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Rebekah Tromble

@rebekahtromble.bsky.social
12K followers 2.8K following 719 posts

Dir. of Global Partnerships, Inst. for Information, the Internet & Democracy, NEU | Union of Concerned Scientists 2024 Defender of Science | Co-founder: researchersupport.org expertvoicestogether.org independenttechresearch.org

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Reposted by Rebekah Tromble
Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 24/09/2026
Look, we know for fucking sure that my dog is sapient and also unpredictable and it turns out of he mauls someone I’m liable and he can be put down.
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Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Next week I am teaching about this (people are not ideological) to freshman in my INTRODUCTION to American politics. It's literally the foundational finding of the entire field of public opinion research.
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 17/09/2026
notice how these people who were formerly all-in on the mythical power of ideological moderation have changed their tack and entire organizational orientation after discovering the wisdom of the ancients that most voters are not ideological at all. now it’s all about “heterodoxy.”
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Rebekah Tromble @rebekahtromble.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
These guys think they (re)invented modernity
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 14/09/2026
One thing not getting as much attention re: Dario's essay. In it, he talks about the need for third party evaluators to review models for safety. But a few days before the essay, Anthropic... refused to submit its latest models to the UK's evaluator: www.ft.com/content/560e...
ft.com
Anthropic withheld latest AI model from UK testing agency
Decision to exclude Aisi has prompted fears inside British government of protectionist shift among tech groups
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Thousands of immigrants did the hard, dirty work of clearing rubble and toxic dust and debris from Ground Zero. Many were undocumented laborers sent to work every day with no special PPE, and got cancer as a result. Now some of those same people are living in fear of ICE. www.npr.org/2026/09/11/n...
npr.org
They cleaned up ground zero. Now many are hiding from ICE
After 9/11, thousands of rescue and cleanup crews went to work at ground zero. They were exposed to toxic debris and experienced psychological trauma. Today, many say they live in fear of deportation.
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Rebekah Tromble @rebekahtromble.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Seen on the DC Metro Yellow Line, which stops at the Pentagon
A photo of Hegseth shirtless with text “me good at BENCH PRESS not so good at running war”
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Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is why most faculty cannot make sense of the 'woke' University trope. Our lived experiences bear little resemblance to it. This is far closer to the norm.
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Rebekah Tromble @rebekahtromble.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Read this whole thread. Scheufele’s the main villain. But he’s far from the only one. The number of people who have failed these women is appalling, if entirely unsurprising.
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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I think I can speak for the entire political communication section of APSA when I say “fuck you Dietram Scheufele. None of us will collaborate with you or cite your research ever again.”
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 13/06/2026
In front of the Lincoln Memorial. This.
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C.R. Denis @crdenis.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
The name went up in hours. Workers on scissor lifts, done overnight. Taking it down required scaffolding, took all day, and still missed the court deadline. That asymmetry is structural. Capture moves at the speed of power. Accountability moves at the speed of law. One is always faster.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Funny how after every SCOTUS ruling striking down some protection from government abuse, the officials those protections restrained — cops, prosecutors, Republican state electeds — immediately start acting in the precise manner SCOTUS assured us they no longer do.
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Jessica Schulberg @jessicaschulberg.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
VC Defensa volunteer Leo Martinez woke up at 3am on Wednesday to federal agents breaking down his door to search his home — the latest escalation in the federal government's campaign to harass and intimidate people who patrol immigration enforcement operations www.huffpost.com/entry/federa...
huffpost.com
Federal Agents Target Immigrant Rights Volunteers With 3 A.M. Home Raids
VC Defensa volunteers plan to file a civil lawsuit in federal court, accusing federal officials of harassing people who patrol immigration enforcement operations.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
New piece in Science: Sudden elimination of USAID grants triggered waves of violence in affected regions in Africa, undermining civic governance and fueling civic unrest. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Aiding peace or conflict? The impact of USAID cuts on violence
Less than a week after its inauguration, the second Trump administration issued a blanket stop-work order for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the largest national human...
