iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Day 2 of TSRC with David Rand presenting on using AI to counteract conspiracy theories

David Rand giving a keynote at Stanford Trust and Safety Research Conference

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Later in the same story -- this is an incomprehensible word salad that means nothing. Posturing absent policy.

Text screenshot from WaPo article:

The administration considered ways it could use its own regulatory powers to limit the law’s reach. That spring, it called a meeting that included officials from the Commerce, State, Defense and Treasury Departments and White House to discuss potential strategies to advance free expression, according to a copy of the meeting materials viewed by The Post.

The proposals included a system that would use export controls to offer tech companies more legal freedom to refuse requests from foreign governments to take down content, according to a copy of the proposal viewed by The Post. A licensing system run by the Commerce Department would have aimed to give American firms legal cover to object to requests to take down content deemed legitimate under a “speech standard” devised by the Trump administration.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Extra bluesky panel with @masnick.com @jmiers230.bsky.social Matt Perault and @matt.bsky.team moderated by @jrhuddles.bsky.social. All about genAI and 230…

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Next up: Gary Shapiro, Billy Easley, Ashkhen Kazaryan, Ari Cohn, and David Inserra

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Hello DC! Currently at @cato.org Listening to @ericgoldman.bsky.social on Section 230, noting how difficult it is to be anonymous online these days.

Panel discussion in Cato’s fancy auditorium

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Heading to Europe for work and fun later this week. I know January isn't exactly peak season for the Benelux, but damn if this seat map doesn't say something about the current state of transatlantic relations...

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

The usual suspects will still find a way to benefit...

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Tim Wu literally doing "it's time for same game theory" on the other site 🫠

screenshot from X/twitter post by Tim Wu discussing game theory and the trump administration

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

I'm not used to seeing my byline in a tabloid, but nonetheless glad to see the Boston Herald publish our op-ed on State's stupid and counterproductive visa policy for trust and safety workers. lnkd.in/g5_U7QvR

clip of Boston Herald op-ed by Charlotte Willner and David Sullivan, "Visa misstep will help predators, scammers" available at https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/12/19/willner-and-sullivan-visa-misstep-will-help-predators-scammers/

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

All of the copyright experts are here in Boulder today, with @pamelasamuelson.bsky.social giving a treatise on disruptive tech, copyright, and genAI

Pamela Samuelson giving a keynote at Silicon Flatironz

Wide shot of Pamela Samuelson and a slide

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

This was a fun conversation, thanks @kevintfrazier.bsky.social for having me on the pod! There's a real chance for mutual gains when responsible AI and T&S folks work together to focus on safer products.

predator handshake meme: trust and safety + responsible AI = product safety

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Day 2 at #TrustCon underway, with Kenya Fairley from Bumble reflecting on parallels between T&S and the movement against gender based violence.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Very proud to have the Safe Framework (ISO/IEC 25388) on the #trustcon board of projects among so many other initiatives I greatly admire!

Slide from trustcon keynote with T&S projects, podcasts, journals, etc

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

I’m no aviation geek, but I am pretty excited to fly on this chonk plane today. #a380

Lufthansa Airbus a380 at a gate in Denver

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

The #Boulder Daily Camera needs to work on its headline writing. FFS.

Headline says Boulder hosts antisemitism summit, should have said a summit against antisemitism

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

we need this chart, but for the MAGA/broligarchy

a very confusing chart about the factions fighting in Syria from 2014. see https://archive.thinkprogress.org/why-the-middle-east-is-now-a-giant-warzone-in-one-terrifying-chart-b2b22768d952/

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

time for some belated #volcano posting from Sunday's visit to Kīlauea

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

If you, like me, got turned on to Spier and Mackay menswear by @dieworkwear.bsky.social, tariffs just got real!!!

screenshot showing a $761.60 tariff charge on a $448 sportcoat

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

So this is something I'm excited about that arrived in the mail this week...

Cover of Volume 2023, Issue 1 of the Colorado Technology Law Journal

First page of the article, A Portfolio Approach to Trusted Intermediaries for Online Content and Conduct

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Wow #Boulder #HandsOff protest spanned nearly 1.5 miles. Huge turnout!

