writing

I’ve written for The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, STAT, Coda Story, Compiler News, Global Voices, Tech Policy Press, and Americas Quarterly, among others. From 2022-2024, I wrote Coda’s weekly Authoritarian Tech newsletter. From 2013-2019, I was the lead writer for Global Voices’ Netizen Report.

Here are some recent favorites and all-time hits. Keep scrolling for the full archive.

These researchers were trying to protect democracy. Now, they are getting sued.

How tech design is always political

When AI brings ugly things to democracy

The tech industry’s quest to read our minds — and profit from them

Losing lifelines in Gaza

Will Google decide how we remember Syria’s civil war?

The More We Connect, the Better It Gets — for Facebook

Jogging through Tiananmen Square

Facebook’s Stop and Frisk

I’ve also been a lead author on public policy research and analysis that I’ve undertaken in partnership with academic centers and civil society groups. Here’s a selection of this work:

Moving fast and breaking us all: Big Tech’s unaccountable algorithms (with Jie Zhang)

It’s Not Just the Content, It’s the Business Model: Democracy’s Free Speech Challenge (with Nathalie Marechal)

How will Google plug into China’s all-encompassing internet censorship regime? (with Afef Abrougui)

Free Basics in Real Life: Six case studies on Facebook’s internet ‘On Ramp’ initiative from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Decoding the Digital Cold War

Rationing the Digital: The Politics and Policy of Internet Use in Cuba Today

Full archive:

Tech researchers wanted to protect democracy. Now, they’re facing lawsuits, recrimination and threats, Compiler News, October 2024

The Snoo can’t help the people who need it most, STAT, September 2024

How tech design is always political, Coda Story, March 2024

How Big Tech let down Navalny, Coda Story, February 2024

When AI brings ‘ugly things’ to democracy, Coda Story, February 2024

In Pakistan, Senegal and Sudan, networks are down — and it’s no accident, Coda Story, February 2024

The tech industry’s quest to read our minds — and profit from them, Coda Story, February 2024

Meta doesn’t allow violent speech — except when it does, Coda Story, January 2024

When Meta censors Palestinian content, is it really a glitch?, Coda Story, January 2024

In a year full of elections, does Big Tech have democracy’s back?, Coda Story, January 2024

Black box AI and the death of the digital public square, Coda Story, December 2023

How Big Tech is buying influence in academia, Coda Story, December 2023

For OpenAI’s CEO, the rules don’t apply, Coda Story, November 2023

Fleeing war? Need shelter? Personal data first, please, Coda Story, November 2023

Wartime in the ‘digital wild west’, Coda Story, November 2023

Will a new regulation on AI help tame the machine?, Coda Story, November 2023

How the new UK tech law hurts Wikipedia, Coda Story, October 2023

Losing lifelines in Gaza, Coda Story, October 2023

How Big Tech is fueling — and monetizing — false narratives about Israel and Palestine, Coda Story, October 2023

How AI is supercharging political disinformation ops, Coda Story, October 2023

Why are AI software makers lobbying for kids’ online safety laws?, Coda Story, September 2023

Tech is still critical for Iran’s protest movement — and its regime, Coda Story, September 2023

The surveillance industrial complex is thriving at the border, Coda Story, September 2023

How earthly notions of conquest — and Big Tech power moves — are playing out in the stars, Coda Story, September 2023

Apple caves to the Kremlin, for a minute, Coda Story, August 2023

Musk joins the right-wing legal crusade against tech researchers, Coda Story, August 2023

The AI apocalypse might begin with a cost-cutting healthcare algorithm, Coda Story, July 2023

Meta’s business model is crumbling in Europe, Coda Story, July 2023

Philippine leader Bongbong Marcos’ digital disinformation regime, Coda Story, July 2023

Russia’s digital scramble to control the ‘coup’ narrative, Coda Story, June 2023

How surveillance tech controls the fate of migrants, Coda Story, June 2023

Big Tech looks the other way on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, Coda Story, June 2023

In Hong Kong, a digital memorial of the Tiananmen Square massacre disappears, Coda Story, June 2023

Why tech tycoons are ignoring the clear and present dangers of AI, Coda Story, June 2023

An AI entrepreneur bets on cryptocurrency to mitigate AI’s dangers, Coda Story, May 2023

Tech billionaires want to regulate themselves. What could go wrong?, Coda Story, May 2023