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Katy Glenn Bass @katygb.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This fall @knightcolumbia.org will host a workshop on the role of the legal profession in resisting authoritarianism. Authors will present draft essays to be published as part of our "Lawyering Without Law" project. The participants are an incredible group: knightcolumbia.org/blog/knight-...
knightcolumbia.org
Knight Institute Lawyering Without Law Workshop and Essay Series to Feature Leading Scholars and Jurists
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Dozens of empty Waymos invaded an Atlanta neighborhood and circled a cul-de-sac for hours with no passengers www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...
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Kendra Albert @kendraserra.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Holy balls, this opinion: "As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors . . . will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the judiciary. DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case." (via @chrisgeidner.bsky.social) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
Memorandum and Order – #38 in In Re: Motion to Quash Administrative Subpoena to Rhode Island Hospital (D.R.I., 1:26-mc-00007) – CourtListener.com
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER : The Court's decision is based solely on its application of the law to the administrative subpoena at issue here. But the discrepancy between the honorable conduct expected of fe...
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Georgia's governor signs a comically transparent law. It makes local elections in 5 big blue counties nonpartisan, to give GOP candidates a chance to win without a party label in places like Atlanta. And it doesn't change anything in the rest of the state, for red counties to know who's GOP.
ajc.com
Brian Kemp signs law making many metro Atlanta races nonpartisan
The law applies to most local government races in Democratic-dominated areas. A court challenge is expected.
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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Spot on - "our concerns are not about whether one grant or another gets funded, but instead about the independence of science, and the dangers of politicized advice" Thanks to authors @nigelgoldenfeld.bsky.social, Richard Aslin and Lynn Nadel thebulletin.org/2026/05/nati...
thebulletin.org
National Science Board a victim of the Trump administration’s cancel culture
The proposed cuts to basic science threaten to cede our longstanding leadership to other countries, most notably China.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 12/05/2026
Wrote about how the conservative majority on the Supreme Court have basically stopped to even pretending that they're not tilting the playing field for the GOP (no matter what John Roberts is saying).
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
New from 404 Media: spoke to four people who attended a trade show where senior ICE officials spoke about how much Palantir is supercharging their arrests. List of 20 million people on ICE agents phones now; increased chance of successful arrest from 28 to 80% www.404media.co/ice-agents-h...
404media.co
ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir
The comments made by a senior ICE official at a trade show highlight how Palantir is increasing the speed at which ICE operates. Most people detained by ICE have no criminal conviction.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Finally, a major American newspaper whose editorial board is courageous enough to stand up for the rights of big tech companies.
The Washington Post Democracy Dies in Darkness
Opinion
Editorial Board
To help America, tech companies belatedly stand up to activist workers

Google picked staff over country in 2018. Not this time.
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
I'm reminded of the number of times in graduate school and during my early career where I heard supposedly rigorous scholars dismiss work on racism as too radical or unserious. “Things have changed” they assured me.
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Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
The anti-data center movement isn’t just about limiting local development—it represents a new front in the fight against tech-enabled authoritarianism. Where else can people push back on job-eating algorithms, distorting deep fakes, and autonomous drone strikes? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The fight against AI data centers isn’t just about tech – it’s about democracy | Astra Taylor and Saul Levin
Claims of nimbyism are a misunderstanding: the movement is about whether regular people have a say in fundamental decisions
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Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 30/04/2026
We often think of authoritarianism as lawless. But it can operate through law itself. What does it mean for democracy when that happens? ⬇️ DROPS TOMORROW: Lawyering Without Law, a new biweekly podcast from the Knight First Amendment Institute. Available on all platforms.
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steven monacelli @stevanzetti.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
The party of local control has decided that "local" means wherever they have control www.texastribune.org/2026/05/08/a...
texastribune.org
Greg Abbott threatens grants to exert control over Texas cities
The governor’s threats have produced quick wins on hot-button issues important to the GOP base – immigration and perceived threats posed by Islam.
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Josh @joshmallow.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
By far the most corrupt president in history and the media has decided it isn't a story.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 06/05/2026
I figured I'd write a short something wondering why Sam Alito said we couldn't force Texas to change its unconstitutionally gerrymandered maps in December because people there need "certainty" but he's happy to help Louisiana change its maps now, even as ballots have already sent...
