I had a remarkable conversation this week with a woman named Katya Savchenko, a survivor of the murderous Russian rampage in Bucha who is originally from the Donbas region of Ukraine and has been twice displaced by Russian invasions—first in…
Category: Lawfare
Meta’s Oversight Board Often Turns in Its Homework Late. Does it Matter?
A sign outside of Meta headquarters in California. (SocialHermit, https://flic.kr/p/2nqrfQP; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) On June 17, the Meta Oversight Board released its 25th decision. This decision, in the Knin Cartoon case, overturned Meta’s original decision to leave up an…
The D.C. Circuit Upholds Subpoena for Trump Financial Records
Donald Trump in 2020. Official photo by the Trump White House Archive. On July 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held in Trump v. Mazars that the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform is entitled…
The First Cyber Safety Review Board Report is Out
Last year, President Biden created the Cyber Safety Review Board, with the intention that (akin to the National Transportation Safety Board) the new organization would review cyber incidents, examine root causes and, where necessary, make recommendations. This is fundamentally a…
The Chatter Podcast: Mass Shootings in America with Josh Campbell
Mass shootings are now such a frequent occurrence in the United States that reporters like CNN’s Josh Campbell sometimes have to travel from one tragic location directly to a second one as news of another event breaks. Josh’s experience as…
Senators Ask FTC to Investigate TikTok for Deceptive Conduct Regarding Chinese Access to U.S. User Data
TikTok on an iPhone. (Solen Feyissa, https://flic.kr/p/2jsaQgK; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) TikTok has come under renewed congressional scrutiny for allegedly deceptive data privacy practices. Despite TikTok’s repeated promises to safeguard U.S. user data from access by its Chinese parent company,…
Cyber Operations and Maschmeyer’s “Subversion Trilemma”
Tech. Sgt. Kyle Hanslovan works in the Hunter's Den at Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Md., Dec. 2, 2017. (Airman Magazine, https://flic.kr/p/244P6Ly; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) Will cyber operations be a major factor in international relations, or a…
Carpenter Should Replace Katz in Fourth Amendment Law
People using cell phones (PxHere, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/595792; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/, CC0 1.0) For more than 50 years, legal scholars, judges, attorneys, and law students have centered their analyses of the Fourth Amendment on the famous Katz test. It determines in most cases what…
Infiltrate, Exploit, Manipulate: Why the Subversive Nature of Cyber Conflict Explains Both Its Strategic Promise and Its Limitations
Cyber warfare operators of Maryland's Air National Guard. (Airman Magazine), https://flic.kr/p/244P71b; CC BY NC 2.0,https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/e Information technology has revolutionized modern life, driving vast increases in economic productivity and enabling entirely new social interactions. Naturally, this technology was expected to transform…
The International Law Sovereignty Debate and Development of International Norms on Peacetime Cyber Operations
2013 WSIS forum on cybersecurity (ITU Pictures, https://flic.kr/p/ejoLUX; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, CC BY 2.0) The United Kingdom’s position on sovereignty has limited progress in working toward state consensus on prohibited behaviors in cyberspace. By electing to treat sovereignty as a principle rather…
Donald Trump’s Impeachment Lies to Congress
Then-president Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Goodyear, Arizona (Gage Skidmore, https://tinyurl.com/yckj7ktt; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en, CC BY-SA 2.0) In the wake of Cassidy Hutchinson’s extraordinary testimony before the Jan. 6 Select Committee, a number…
Supreme Court Embraces Broad Congressional War Powers in Torres
Supreme Court of the United States building (APK, https://tinyurl.com/2kameds4; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en, CC BY-SA 4.0) On June 29, the Supreme Court provided its clearest exposition of congressional war powers in decades in Torres v. Texas Dep’t of Public Safety. The Court held…
Getting Transparency Right
