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Justin Braun

@jusbraun.bsky.social
317 followers 1.1K following 16 posts

Political Science PhD student at Stanford and data reporter at Lighthouse Reports | Dried mango connoisseur

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Reposted by Justin Braun
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
DISASTROUS. This means they will send people to horrific situations with no due process — in direct violation of promises the Solicitor General made to the Court in previous cases. This greenlights sending people to be enslaved in Libya or tortured in any random foreign country.
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 16/06/2025
You’ve seen the “don’t share this code with anyone” SMS messages when you log in to your most sensitive online accounts: banking, messaging, #Google , #Meta, #Amazon. But who else might have seen them before you?
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MIT Technology Review @technologyreview.com · 11/06/2025
We got unprecedented access to the AI model that Amsterdam developed to try to fairly detect welfare fraud. The result is one of the first in-depth looks at a system using responsible AI guidelines—and what happens when those big promises meet messy reality.
technologyreview.com
Inside Amsterdam’s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI
The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 11/06/2025
Most reporting on AI examines worst-case systems deployed under the guise of efficiency. But what would a good faith effort at Ethical AI look like? For two years, we’ve been looking over the shoulder of a city trying to do things differently.
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Christian Nicolai Bjørke @cbjoerke.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
So happy that our project «Inequality for the law» is on the shortlist. 🏆 Lucky to have been collaborating with the talented people at @lighthousereports.com. @elenadebre.bsky.social @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social @jusbraun.bsky.social
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 02/05/2025
🎙️ New episode of #Backlight is out! Want to dig deeper into financial investigations, but not sure where to start? In our latest episode, @margotgibbs.bsky.social and @giacomoza.bsky.social share how reporters can use financial clues to crack open investigations.
lighthousereports.com
Become a moneytrails expert
Find out what it takes to lead financial investigations with tips from Lighthouse reporters.
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Leon Yin @leonyin.org · 01/05/2025
NEW: @bloomberg.com analysis of +13 years of ICE detentions shows immigrants transferred to the South and SW from interior US at unprecedented rates. Reducing the odds of winning their cases. w/ @elenamejia.bsky.social @racheladhe.bsky.social @pollymosendz.bsky.social bloom.bg/43am95w
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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 17/04/2025
It shouldn't matter if Trump’s victims have criminal records. If we only defend the “innocent,” the fascists will argue that their victim “was no angel.” An anti-fascist rhetoric that carves out exceptions for imperfect victims is a gift to our opponents. New from me for @us.theguardian.com:
theguardian.com
What is a ‘criminal’ immigrant? The word is an American rhetorical trap | Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Labels like ‘gang members’ and ‘terrorist supporters’ are an easy way to make humans disposable
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Good job, Stanford admin. More of this. “America’s univs are a source of great national strength, creating knowledge and driving innovation and economic growth,” they also wrote. “This strength has been built on government investment but not government control.“ stanforddaily.com/2025/04/15/l...
stanforddaily.com
Stanford president and provost back Harvard in funding fight
The president and provost said Harvard’s rejection of government demands was “rooted in the American tradition of liberty.”
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 26/03/2025
Europe frames migration as a crisis—but this masks the reality of its aging population and skills shortages. Over 18 months, with 20+ journalists, across 7 countries we answered: What’s the true cost of shutting migrants out of jobs? Hear from the reporters:
lighthousereports.com
The cost of Europe’s structural racism
Europe frames migration as a crisis—but this masks the reality of its aging population and skills shortages.
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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Many people rightly point to the core role that mainstream right parties play for defending liberal democracy against the far-right threat. However, solely focusing on the centre-right ignores the errors that leftwing parties have committed that have empowered the far right. A few thoughts …
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
I just sent our university president and provost an urgent request to defend First Amendment freedoms at Stanford, given this administration’s willingness to punish those who disagree with it. I urge you to do the same with your university leaders.
Dear President Levin and Provost Martinez:
 
In light of the recent arrest of a former student at Columbia University and the ongoing threats to fundamental freedoms posed by the current administration, I urge you both to clearly and publicly denounce these dangerous attacks on First Amendment rights. Silence or neutrality in this critical moment risks complicity. Students and faculty urgently need reassurance that Stanford will vigorously protect our community members against threats of arrest, censorship, or sanctions for engaging in constitutionally protected expression.
 