Screenshot from maps showing the distance from the south Boulder Whole Foods to 27th Way, all filled with protesters today.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

There’s no widely agreed definition of human intelligence either, says Harry Surden opening the #SiliconFlatirons conference on AI and autonomous systems.

Harry Surden presenting at CU law school

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

some of the public comments so far are pretty good, which i attribute to @aricohn.com's entreaty for folks to weigh in. my favorite:

The idea of treating social media moderation as an "unfair" practice is, um, ridiculous? The right to free speech isn't the right for anyone to want to listen to you. If people start yelling expletives in a Wendys, we ask them to leave. If they stay, we call the cops. Quietly moderating/banning them is far more polite than that, and probably more polite than they deserve.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

The GNI Principles and Implementation Guidelines are meant for tech companies dealing with government demands that infringe on human rights. They might also be helpful for government employees dealing with repressive government demands! In particular: globalnetworkinitiative.org/implementati...

excerpt from the GNI implementation guidelines:

3.2 When required to restrict communications, or remove content, or to provide personal information to government authorities, participating companies will:

a. Require that governments follow established domestic legal processes when they are seeking to (1) restrict freedom of expression or (2) access personal information.

b. Request clear written communications from the government that explain the legal basis for government restrictions to freedom of expression and government demands for personal information, including the name of the requesting government entity and the name, title, and signature of the authorized official.

Application Guidance: Written demands are preferable, although it is recognized that there are certain circumstances, such as where the law permits verbal demands and in emergency situations, when communications will be oral rather than written.

c. Keep — where the law permits verbal demands and in emergency situations, when communications will be oral rather than written — records of these demands.

d. Interpret government restrictions and demands so as to minimize the negative effect on freedom of expression.

e. Narrowly interpret and implement government demands that compromise privacy.

f. Narrowly interpret the governmental authority’s jurisdiction so as to minimize the negative effect on freedom of expression.

g. Narrowly interpret the governmental authority’s jurisdiction to access personal information, such as limiting compliance to users within that country.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

you have to click on the share button and then it kicks in for me at least

screenshot of the share as a gift option in the washington post

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

This cursed statue is on here and followed me today!

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Post an Onion headline that lives in your head rent-free

Onion headline screen shot: John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Goes On Wild Endowment Binge

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Meanwhile in #Boulder, panda bandits! www.dailycamera.com/2024/11/19/b...

person dressed in a panda costume stealing tobacco products froma convenience store.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 21/10/2024

Many thanks to @emsetc.bsky.social for posting about Jason Isbell at the Ryman the other day such that we were able to grab tix and see him last night!

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the Ryman Auditorium

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

How free is our speech and what is the health of our speech? Francesca Procaccini kicks of panel on free speech in America with Nadine Strossen and David French at #FreeSpeechSummit2024

Nadine Strossen, David French, and Francesca Procaccini

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Salman Rushdie fireside chat with PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel. Key question: what is the practical effect of literary protest boycotts. What is gained versus what is lost. Can protest happen without boycotts?

Virtual fireside chat between Salman Rushdie on screen and Suzanne Nossel in person

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Global Free Speech Summit kicking off with Jacob Mchangama at Vanderbilt University

Jacob Mchangama at the Future of Free Speech Summit

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 27/09/2024

Shoutout to decentralized platforms by @randomwalker.bsky.social in his #trustandsafety research conference keynote, particularly bluesky feeds as a means of giving users control over recommendation algorithms.

Arvind Narayan speaking at the Stanford Trust and Safety Research Conference

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 23/09/2024

Tony Soprano: It's good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over. Me:

A virtual certificate with text "Celebrating 10M users on Bluesky, #37,967, David Sullivan ‪@davidsullivan.bsky.social‬, joined on Apr 25, 2023"

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 20/09/2024

Good news on freedom of expression litigation, India edition: Thanks to tireless efforts by @internetfreedom.bsky.social, a provision in India's amended IT rules that allowed the government to create its own "fact-check unit" to order content takedowns was ruled unconstitutional!

timeline of litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Fact-Check United under India's amended IT Act.

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 16/09/2024

Post a perfect album from when you were 21. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The millennium was a bit of a lost year in music...

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who is coming to save you? 😬

Jeff Goldblum as Zeus in the Neflix series Kaos

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