A person using a cellphone. (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/923362; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/, CC0 1.0) Transparency is essential to getting every other part of platform regulation right. But defining sound transparency rules—identifying what information is needed most from platforms like Twitter or YouTube, and how to…
Iraq in the Era of the Abraham Accords
President Biden meets with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi of Iraq at the White House on July 26, 2021. Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz via Flickr. Editor’s Note: When President Biden visits the Middle East from July…
Eighth Circuit Upholds Arkansas Anti-BDS Law
Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, main office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Paul Sableman, https://flic.kr/p/djHtPL; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, CC BY 2.0) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled on June 22…
Oh Canada: A Canadian Risk Assessment of the United States
Montana / Canada U.S. Border boundary crossing north of Eureka on Highway 93 (Spend A Day Touring, LLC, https://flic.kr/p/6wv9S3; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, CC BY-SA 2.0) Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2022 by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Recently,…
Spy Thriller Fiction vs. Fact with Brad Thor
Brad Thor is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who has more than twenty thrillers behind him and shows no signs of slowing down. Rising Tiger, just published on July 5, 2022, yet again places his franchise hero–former world-class skier, Navy SEAL, Secret Service…
The Chatter Podcast: Spy Thriller Fiction vs. Fact with Brad Thor
Brad Thor is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who has more than twenty thrillers behind him and shows no signs of slowing down. Rising Tiger, just published on July 5, 2022, yet again places his franchise hero–former world-class skier, Navy SEAL, Secret Service…
It’s the National Security, Stupid
Finnish border in Raattentie (dr.eros, https://tinyurl.com/mrxmkndu; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en, CC BY 3.0) Finland has been edging closer to NATO membership this spring. But the historic U-turn in the Nordic country’s hitherto militarily nonaligned security policy has raised concerns about possible retaliation from…
On Guns, Insurrections, and Magnetometers: A Sidelight From Cassidy Hutchinson’s Testimony
Handgun (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1189094; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/, CC0 1.0) The most shocking testimony that Cassidy Hutchinson gave last week before the House select committee on the Jan. 6 attack—indeed, the most shocking that any witness has given at any of the six hearings to…
Why the Jan. 6 Committee Is Talking About Justice Department Independence
U.S. Department of Justice Building (Gregory Varnum, https://tinyurl.com/y6epduzn; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en, CC BY-SA 3.0) Again and again in recent years, current and former Justice Department officials—along with academics, journalists, and other commentators—have struggled to explain to the public the importance of Justice…
Taking the Elf Off the Shelf: Why the U.S. Should Consider a Civilian Cyber Defense
Woman working on computer (Mohamed Hassan, https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=265912&picture=computer-work-computer-screen; CC0 Public Domain, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) It was the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, and from the back seat of a Cessna, Lt. Col. Andrew Feldman was taking photos with his 35-mm Nikon fitted with…
How States and Congress Can Prepare for a Looming Threat to Freedom of Speech
U.S. Supreme Court building (Kjetil Ree, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court.JPG; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en, CC BY-SA 3.0) After months of deliberation, last week the Supreme Court declined the most recent chance to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 case that […]Content was cut…
Last Call at the “Star Wars Bar”: Harmonizing Incident and Breach Reporting Requirements
Computer keyboard (https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1537211; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/, CC0 1.0) In an interview last month, Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), acknowledged the challenges that the U.S. government’s complex patchwork of cyber incident reporting requirements imposes on industry. “It’s…
Why Is It So Difficult to Get Off a Terrorist List?
Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, speaks in a recorded interview released in Jan. 2019. Photo credit: Screenshot by Cole Bunzel via Twitter. Editor’s Note: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a strange beast: It has disavowed al-Qaeda, but…
Cassidy Hutchinson’s Testimony Changed Our Minds About Indicting Donald Trump
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Las Vegas in 2016 (Gage Skidmore, https://flic.kr/p/Equ8HC; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, CC BY-SA 2.0) Until Tuesday, we had both publicly stated that the Department of Justice had insufficient evidence to indict former President…
Cassidy Hutchinson’s Testimony Changed Our Minds about Indicting Donald Trump
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Las Vegas in 2016 (Gage Skidmore, https://flic.kr/p/Equ8HC; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, CC BY-SA 2.0) Until Tuesday, we had both publicly stated that the Department of Justice had insufficient evidence to indict former President…
The Chatter Podcast: Secret Service Dilemmas and Training with Jon Wackrow
Working for the Secret Service comes with inherent dilemmas. One of them can arise if agents become partisan actors or allow themselves to even be perceived as such. We heard another one described in shocking terms during this week’s testimony…
It’s Time to Designate Wagner Group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Russian soldiers (Vitaly V. Kuzmin, https://tinyurl.com/3w2wy7bn; CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en) International sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have overlooked a key component in the Kremlin’s toolbox for international terror and coercion: the private military company (PMC) Wagner…
Water Wars: ‘We’ve Seen This Movie Before’: U.S. Suspicious of Beijing’s Motives in Solomon Islands
Arleigh Burke-Class guided missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) launches an SM-6 missile as part of the coordinated multi-domain, multi-axis, long-range maritime strikes against EX-USS Vandegrift during Valiant Shield 2022. Source: U.S. Navy 7th Fleet U.S. Focus on the Indo-Pacific…
A Cyber Persistence Way to Norms
Cybersecurity (rupixen, https://pixabay.com/images/id-4508911/; Pixabay free for commercial use) Cyberspace is a strategic competitive environment where continuous activity short of use of force has cumulatively threatened international peace and stability. States have sought to both manage and regulate this threatening behavior…
ICE Enacts New Policy Protecting Media From Legal Demands
Reporter's notebook (Roger H. Goun, https://tinyurl.com/342zu456; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently released a new policy addressing the use of “compulsory investigative tools” like subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to obtain information from or…
ICE enacts new policy protecting media from legal demands
Reporter's notebook (Roger H. Goun, https://tinyurl.com/342zu456; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently released a new policy addressing the use of “compulsory investigative tools” like subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to obtain information from or about…
Toward Digital Solidarity
Global technological cooperation (United States Agency for International Development, https://www.usaid.gov/innovation-technology-research) The coronavirus crisis laid bare governments’ dependence on actors beyond their control for vaccines, medical equipment, microchips, and other essential goods. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated these concerns due to…
Defending Liberalism From the Right and Left
Student protestor throws a tear gas canister (C64-92, https://flic.kr/p/deGpND; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) A review of Francis Fukuyama, “Liberalism and Its Discontents” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022). *** American liberal democracy is in serious disarray. Nothing better both symbolizes and…
Federal Judge Orders Biden Administration to Continue Title 42
U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego (Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño, https://flic.kr/p/8T4uzM; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) On May 20, a federal judge paused President Biden’s plans to resume permitting migrants and asylum-seekers to enter the United States by ending a Trump-era rule known…
The Strategic Relevance of Cybersecurity Skills
A Macbook computer (Quentin Meulepas/https://flic.kr/p/6idQDx/CC BY 2.0/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Evidence suggests there is a global cybersecurity skills shortage affecting businesses and governments alike, which means that organizations are struggling to fill their cybersecurity vacancies. For example, the United Kingdom would need to…
Russia’s ‘Demonstration Army’ Is a Red Flag for U.S. Security Force Assistance
Russian forces participate in the Caucasus 2020 military "exercise" while observed by President Vladimir Putin in southwest Russia in Sept. 2020. Photo credit: kremlin.ru; CC BY 4.0. Editor’s Note: Russia’s poor military performance in Ukraine came as a surprise to…
Russia’s “Demonstration Army” Is a Red Flag for U.S. Security Force Assistance
Russian forces participate in the Caucasus 2020 military "exercise" while observed by President Vladimir Putin in southwest Russia in Sept. 2020. Photo credit: kremlin.ru; CC BY 4.0. Editor’s Note: Russia’s poor military performance in Ukraine came as a surprise to…
A First Circuit Decision and the Future of Telephone Pole Camera Surveillance
Surveillance camera (FrankMagdelyns, https://pixabay.com/images/id-5006481/; Pixabay, free for commercial use) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents suspected that Nia Moore-Bush was involved in illegal drug and firearm sales. So, without obtaining a warrant, they mounted a sophisticated camera…
Intern with Lawfare!