Brazil takes on Big Tech in the fight against ‘fake’ news, Coda Story, May 2023

From Turkey to India, Twitter offers censorship on demand, Coda Story, May 2023

How Big Tech is ‘failing the Sudanese people’, Coda Story, April 2023

Cuban journalists are being silenced, one mobile line at a time, Coda Story, April 2023

Russia now sends men to war with an electronic summons, Coda Story, April 2023

Amid political crisis, Tunisia’s Saied targets his critics online, Coda Story, April 2023

U.S. lawmakers grill TikTok, but it’s all bark and no bite, Coda Story, March 2023

How Twitter is doing the government’s bidding in India, Coda Story, March 2023

Digital data is becoming key evidence in abortion lawsuits, Coda Story, March 2023

Smoking gun evidence of state surveillance tech in the U.S. and Mexico, Coda Story, March 2023

The digital dimensions of Russia’s war, one year on, Coda Story, March 2023

Meta’s paid verification plan will push more users to the margins, Coda Story, February 2023

With elections looming, Modi and Erdogan are going after fake news, Coda Story, February 2023

Twitter falters in Turkey, Pakistan blocks Wikipedia, and Tibetans stare down a new cyberlaw, Coda Story, February 2023

Hong Kongers fear a great firewall, TikTokers arrested in Egypt, spyware in Central America, Coda Story, February 2023

‘Small boat’ photos could be censored in the UK, Google’s abortion data problem, the low wage workers behind AI, Coda Story, January 2023

AI advances shock and awe regulators, Saudi Arabia jails Wikipedia editors, Myanmar’s spyware deal, Coda Story, January 2023

Bolsonaristas riot, Meta blocks ‘dangerous’ dead people, sedition laws silence Hong Kongers, Coda Story, January 2023

Facebook’s fatal failures in Ethiopia, terrorism on YouTube and the not-so-new problem of toxic Twitter, Coda Story, December 2022

Twitter’s war on bots cuts off users, Indonesia criminalizes online dissent, and US bill could block TikTok, Coda Story, December 2022

Russian tech giant Yandex erases damaged Ukrainian buildings from maps; Iranian regime thrives on Telegram, Coda Story, December 2022

Chinese protesters back Iranian women, Ethiopia hosts internet meet while keeping the internet off, and NSO’s legal woes, Coda Story, December 2022

Apple bows to Beijing, again; Turkey blocks social media after Istanbul blast; more Musk mayhem at Twitter, Coda Story, November 2022

Greece bans spyware, Belarus ramps up web surveillance, and Twitter deepens its Saudi ties, Coda Story, November 2022

Hate speech spikes on Musk’s watch; another internet blackout in Myanmar; Egypt’s paranoia on show at COP27, Coda Story, November 2022

Outside the US, Elon Musk’s vision of a rules-free Twitter is expected to unlock violence and civil strife, Coda Story, April 2022

State AGs say Google’s ad business is violating antitrust law. What does that mean for the public interest?, Tech Policy Press, November 2021

Follow the money: to rein in Big Tech, lawmakers are right to focus on business models, Tech Policy Press, April 2021

Domestic worker abuses in the Gulf expose tech companies’ failures to protect human rights, Global Voices, November 2019

How are protests in Lebanon affecting digital rights?, Global Voices, October 2019

Iraq and Ecuador face network shutdowns amid public protests, Global Voices, October 2019

Why is Twitter censoring Raúl Castro?, Slate, September 2019

Anti-corruption protests across Egypt trigger internet blockages, arrests, Global Voices, September 2019

Pro-government doxxing campaigns rock Hong Kong, Serbia, Global Voices, September 2019

Malicious attack takes Wikipedia offline, Global Voices, September 2019

Critic calls Indonesia’s provincial internet shutdown ‘racist’, Global Voices, August 2019

The internet shutdown in Kashmir continues, Global Voices, August 2019

Is Cuba trying to outlaw independent media? A new decree will prohibit foreign web hosting, Global Voices, July 2019

Widespread throttling puts social media out of reach in Kazakhstan, Global Voices, May 2019

Why is Twitter blocking state accounts in Venezuela?, Global Voices, May 2019

‘Envision a new war’: the Syrian Archive, corporate censorship and the struggle to preserve public history online, Global Voices, May 2019

Blackout in Venezuela: How long will it last?, Global Voices, March 2019

Venezuelans see the politics of humanitarian aid play out in online attacks (with Laura Vidal), Global Voices, February 2019

Venezuela’s crisis of political legitimacy has rocked Wikipedia — and might have led to its blocking (with Laura Vidal), Global Voices, January 2019