You have consistently emphasized the importance of free speech and academic freedom as foundational to our institution. Now is the time to unequivocally reaffirm those commitments. Our community must know that Stanford stands firmly behind them, ready to use every resource available to safeguard their right to express themselves freely, without fear of intimidation.
 
I urge you to act swiftly and decisively to demonstrate our unwavering dedication to protecting constitutional rights, especially as threats against these freedoms escalate.
 
I have cc’d the Stanford Daily on this correspondence because I believe our entire community should be engaged in encouraging decisive action from our administration at this crucial moment.
 
Sincerely,
 
Hakeem Jefferson
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Faculty Director of the Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Here’s the reality: This government—despite what they’d have us believe—cannot simply do whatever it wants. The moment we accept that bullshit, we become complicit in this blatantly authoritarian move by the president and his administration. With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Bellingcat's new US division is looking for an executive director to make Bellingcat US the best Bellingcat it can be. Details of the role and compensation can be found here: www.on-ramps.com/jobs/3408
on-ramps.com
Bellingcat US | Executive Director
On-Ramps is a full-service executive search firm that exclusively serves the social sector, working with innovative, mission-driven organizations across diverse issue areas.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
I’ll keep pushing this line of analysis because I’m increasingly convinced the clearest path out of this mess is for Dems to adopt a relentless anti-corruption, anti-inequality, anti-oligarchy, pro-democracy platform. The Dem leadership hasn’t realized it yet, but they’re now a reform party.
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Hamed Aleaziz @haleaziz.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 17/02/2025
New episode of #Backlight is out! This month, we are talking about how journalists can incorporate AI reporting into their beat and hold companies and governments to account.
lighthousereports.com
Don’t leave AI reporting to the experts
You don’t have to be a tech reporter to cover AI
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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
If you’re a reporter looking to take on AI accountability investigations, consider giving this a listen!
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The IRS was a simple test for DOGE: was it really interested in efficiency and state capacity? If so, you support the tax enforcement, the biggest ROI in govt. Or did it want to minimize parts of the state that bothered billionaires? We have our answer. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
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Elias Koch @eliaskoch.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
New paper with @ankuepfer.bsky.social accepted at EJPR🎉 When do MPs debate each other & when do they avoid discourse? Applying a new framework to study the emergence of elite discourse, we find that ideology and gov/opp dynamics shape MPs incentives to seek & avoid dialogical interactions. #polisky
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Jonas Schaible @beimwort.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Ich musste an diese Kontroverse um Laschet denken und wie ähnlich die Struktur der Position der CDU heute ähnelt: Die CDU würde nie mit der extremen Rechten zusammenarbeiten, sonst würde sie die ja normalisieren. Das hat sie ausgeschlossen. Also kann, was passiert ist, keine Zusammenarbeit sein.
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Johannes Hillje @jhillje.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Wow! Demo für Demokratie in München: „Die Polizei spricht von 200 000 Menschen, die Veranstalter sogar von 320 000 Teilnehmern.“
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
The list is mostly black people. This is KKK shit folks. Out in the open.
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Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
NEW: A 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk now has direct access (admin privileges) to a Treasury Department system that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more. W/ @telliotter.bsky.social, @leahfeiger.bsky.social, @timmarchman.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
wired.com
A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It’s also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls So...
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Elena DeBre @elenadebre.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Norway’s criminal justice system has often received high praise for its equity and fairness; it has rarely been under scrutiny in data-driven criminal justice journalism.
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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
In 2022, Frank went to prison. A richer man convicted of the same crime went free.
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 01/02/2025
In 2022, two men were convicted for driving under the influence. Frank in a cheap, old car, unemployed with debt. Jakob in a new, expensive Audi, worth millions. Their cases were nearly identical, but their sentences could not have been further apart.
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Justin Braun @jusbraun.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
The crimes you’re convicted of should determine your punishment, not who you are. But even in Norway – one of the “fairest” criminal justice systems – @lhreports.bsky.social & NRK reveal that there are disparities in sentence length by income and gender www.lighthousereports.com/methodology/...
