsky.social in their challenge to the Trump admin's ideological-deportation policy. This is the case: knightcolumbia.org/cases/aaup-v...

knightcolumbia.org

American Association of University Professors v. Rubio

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 03/04/2025

Yesterday, we filed an amicus brief w/ @aclu.org & 9 other legal organizations asking the court to strike down Trump's executive order placing sanctions on the law firm Perkins Coie for its work on voting rights & for representing Trump's prior political opponents. knightcolumbia.org/content/lega...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

It’s sad that it requires courage right now for a university president to file something as straightforward as this, but it does. Thanks to Tufts University President Sunil Kumar for filing this. www.tufts.edu/president/sp...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Alex Abdo @alexabdo.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

The Knight Institute (@knightcolumbia.org) joined a cross-ideological amicus brief led by the @aclu.org, in arguing that President Trump's executive order targeting Perkins Coie LLP is unconstitutional. knightcolumbia.org/cases/perkin...

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Xiangnong (George) Wang @georgewang.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Powerful op-ed from Profs. Maya Jasanoff and @kirstenweld.bsky.social. They are members of AAUP-Harvard, one of the groups challenging the Trump admin's policy of targeting noncitizen students and faculty for deportation based on their pro-Palestinian advocacy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

We’re Harvard Professors Suing the Trump Administration. Here’s Why. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

Universities are currently on the front lines of a battle for basic civil liberties. We must fight for the values — and the people — that define us. This lawsuit is a start.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

As a Jenner alum, I could not be prouder of this firm today.

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 25/03/2025

This morning, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup...

knightcolumbia.org

AAUP, Middle East Studies Association, Knight Institute Sue Over Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport Students and Faculty for Lawful Speech

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

This morning, FACULTY UNIONS led by @aaup.bsky.social sued the Trump administration over the unlawful funding cuts at Columbia. We will not let the federal government use coercion to rob us of academic freedom and critical research! So proud of my union! protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/u...

protectdemocracy.org

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

And also: "Masking: Individuals may decide to mask based on their own circumstances and their preferences. Such decisions should be respected." news.columbia.edu/news/update-...

news.columbia.edu

An Update on COVID-19 University Guidance

Updated COVID-19 guidance for the Columbia community.

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

There's a lot of work to do. We're hiring another Legal Fellow to start ASAP. Please send the best people our way. @knightcolumbia.org knightcolumbia.org/page/legal-f...

knightcolumbia.org

| Knight First Amendment Institute

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Arresting and threatening to deport students because of their participation in political protest is the kind of action one ordinarily associates with the world’s most repressive regimes. It’s genuinely shocking that this appears to be what’s going on right here. 1/

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

David Greene @davidgreene.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

As reported here by @telliotter.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/rights... grantees of the US govt are being told they must comply with the govt's anti-DEI purge for all of their programs, even those not funded by the USG. If you are such an NGO, I'd love to talk to you. For Contact my info: eff.org

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 06/03/2025

Today, we sent a letter to Johnson reminding him that the First Amendment does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of viewpoint by government officials and that they cannot block critics at public forums, in-person or online. Read the letter: knightcolumbia.org/documents/t1...

knightcolumbia.org

Letter to House Speaker Johnson (3/6/2025)

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

So when public comments open, tell USCIS you oppose the Trump admin’s latest efforts to surveil speech on social media.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

And the Biden admin rejected a previous DHS proposal to extend those requirements because the agency had failed to “adequately demonstrate the practical utility of collecting this information.” knightcolumbia.org/blog/a-promi...

knightcolumbia.org

A Promising First Step Towards Curtailing Social Media Surveillance

100

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

And all for what? The Biden admin held onto the State Dep’t requirements despite internal views that they added “no value” to visa vetting efforts. knightcolumbia.org/blog/its-tim...

knightcolumbia.org

It’s time for Biden to stop the mass collection of travelers’ social media information

100

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Because it would apply to even more people who already live in the United States—including people applying for citizenship—the USCIS proposal is even more clearly unconstitutional than its State Dep’t predecessor.

100

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Social media disclosure requirements deny the rights of anonymous speech and private association, and they chill the exercise of free speech and free association more broadly. knightcolumbia.org/content/opin...

knightcolumbia.org

A New U.S. Visa Requirement is Silencing Foreign Filmmakers

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

We sued on behalf of Doc Society and the International Documentary Association back then, arguing that the social media disclosure requirements violated the First Amendment and the APA. knightcolumbia.org/blog/doc-soc...

knightcolumbia.org

Doc Society v. Blinken: Challenging the State Department’s Social Media Registration Requirement

100

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

USCIS is proposing to extend social media disclosure requirements adopted by the State Dep’t in 2019 to millions more applicants for immigration benefits each year: public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-03492.pdf

public-inspection.federalregister.gov

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Alex Abdo @alexabdo.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Re: the FTC and the platforms We *should* be concerned about platform power over speech, but it isn’t censorship. As the Supreme Court said last year, the companies’ editorial decisions to moderate content are protected by the First Amendment. 1/

Reposted by Carrie DeCell

Katy Glenn Bass @katygb.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

New @knightcolumbia.org essay: Americans’ broad rights to access media of their choosing are due in part to a Cold War case, Lamont v Postmaster General. @georgewang.bsky.social shows why a fight about communist snail mail is so relevant in the age of social media. knightcolumbia.org/content/list...

knightcolumbia.org

Listeners’ Rights in the Time of Propaganda: The Story of Lamont v. Postmaster General

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

So I’ll say it again: Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech is unconstitutional.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Former Knight Institute fellow Alexia Ramirez unpacks the memos and their First Amendment analysis here: knightcolumbia.org/blog/ice-ack...

knightcolumbia.org

ICE Acknowledges First Amendment Limits on Its Power to Remove Foreign Nationals

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

But as lawyers from Trump’s first term concluded, while the government may be able to keep people out of the country on those grounds, it can’t necessarily kick people out of the country on those grounds—at least without raising serious First Amendment concerns.

100

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Inadmissibility grounds include “endors[ing] or espous[ing] terrorist activity” or “support[ing] a terrorist organization." And the Trump admin may well equate pro-Palestinian protest activity with supporting terrorism.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

(Delayed) Update: On student visas, Trump's E.O. doesn’t go as far as initially suggested—it doesn’t directly order any deportations. Instead, it tells agencies to “familiarize” universities with inadmissibility grounds, so they can report student activities that may lead to removal.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Those government lawyers were right. Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech is unconstitutional.

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

“Inadmissibility Based on Endorsing or Espousing Terrorist Activity: First Amendment Concerns” says that strict scrutiny likely applies where “the government seeks to regulate the content of speech of aliens [in the U.S.] through its power to exclude or expel.” knightcolumbia.org/documents/tg...

knightcolumbia.org

ICE Memo: Inadmissibility Based on Endorsing or Espousing Terrorist Activity: First Amendment Concerns

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

“Constitutional Considerations Relating to Proposed Enhanced Vetting of Aliens in the United States for Counterterrorism Purposes” says that non-citizens in the U.S. “can invoke protections under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause.” knightcolumbia.org/documents/rj...

knightcolumbia.org

ICE Memo: Constitutional Considerations Relating to Proposed Enhanced Vetting of Aliens in the United States for Counterterrorism Purposes

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Through a FOIA lawsuit for records relating to Trump’s “extreme vetting” program, we obtained two ICE memos examining First Amendment limits to the government’s ideological screening of immigrants:

Carrie DeCell @carriedecell.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

During Trump’s first term, government lawyers considered at length whether proposals to remove people from the country based on their political speech are constitutional, and even *their* answer was “almost certainly no.”