How will Google plug into China’s all-encompassing internet censorship regime? (with Afef Abrougui), Global Voices, November 2018

Access denied: How Uganda’s social media tax is turning news and information into luxury goods (with Afef Abrougui), Global Voices, July 2018

Jogging through Tiananmen Square: What happens when Facebook meets China’s censorship regime?, Hong Kong Free Press, June 2018

Election Meddling Doesn’t Just Happen in the U.S., Slate, April 2018

Censored, But Not Backing Down: Cuban News Site Staff Say They Won’t Change Their Editorial Line (with Laura Vidal), Global Voices, February 2018

What Happens at Maekelawi? Tales of Torture from an Ethiopian Detention Center Slated for Closure, Global Voices, January 2018

Authorities Are ‘Whitewashing’ the Devastation and Death Toll in Puerto Rico (with Firuzeh Shokooh Valle and Ángel Carrión), Global Voices, October 2017

The More We Connect, The Better It Gets — For Facebook, The New York Times, September 2017

Facebook’s Free Basics Doesn’t Connect You to the Global Internet — But It Does Collect Your Data (with Sarah Myers West), Global Voices, July 2017

Ecuadorian Elections Marked by Website Outages, Twitter Suspensions, Global Voices, April 2017

If You Really Want To Know What’s Happening With Tech in Cuba, Read Beyond the Headlines, Global Voices, March 2017

Trump-Chavez Comparisons Rock the Web, Rattle the Venezuelan Government (with Laura Vidal), Global Voices, November 2016

Cuban Journalist and LGBT Activist Sacked for Working With Non-State Media, Global Voices, September 2016

Cubans Cast a Critical Glance on Obama’s Havana Tour, Global Voices, March 2016

Facebook Vows to Improve Real Name Policy. But How Far Will They Go?, Global Voices, November 2015

Why is WikiLeaks Hosting Malicious Files?, Global Voices, August 2015

Cuba Si, Google No: Cuban Officials Rumored to Reject Google’s Free WiFi Offer, Global Voices, July 2015

Five Ethiopian Journalists Freed From Prison, But Others Remain Behind Bars, Global Voices, July 2015

Decoding the Digital Cold War, Americas Quarterly, May 2015

To Be or Not to Be Anonymous: How Should Bloggers Decide?, Global voices, May 2015

Cuba isn’t open just because America says it is, Quartz, April 2015

One year on, Ethiopian bloggers are still awaiting trial (with Endalk Chala), The Guardian, April 2015

Netflix is Coming to Cuba. But Will It Have Any Customers? (with Elaine Diaz), Slate, February 2015

How Obama’s Policy Shift Will and Won’t Affect Tech in Cuba, Slate, December 2014

Cuba: More Money Means More Technology, With or Without State Reforms, Global Voices, December 2014

Castro and Obama Open New Chapter on US-Cuba Relations, Global Voices, December 2014

Zone 9 Bloggers Charged With Terrorism in Ethiopia, Global Voices, July 2014

Spies Like US: “Fake Twitter” Violated Cubans’ Privacy Rights, Global Voices, April 2014

Now Let’s Hear From the Users: Human Rights and the Global Internet Public, Center for Global Communications Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, April 2014

Stakes are High: Essays on Brazil and the Future of the Global Internet (editor, with Ronaldo Lemos and Monroe Price), Center for Global Communications Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, April 2014

Day of Service Shows Distance Between S.F. Tech Culture and Real-World Privacy Rights, Slate, February 2014

Happy New Year from Philadelphia’s “Drunk Racist Clown Parade”, Global Voices, January 2014

Dozens Detained on Human Rights Day in Cuba, Global Voices, December 2013

Can This Be Home? Borderlessness & The Internet Citizen, Global Voices, October 2013

US Power and the Not-So-Democratic Global Internet (with Eduardo Bertoni), Huffington Post, September 2013

At 87, Fidel Castro is “Imperfect but Human”, Global Voices, August 2013

Rationing the Digital: The Politics and Policy of Internet Use in Cuba, Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, July 2013

Crash that Killed Cuban Democracy Advocate Still Shrouded in Mystery, Global Voices, March 2013

Cuba: Democracy Advocate Rodiles Released; Blogger Diversent Remains Detained, Global Voices, December 2012

Cuba: Blogger Yoani Sánchez Arrested, Global Voices, October 2012

The Politics of Internet Access and Expression in Cuba, Chicago Policy Review, October 2012

Cuba: Police Detain Blogger, Disrupt Independent Scholarly Forum, Global Voices, September 2012