The Lawfare Institute—publisher of information and insight at the intersection of national security, law, and policy—is now accepting fall 2022 internship applications. The selected candidate will have the option of working remotely or in a hybrid model based in Washington,…
First Nixon, Then Trump: The Serious Problem of the President-as-Candidate
Former President Donald Trump at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (Gage Skidmore, https://flic.kr/p/SfGqf1; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, CC BY-SA 2.0) The Jan. 6 committee has concluded, with good evidence in hand, that, after Election Day in 2020, the Trump-Pence campaign began soliciting…
Livestream: Jan. 6 Select Committee Hearing Day Five
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold the fifth day of its series of hearings on June 23 at 3 p.m. ET. The committee says it will reveal new evidence detailing former…
The Chatter Podcast: Misremembering Watergate and Jan. 6 with Tim Naftali
This week, Shane Harris talked with historian Tim Naftali about the legacy of Watergate and how we tell stories, fifty years later, about America’s most notorious presidential scandal. What is it about Watergate that still captures our attention? What do…
The EU’s Proposal on CSAM Is a Dangerous Misfire
European Union technology security (torstensimon, https://pixabay.com/images/id-5840348/; Pixabay, free for commercial use) In his recent post, Robert Gorwa lays out how the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, an odd part of the European Commission, came to put forward a proposal…
Bolt-On vs Baked-In Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity locks (methodshop, https://pixabay.com/images/id-4993196/; Pixabay, Free for commercial use) A few weeks ago, the annual RSA Conference met in San Francisco. The conference is among the world’s largest cybersecurity events, and it thus provides a useful opportunity to reflect on…
Allies: How Did the U.S. Leave So Many of Its Local Allies in Afghanistan?
This week, Lawfare and Goat Rodeo released the final episode of Allies, a narrative podcast series that traces the U.S.’s efforts to protect Afghan interpreters, translators, and other partners through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. The history of the…
The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Goes to Court
International Court of Justice interior (UN Photo/Andrea Brizzi, https://flic.kr/p/9YBgdU; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) In October 2021, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, heard from both Armenia and Azerbaijan in cases each brought against…
Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (Mike Mackenzie, https://flic.kr/p/27pq9bw; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, CC BY 2.0) A review of James E. Baker, “The Centaur’s Dilemma: National Security Law for the Coming AI Revolution” (Brookings Institution, 2020). *** Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several…
Overturning Roe: What Might This Mean for Military Culture?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Lt. Col. Paula Neemann discusses contraceptive options at a clinic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on May 6, 2021. Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Benjamin Aronson via DVIDS/Public…
Launching Missiles Is Easy, Drug Control Is Hard
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Then-Vice President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2012. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/61972246@N08/6811273500) In April 2022, the Biden Administration released its long-awaited blueprint to tackle the worsening U.S. drug crisis. The 2022 National…
The Jan. 6th Committee on Why Oaths Matter
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Donald Trump is sworn into office on January 20, 2017. (The White House.) Rep. Bennie Thompson opened his committee’s hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection by discussing not just the recent memory of…
Guide to Day Three of the Select Committee Hearings
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Today, the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack set out to tell the story of then-President Trump’s attempts to pressure Vice President Pence into a legally dubious scheme to overturn the…
Livestream: Jan. 6 Select Committee Hearing Day Three
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold the third of its series of hearings on June 16 at 1 p.m. ET. The hearing is expected to…
The Chatter Podcast: Freemasonry and Conspiracism with John Dickie
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Freemasonry for centuries has been more influential than any other known secret society. Among its prominent members have been five kings of England, fourteen US presidents (including George Washington), and a veritable Who’s…
Policing and the Siege of the United States Capitol
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Jan. 6 Capitol attack (Tyler Merbler, https://tinyurl.com/ydk8du48; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en) The House Jan. 6 committee hearings remind us that well over 100 police were injured on Jan. 6, 2021, during the riot…
Jan. 6 Select Committee Hearing Day Three