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Dan "Mr. Bones and Me" Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
This is also why every client refuses to comment on the record about the receipts brought by the reporter: the whole point is to make it seem like someone out there is organically discovering a film or podcast and sharing their favorite bit but obviously that is not what's really happening.
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Dan "Mr. Bones and Me" Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
This is such good reporting from Mia. Clipping is a hallmark of what I'm starting to think of as the anti-social web: the sheer volume crowds out content from people you know (fulfilling demand from the platforms) and the clips themselves are more a product of The Algorithm than the clipped text.
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
It’s kind of a metaphor for American democracy in the 2020s. After Jan 6 2021, the coup appeared dead and even GOP elites were looking to oust the authoritarian wing. A few years later the same wing controls all of government and intimidated much of civil society into submission
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
French prosecutors seek charges against Elon Musk and X over child sexual abuse images
apnews.com
French prosecutors seek charges against Elon Musk and X over child sexual abuse images
French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and X for child sexual images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by Grok.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 07/05/2026
I really wonder what the fallout is going to be because the sanitized version of history they’ve sold for a long time is “Jim Crow was a shameful moment in history but we defeated it and came out the other side a better country” and now it’s just… back it’s the end of a myth in the starkest terms
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 07/05/2026
Utah's plan to effectively outlaw VPNs is incoherent.
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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
When democracy is restored, all the people engaged in this sort of corrupt war profiteering need to be put in jail: www.marketwatch.com/story/trader...
marketwatch.com
Traders point to suspicious activity in the oil market on Wednesday
Oil contracts worth $1.7 billion changed hands in the hour before an Axios report sent oil prices lower Wednesday. Some experts are calling the spike in activity suspicious.
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Unearthed reports reveal that RFK Jr. fired every full-time CDC cruise ship sanitation inspector ahead of the Hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...
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Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
This is a feature, not a bug.
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Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
/3 This noisome pretense was pushed by the mouthpieces of the Right like the Federalist Society and eventually enough minions formed a majority on SCOTUS to enact it. So: to avoid the racism of noticing racism, you can now disenfranchise Black Americans.
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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
One year later - my reflections on what's happened to US science since the National Science Foundation grant terminations last year. The problem of misinformation isn't going away, but our ability to study and understand it is under attack. 1/ 🧪 www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
tennessean.com
I researched misinformation, until the government stopped me | Opinion
A researcher's NSF grant termination reveals a broader attack on science funding and misinformation research, despite rising AI-generated falsehoods.
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
And, to be clear, this isn’t an anti-AI post. It’s an expression of frustration with a corner of the academy that seems to think the answer is always more, more, more. Ideas worth engaging take time. And I’m not convinced I want quick, efficiently produced ideas. In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t.
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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
FWIW, I don’t think the major problem in my field, or related ones, is that people need to move faster & produce more. I read a lot of papers as part of the job, and I’m increasingly convinced we’d benefit from fewer papers and better ones, not more mediocre work produced ever more “efficiently.”
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The Supreme Court is basically copying the script that gave us Jim Crow and the New York Times and the Atlantic are running stories about “DEI” going too far and Kendi’s alleged over-reach. It’s almost like they are providing cover or agree.
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
It’s striking that the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais is in some ways worse than even the "pessimistic" predictions of folks writing about race. Yet, not a single reactionary centrist has admitted that the alleged excesses of "wokeness" weren't excessive. They were realistic.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 06/05/2026
horrible. this country’s turn away from science based medicine in the name of “wellness” is killing children and will kill a lot more. www.propublica.org/article/more...
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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Tara C. Smith @aetiology.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Awesome, I'm sure these will stay only among 21+ and not be used by kids at all. MAHA!
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Mark Zuckerberg built a massive data center in Georgia just hundreds of yards from people’s homes. Now the water pressure is gone. Sinks don’t run. Toilets won’t refill. Homes shake nonstop. Power outages are routine.
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Eoin Higgins @eoinhiggins.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
CASE DISMISSED
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Our scientific agencies are being run by people who oppose science
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