lighthousereports.com
How we investigated sentencing bias in Norway’s criminal justice system
Norway’s criminal justice system is regularly hailed as a model — but is it truly impartial?
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Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...
blog.archive.org
End of Term Web Archive – Preserving the Transition of a Nation | Internet Archive Blogs
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
It is simply not enough for universities to say, “Our grants & research offices are looking into how research will be affected by the latest directive.” University leaders must actively and very publicly make the case for the kind of work many of us do. The silence on this front is deafening.
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Marina Weisband @afelia.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Wenn eine schwarz-blaue Regierung beschließt, dass mein Antifaschismus gegen die FDGO verstößt, verliere ich meine Staatsbürgerschaft. Normal, oder?
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404 Media @404media.co · 29/01/2025
OpenAI furious DeepSeek might have stolen all the data OpenAI stole from us 🔗 www.404media.co/openai-furio...
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 29/01/2025
OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor www.ft.com/content/a0dfedd1-5255-4f…
ft.com
OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor
White House AI tsar David Sacks raises possibility of alleged intellectual property theft
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Mathieu von Rohr @mathieuvonrohr.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
This keeps getting better #DeepSeek
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
I see the mask is off completely now
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 17/12/2024
Skilled migrants contribute more to public finances than working Britons, report finds www.ft.com/content/a9665565-eebd-47…
ft.com
Skilled migrants contribute more to public finances than working Britons, report finds
Migration Advisory Committee figures highlight trade-offs of tighter UK immigration policy
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Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Over a year, we collected & analyzed data on drowning deaths along Texas' stretch of the US/Mexico border on the Rio Grande Yesterday our collaborative investigation went out on the front covers of @washingtonpost.com + @eluniversalmx.bsky.social @lhreports.bsky.social
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Lighthouse Reports @lighthousereports.com · 08/12/2024
Texas has become the blueprint for the militarization of the US-Mexico border. This politically-driven show of force has sent the Rio Grande death toll soaring. We reveal for first time the true human cost of this
lighthousereports.com
Drownings and Deterrence in the Rio Grande
More women and children are drowning trying to reach the US as Texas and Mexico militarize the border. Record requests reveal the soaring death toll in the Rio Grande amid official undercounts.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
If we want better fashion culture in the US, we have to lower the cost of housing and commercial real estate, support independent craftspeople, build denser neighborhoods, improve walkability, and get rid of overly restrictive zoning laws. Let kook culture thrive.
A narrow walkway in Tokyo. The sides of the street are lined with shops and what look to be residences.
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Christina Schmidt @rprtrn.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Neue Recherche: Im Januar fanden Streifenpolizisten in der Wohnung des Geflüchteten Mahdi Ben Nasr eine riesige Blutlache, die Fensterscheibe zerbrochen, er selbst weg. "Vermisstenfall", notierten sie. Was sie übersahen: inmitten des Bluts lag ein Projektil. Es stammte aus einer NS-Pistole. Thread/
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
As we gawk at the $250M Musk spent elect Trump, take a guess how long it took him to “earn” it back in the market? It took just 15 minutes. I'm not kidding... 15 minutes. According to Bloomberg, his net worth soared by $8B just today. That’s billionaire math for you—and it’s all of our problem.
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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
One of the joys of “peer-reviewed” journalism is getting to interact with the academic community in more substantive ways than “I just need a quote.” Eike was incredibly helpful and perspective on ML fairness refreshing — do recommend all interested to read his work.
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Justin Braun @jusbraun.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Amazing work by @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social on the latest @lhreports.bsky.social suspicion machines investigation. This is a crazy tale of AI ethics washing: The welfare agency had been told that it's tool was crappy. It responded by making up a ludicrous fairness definition.
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Gabriel Geiger @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I do a lot of FOIA and I’m used to stonewalling. But Sweden surprised me. After 3 years of telling me no, a high level official at Sweden’s welfare agency Försäkringskassan accidentally left me on cc, writing “Now we must hope that we are done with him.”
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Armin Wolf @arminwolf.at · 22/11/2024
Männer sind einfach zu emotional für die Politik.
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