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold the third of its series of hearings on June 16 at 1 p.m. ET. The hearing is expected to…
Evaluating the Jan. 6 Committee’s Evidence
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Supporters of President Trump record him speaking at the Stop the Steal Rally on January 6, 2021. (Voice of America) The Jan. 6 select committee has now held the first two of its…
European Security Officials Double Down on Automated Moderation and Client-Side Scanning
This article has been indexed from Lawfare European Union online security (Mohammed Hassan, https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1450661; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) It has been a particularly busy month for tech policy in Brussels. While many platform regulation and content moderation observers have been keenly…
JFK’s Argument Against Imperialism
This article has been indexed from Lawfare John F. Kennedy (U.S. Embassy New Delhi, https://flic.kr/p/9d25a7; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) A review of Gregory D. Cleva, “John F. Kennedy’s 1957 Algeria Speech: The Politics of Anticolonialism in the Cold War Era”…
Is Russia Exploiting a Gap in the Montreux Convention?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare MV Norilsk cargo ship (Gerolf Drebes, https://tinyurl.com/56jck7ap; CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) With the war in Ukraine in its fourth month, reports of slow and languishing Russian supply lines populate Western news feeds almost…
Livestream: Jan. 6 Select Committee Hearing Day Two
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold the second of it’s series of hearings on June 13. The committee will hear testimony from two panels. The…
The Impotence of the Fourth Amendment in a Post-Roe World
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Abortion rights protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Adam Fagen, https://flic.kr/p/Ksjt3G; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/) Editor’s Note: Abortion rights and the law surrounding reproductive freedoms are beyond the scope of Lawfare’s remit. The…
The United Nations’ List of ‘Not Listed’ Terrorist Entities
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The U.N. Security Council votes to form the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee in New York on Sept. 28, 2001. Photo credit: United Nations via YouTube. Editor’s Note: The U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring…
The United Nations’ List of “Not Listed” Terrorist Entities
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The U.N. Security Council votes to form the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee in New York on Sept. 28, 2001. Photo credit: United Nations via YouTube. Editor’s Note: The U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring…
New Evidence on the Role of Subnational Diplomacy in China’s Pursuit of U.S. Technology
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Chinese flag (radiowood, https://flic.kr/p/7asMfM; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) In a recent interview, FBI Director Christopher Wray explained that the People’s Republic of China has stolen more U.S. corporate data than all other nations…
The Eleventh Circuit’s Acceptance of a Consumer Protection Approach to Social Media Regulation
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Social media megaphone (Krustovin August, https://pixabay.com/images/id-6096857/; Pixabay license free for commercial use) The Florida and Texas social media laws passed in 2021 were widely seen by both their proponents and their detractors as…
Livestream: Jan. 6 Select Committee Hearing Day One
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold its first hearing on June 9. The committee will hear testimony from U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards and documentarian Nick…
The Bipartisan, Bicameral Privacy Proposal Is a Big Deal
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Technology privacy and security (Stephan Marquardt, https://pixabay.com/images/id-3625925/; Pixabay license free for commercial use) On June 3, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce posted a press release, legislative language, and a section-by-section analysis
Medical Device Security Offers Proving Ground for Cybersecurity Action
This article has been indexed from Lawfare United States House of Representatives (Source: Wikimedia/Office of Speaker Paul Ryan) Legislation approved on June 8 by the U.S. House of Representatives to address the cybersecurity of medical devices may offer a good…
The Chatter Podcast: Private Sector Intelligence with Lewis Sage-Passant
This article has been indexed from Lawfare When the term “intelligence” comes up regarding an organization, most of us immediately think of government institutions. And there’s a good reason for that; nation-states have become the centers of the most prominent…
What Do Transparency and Data Sharing Really Mean?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Social media analytics (Edar, https://pixabay.com/images/id-586944/; Pixabay license free for commercial use) Transparency reporting and data sharing are hot topics. Both are seen as holy grails to unlock the mysteries of the information environment.…
Summit of the Americas: An Opportunity to Address China’s Growing Influence over Latin America’s Mineral Resources
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos at the Sixth Summit of the Americas (Flickr/OAS, https://flic.kr/p/byRMCY; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0,https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ The Summit of the Americas provides a prime opportunity for the United States government…
Reinventing Cambridge Analytica One Good Intention at a Time
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Europe GDPR Data Privacy. (TheDigitalArtist, https://tinyurl.com/mw5fc7px; Pixabay Free for commercial use) The European Commission is gearing up to begin enforcement of its landmark Digital Markets Act. This act—alongside Europe’s privacy law (the General…
After the Cawthorn Ruling, Can Trump Be Saved From Section 3 of the 14th Amendment?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Former President Trump at a rally in Nevada. (Gage Skidmore, https://flic.kr/p/E1FURj; CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/) Last month, a federal appeals panel gave the back of its hand to Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who was…
Seagate Technology and the Case of the Missing Huawei FDPR Enforcement
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Seagate Technology's operational headquarters in Fremont, California (Coolcaesar, Wikimedia) In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) adopted new controls to target the Chinese government and Chinese entities…
Hack Global, Buy Local: The Inefficiencies of the Zero-Day Exploit Market
This article has been indexed from Lawfare HACKERS (PT. 1) (Ifrah Yousuf, https://cybervisuals.org/visual/hackers-pt-1/; CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) A couple of years ago, a hacker known as “BuggiCorp” put an incredibly powerful zero-day exploit up for sale on the Russian underground…
The Ukraine Strain in the U.S.-UAE Partnership
This article has been indexed from Lawfare U.S. Secretary of State speaks with UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Rabat, Morocco, on March 29, 2022. Photo credit: U.S. State Dept. photo by Freddie Everett/Public Domain. Editor’s…
U.S. Sanctions Curb Chinese Technology Exports to Russia
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Official photo by the Russian Presidential Press and Information Office; kremlin.ru) Major Chinese technology companies have quietly exited Russia in the face of U.S.…
Return of the Angry Political Man
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr in 2019. (Shane T. McCoy / US Marshals, https://flic.kr/p/25hFCwv; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Only days following Special Counsel John Durham’s failed prosecution of Michael Sussmann, former Attorney…
Turns Out It Is Not 85 Percent
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Solar panels. (https://environment.umn.edu/events/6-things-we-learned-about-the-power-of-community-solar/) How much of the United States’ critical infrastructure is controlled by private owners? For many years, American leaders have repeated the statistic that 85 percent of all critical infrastructure is…
Drone Strikes and Evidence-Based Counterterrorism
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Northrop Grumman RQ-4 "Global Hawk" unmanned aircraft. (Robert Sullivan, https://flic.kr/p/Xa2HBd; Public Domain Mark 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/) The debate over U.S. counterterrorism policy in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has taken on…
Has the Time for an EU-U.S. Agreement on E-Evidence Come and Gone?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare U.S. Attorney General Garland and other U.S. officials are joined by EU Commissioner Didier Reynders and others (Department of Justice photo; https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/joint-us-eu-statement-following-us-eu-justice-and-home-affairs-ministerial) In 2018, the United States and the European Union each set…
The Chatter Podcast: The Secrets of Gay Washington with Jamie Kirchick
This article has been indexed from Lawfare This week, Shane Harris talks with journalist Jamie Kirchick about his new book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. Kirchick’s story unfolds over several decades and reveals the secret history of…
Foreign Equities and Informational Restraints on U.S. Prosecutors
This article has been indexed from Lawfare International flags. (Marco Verch, https://flic.kr/p/2grxGYD; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) In recent scholarship and an article on Lawfare, Steve Koh highlighted the foreign relations tensions that can arise when U.S. federal prosecutors pursue cases…
Thoughts on the Michael Sussmann Verdict
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington D.C. (NCinDC, https://flic.kr/p/gcj6HV; CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/) In the years since Donald Trump’s election, the former president’s supporters and opponents have often seemed to…
First Amendment Absolutism and Florida’s Social Media Law
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A digitally created "wall" of popular social media application icons. (Geralt, https://tinyurl.com/yxxt55ma; CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) Last week the Eleventh Circuit upheld an injunction of most of Florida’s controversial S.B. 7072, which restricts “censorship”…
The Law of Armed Conflict in 2040? A New Volume
This article has been indexed from Lawfare I am pleased to announce Oxford University Press’s publication of “The Future Law of Armed Conflict,” a volume I co-edited with my former student and member of West Point’s law department, Tom Oakley.…
Examining State Bills on Data Brokers
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The Oregon State House of Representatives. (Glen Bledsoe, https://flic.kr/p/8q51tv; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Data brokers’ unregulated buying and selling of Americans’ data on the open market continues to make headlines. Vice reported in…
Expanding U.S. Counterterrorism in Somalia Is Necessary but Insufficient
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A Somali Danab soldier patrols near Wanla Weyn, Somalia on July 22, 2019. Photo credit: U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Patrick W. Mullen III/ Released. Editor’s Note: Al-Shabaab, the…
The Effects of Digital Transnational Repression and the Responsibility of Host States
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A security camera in Guangxi, China. (ChrisGoldNY, https://flic.kr/p/Rv8jHw; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) In March, days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government released a list of 313 Canadian politicians and civil…
‘Psychological and Emotional War’: The Effects of Digital Transnational Repression and the Responsibility of Host States
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A security camera in Guangxi, China. (ChrisGoldNY, https://flic.kr/p/Rv8jHw; CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) In March, days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government released a list of 313 Canadian politicians and civil…
The Legal Challenges Presented by Seizing Frozen Russian Assets
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The Red Square in Moscow, Russia. (Jorge Láscar, https://flic.kr/p/vtuRLX; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) As Russia’s unlawful war of aggression continues to inflict untold devastation on Ukraine and its people, policymakers have begun to…
The Chatter Podcast: The Movie “Casablanca” in Myth and Reality with Meredith Hindley
This article has been indexed from Lawfare This week marks the 80th anniversary of the start of principal photography on Casablanca, the 1942 film that would win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Curtiz), and Best Adapted Screenplay…
The Evolving Face of Cyber Conflict and International Law: A Futurespective
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Since the inception of the internet, criminals, non-state actors and states have leveraged the inherent insecurities and vulnerabilities of cyberspace at an ever-increasing rate and with ever-more harmful impact. Data theft, ransomware attacks and critical infrastructure disruptions,…
Nuclear Brinkmanship: U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Explained
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Iranian flags outside of the White House. (Geoff Livingston, https://flic.kr/p/236VNse; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/) Negotiations between the United States and Iran are reportedly at a stalemate over final terms of an agreement for…
How Policymakers Can Build a Better Doomsday Clock
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A doomsday clock. (Macro.biolog, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doomsday_Clock_23-58.jpg) Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling during the invasion of Ukraine has many people wondering: How likely is this crisis to escalate to nuclear war? The Bulletin of the Atomic…
When Do We Call Russia’s Atrocities a Genocide?
This article has been indexed from Lawfare A mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine. (Adam Schreck, https://flic.kr/p/2ncK3UL; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term “genocide,” and his relentless pursuit of justice for victims of the crime…
New Statistics Confirm the Continuing Decline in the Use of National Surveillance Authorities
This article has been indexed from Lawfare The E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse located in Washington, D.C., which houses the FISC. (Ken Lund, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund/2838145277) April is “reporting season” regarding the annual activities of the U.S. intelligence community under the Foreign…
Opportunity to Reform the Department of Homeland Security’s Biodefense Operations and Governance
This article has been indexed from Lawfare Homeland Response Force members preparing for an exercise evaluation. (Department of Defense photo; https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5451790/homeland-response-force-exercise-evaluation) The present moment is ripe to reform biodefense efforts concerning homeland security. First, the coronavirus pandemic and the war…